Passers-by

Summary

In this 1920 cinematic exploration of British social stratification, Peter Waverton finds his existence upended when he falls for the governess in his stepsister’s employ. The romance, blooming in the quiet corners of a rigid domesticity, is swiftly dismantled by his stepsister’s pathological devotion to the class divide. Her intervention is not merely social but surgical, severing the connection and plunging Waverton into a profound existential malaise. In a defiant response to his own isolation and the sterile vacuum of his aristocratic life, Waverton embarks on a radical sociological experiment: he flings open the doors of his London residence to the disenfranchised, inviting the derelicts and drifters of the street to share his sanctuary. This congregation of the 'lower' orders serves as a chaotic mirror to his own shattered privilege, forcing a confrontation between the ossified traditions of the past and the raw, unrefined humanity of the pavement.

Synopsis

A young Englishman falls in love with the children's governess in his stepsister's home. His stepsister, however, cannot abide the class differential in the romance and sabotages it. The young man, in a state of boredom and depression, begins to invite into the house anyone who happens to pass by in the street.