Sins of the Parents

Sins of the Parents is a 1914 silent film written and directed by Ivan Abramson, and starring Sara Adler, a prominent Yiddish theatre actress in her first of two movie appearances.

Laura Henderson Adler is an orphan, raised by her aunt Mary Sherman. Sherman runs a boarding house, and boarder Angelo Angelini a musician is the apple of Lauras eye. They are engaged to be married, but Angelo claims he must leave for a concert tourbut in truth he returns to his wife and child in Italy, crushing Laura. Laura gives birth an illegitimate child, Ruth, but is forced to abandon her and moves to New York, where she falls under the care of Reverend Henry Bradley. Bradley and Laura later marry, and Laura keeps the existence of Ruth a secret from Bradley.Shiftingyears later, Bradley now a prison chaplain and Laura now have a daughter Aline who is about to become engaged to the welltodo Walter Jordan. Meanwhile, Ruth, nowyears old, who had believed Mary was her mother, finds out that her real mother is Laura and departs for New York to find her. Meanwhile, Angelo is now living in New York under the name Angell with his son Tony, a general neer do well. Tony befriends Ruth of course not knowing she is his halfsister under false pretenses, and plans to sell her into white slavery in New Orleans. Ruth tries to escape him, and in the ensuing struggle Tony is shot dead just as Angelo enters the room. Ruth is arrested, and meets Chaplain Bradley in prison, where she divulges her story. Mary Sherman visits Ruth in prison, and then tells all to Laura. Laura breaks down when she learns that her first child is in prison, just while she had been celebrating Alines engagement to Walter. This causes Aline, apparently out of learning of her mothers disgrace, to break off her engagement and commit suicide. ........

Source: Wikipedia