Summary
In 'Hush Money,' the tempestuous interplay of wealth, guilt, and redemption unfolds through the fractured life of Evelyn Murray, a daughter of privilege whose reckless collision with a newsboy becomes the catalyst for a moral reckoning. As her aristocratic fiancé, Bert Van Vliet, urges her to flee the scene of the accident, Evelyn's father, a Wall Street titan, resorts to hush money to suppress the scandal. Yet the film transcends its 1920s setting, dissecting the corrosive power of money and the fragile ethics of the elite. When Evelyn, inspired by a bishop’s sermon, confronts her conscience by visiting the injured Terry McGuire, her act of empathy sets off a chain reaction, challenging the family’s gilded indifference. The narrative’s brilliance lies in its unflinching portrayal of how privilege warps accountability, and how fleeting gestures of virtue can fracture the armor of arrogance. The film’s climax—where Evelyn’s disappearance forces her father and fiancé to reckon with their complicity—cements its legacy as a silent-era precursor to modern critiques of wealth and morality.
Synopsis
The only daughter of wealthy Wall Street banker, Evelyn Murray, while with her aristocratic fiancé, Bert Van Vliet, runs down and injures newsboy Terry McGuire. To avoid an embarrassing outcome, Bert persuades her to flee the scene of the accident. Evelyn is conscience-stricken and informs her father; he is then forced to pay "hush money" to a garage attendant who has witnessed the accident. That evening Murray gives a dinner to honor John Deems, Bishop of New York, to whom he plans to contribute money for a youth foundation. Influenced by the bishop, Evelyn goes to the hospital, becomes acquainted with the injured boy, and arranges for his care. Opposed by her father and fiancé, Evelyn disappears and is reconciled to them only when they agree to adopt a less arrogant attitude toward their money and power.
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