Summary
In the gilded age of silent cinema, John Gorman’s 'The Butterfly Girl' emerges as a poignant, if cynical, exploration of the feminine appetite for adoration. Edith Folsom, portrayed with a mercurial intensity by Fritzi Brunette, is a protagonist defined by her insatiable craving for a phalanx of devotees. Spurning the provincial stability offered by her local suitor, Ned Lorimer, she embarks on a transit toward urban decadence. This locomotive journey serves as a crucible where she encounters the refined Lorna Lear and her cousin, John Blaine—the latter becoming instantly ensnared in Edith’s web of performative charm. The narrative crests during a lavish ball where Edith, straying from the path of matrimonial fidelity, attracts the attentions of H. H. Van Horn, a financier whose age is surpassed only by his wealth. Following a social rupture with Lorna, Edith’s descent into fiscal precarity leads her into the lion's den: a secretarial position within Van Horn’s private chambers. The subsequent marriage to Blaine, the predatory declarations of the elderly banker, and the fortuitous eavesdropping of Mrs. Van Horn culminate in a moralistic pivot, wherein the 'butterfly' sheds her vanity for the altruistic rigors of social reform.
Synopsis
Wealthy Edith Folsom greatest ambition is to have a score of admirers at her feet, leaves her local boyfriend, Ned Lorimer, for the city. On the train she encounters a schoolmate, Lorna Lear, and Lorna's cousin, John Blaine, who promptly falls for her. On the night of Lorna's ball, Edith meets H. H. Van Horn, an elderly banker who brings her home in his car. Scolded by Lorna, she runs off to a hotel; then, when her money is depleted, she takes a position as Van Horn's secretary. Two days later she meets John, and they are married. When Van Horn declares his love for her and is overheard by his wife, Edith resolves to reform and take an interest in Mrs. Van Horn's social work.
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