Summary
Joy Havenith exists as a living anachronism, a nineteen-year-old woman tethered to the aesthetic caprices of her grandfather, who compels her to inhabit the sartorial identity of a pre-pubescent child—complete with pigtails and truncated dresses—to fuel his sentimental poetic output. This domestic incarceration breeds a profound isolation, until a chance encounter with Johnny Hewitt provides the catalyst for her liberation. Johnny, assuming the mantle of a mythical 'wishing ring man,' encourages Joy to manifest her desires through sheer force of will. When a sophisticated urban couple offers a portal to the city, Joy encounters a formidable obstacle: her grandparents' refusal to grant her exit without the security of a betrothal. In a desperate gambit of self-actualization, Joy fabricates an engagement to a Dr. John Hewitt, a man she knows only by reputation, unaware that he is her enigmatic benefactor from the garden. The ensuing masquerade forces John into a month-long charade, complicating his existing commitment to the pragmatic Gale Maddox. As the artifice of a wedding approaches, the psychological weight of her deception and the perceived unrequited nature of her affection drive Joy back to the sanctuary of her ancestral home. The narrative culminates in a poignant reconciliation before Aunt Lucilla’s portrait, where the boundaries between the 'wishing ring' fantasy and the tangible reality of John’s devotion finally dissolve.
Synopsis
Forced to wear quaint short dresses and pigtails so that she will inspire her grandfather's sentimental poetry, nineteen-year-old Joy Havenith longs for companions of her own age. One day Johnny Hewitt, seeing her confide her troubles to her Aunt Lucilla's portrait, tells her that if she wishes hard enough, her dreams will come true. Not knowing his name, she thereafter thinks of him as her "wishing ring man." Soon Joy meets a married couple who invite her to the city. Because her grandparents will not let her leave until she is engaged, she lies that she is the fiancée of a man of whom her friends have spoken, Dr. John Hewitt, not realizing that he is her "wishing ring man." John agrees to play along for a month, to the dismay of his fiancée, Gale Maddox. After the wedding presents and bridesmaids have arrived, Joy, thinking that John loves Gale, leaves the rehearsal and returns home. John then finds her confiding to the portrait and declares his real love for her.
Review Excerpt
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The cinematic landscape of 1919 was a crucible of evolving social mores and burgeoning visual grammar, and few films encapsulate this tension as vividly as The Wishing Ring Man. At its core, the film is a fascinating exploration of the 'child-woman' archetype, a trope that resonated deeply within the silent era's fascination with innocence and its subsequent corruption or maturation. Directed with a keen eye for domestic claustrophobia, the film introduces us to Joy Havenith, portrayed by the ..."
