Summary
The Forbidden Path is a lacerating portrait of pastoral innocence curdled by the acidic reality of urban predation. Mary Lynde, portrayed with a haunting luminosity by Theda Bara, begins her journey as an ethereal muse for the painter Felix Benavente, only to be ensnared by the predatory Robert Sinclair. Her subsequent descent—marked by the ignominy of unwed motherhood, the tragic expiration of her infant, and the cold-hearted rejection by a patriarchal father—transforms her into a vessel of calculated retribution. When Felix rediscover her in the gutter, seeking a model to personify the terminal point of a 'bad-choice path,' the stage is set for a collision of past and present. Mary’s metamorphosis from a victim of circumstance into a Machiavellian architect of Sinclair’s ruin serves as a grim commentary on the transactional nature of early 20th-century morality, culminating in a public desecration of Sinclair’s social standing at the very altar of his intended redemption.
Synopsis
Mary Lynde (Theda Bara), a young and innocent girl, unaware of the wiles of men poses for artist Felix Benavente (Sidney Mason), meets Robert Sinclair (Hugh Thompson) who has no problem seducing her and she is soon pregnant. The caddish Sinclair betrays and deserts her and her stern father is none to pleased with poor Mary either. The death of her baby causes her to sink to the lowest depths, where she is found by Felix in his search for a model to represent the end of bad-choice path. The appearance of Sinclair and his fiancee at the studio brings Mary a desire for revenge and she forces Sinclair to set her up in an apartment and service her never-ending desire for money. To do so, Sinclair is forced to steal and, with evidence of his crime, Mary makes him promise to marry her. But on the morning of the wedding Mary comes to the church and tells all. Sinclair departs in disgrace and Felix goes to comfort poor Mary.
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