Summary
In the suffocating grip of early 20th-century penury, Mina Rogers exists as a specter on the fringes of the urban sprawl, her dignity eroding alongside her dwindling resources. Following a brief, ill-fated tenure as a domestic for a trio of nurses, the sting of termination ignites a desperate stratagem. In a gambit born of sheer survivalism, Mina appropriates the professional identity of one of her former employers to secure a position within the opulent, yet stagnant, residence of Harvey Gorman, a wealthy invalid tethered to his bed by infirmity. However, the sanctuary she seeks is a mirage. She quickly falls under the predatory thumb of Roberts, Gorman’s male nurse, a man whose clinical exterior masks a sociopathic greed. Recognizing Mina’s mendacity, Roberts transforms her into a reluctant accomplice in his slow-motion assassination of Gorman via arsenic, aiming to divert the inheritance away from Cal Morgan, the ranch’s upright foreman. The plot thickens as Mina is coerced into a meretricious seduction of Cal, a maneuver thwarted by the sharp-eyed, jealous daughters of the housekeeper who unmask her charade. As the metallic scent of poison rises to the surface, suspicion naturally gravitates toward the interloper. Yet, the narrative pivots on the discovery of a clandestine missive that incriminates the true architect of the malice, Roberts. Amidst the wreckage of her deception, Mina finds an unexpected advocate in Dr. Prine, whose clinical detachment dissolves into a profound empathy for her traumatic origins, ultimately offering a redemptive path that transcends her legal transgressions.
Synopsis
Homeless Mina Rogers is desperate for a job, is briefly employed as a housemaid for three nurses. When she loses the job, she decides to impersonate one of the nurses to take a job at the home of wealthy invalid Harvey Gorman. There, she comes under the control of Gorman's male nurse Roberts, who, discovering her deception, forces her to aid in his plan to acquire the money that Gorman plans to leave to his ranch foreman Cal Morgan. While Roberts begins poisoning Gorman with arsenic, Mina is instructed to seduce Cal into proposing to her, a plan that fails only because the jealous daughters of the ranch's housekeeper expose Mina's charade. When it is learned that Gorman is being poisoned, Mina is suspected, but a letter is eventually discovered that incriminates Roberts. Dr. Prine, Gorman's doctor, has fallen in love with Mina and, after hearing the story of her miserable childhood, forgives her impersonation.
Review Excerpt
"The Architecture of Desperation: Lois Weber’s Social RealismWhen we peer through the dusty lens of 1916, we often expect the theatrical artifice of early cinema, yet Lois Weber’s Wanted: A Home strikes with the visceral force of a modern social thriller. This isn't merely a tale of a girl making a mistake; it is a scathing indictment of a society that offers no safety net for the displaced. Mary MacLaren, in a performance that rivals the psychological depth seen in The Little Shepherd of Bargain..."
