Summary
In the shadow-drenched corridors of a life gone awry, Lewis Vickers finds himself a fugitive from a fatal accident, fleeing the iron grip of American justice for the sweltering, indifferent tropics of Central America. Fate, possessing a cruel sense of symmetry, introduces him to Robert Lee, a dissolute expatriate who shares his exact physical visage but none of his moral constitution. As Lee succumbs to his own vices on a deathbed of squalor, he bequeaths his identity to Vickers—a desperate transaction of souls intended to provide Vickers a clean slate. Yet, upon returning to the opulent Lee estate in New York, the masquerade curdles into a nightmare. Vickers discovers that the man he replaced was a moral bankrupt, leaving behind a wake of crushing debt, a neglected wife, and children who view him with either suspicion or resentment. Amidst this domestic purgatory, Vickers encounters the family's adopted daughter, sparking a romance that demands a truth his stolen identity cannot afford. The narrative spirals into a complex web of social obligation and personal redemption, culminating in a chaotic confrontation with Lee’s past that forces Vickers to choose between the safety of a lie and the liberation of the truth.
Synopsis
Lewis Vickers accidentally kills a man and goes to Central America. Here he meets Robert Lee, who bears a remarkable resemblance to him. Lee is a worthless young chap whose father is anxious to have him return to the United States. On his death bed Lee turns his papers over to Vickers and begs him to assume his name. Arriving in New York, Vickers goes to the Lee home as Robert Lee, and discovers that the dead man has willed him a badly blotted past that includes a wife and two children and a large collection of debts. He also finds a beautiful adopted daughter in the Lee household and promptly falls in love with her. The only way he can stand any chance of winning the girl is by telling the truth about himself. The arrival of his undesirable family and several of its friends and connections helps to bring out the truth, and the picture ends with a runaway marriage between Vickers and the adopted daughter.
Review Excerpt
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The Metaphysics of the Masquerade
Cinema in 1918 was an art form in the throes of a profound metamorphosis, shedding its short-form chrysalis to embrace the sprawling complexities of the feature-length narrative. At the vanguard of this evolution stands Less Than Kin, a film that grapples with the existential dread of identity with a sophistication that belies its age. Directed by Donald Crisp and penned by the formidable Marion Fairfax and Alice Duer Miller, the film serves as a haun..."
