The Escape (1914 film)

The Escape was a 1914 American silent drama film written and directed by D. W. Griffith and starred Donald Crisp. The film is based on the play of the same name by Paul Armstrong who also wrote the screenplay. It is now considered lost.

Larry Joyce contracts a case of syphilis, and seeks out treatment from Doctor Von Eiden Moore, who also takes a keen interest in Larrys sister May Sweet. Von Eiden encourages May to make a break with her family, and she succeeds. However she is unable to find employment and enters into a relationship with a wealthy senator Lewis as a kept woman. While May will not marry the Senator, her sister Jennie Marsh does marry a man named Bull McGee Crisp, an abusive lout just like her father.Their infant child is killed when McGee trips over its cradle in a drunken stupor, and Jennie becomes delusional, endlessly rocking the cradle with a doll inside. McGee is repulsed by her condition and puts Jennie away quietly through selling her into prostitution. May manages to wrest Jennie away from this peril, but Jennie expires soon after. Von Eiden, however, has managed to restore Larrys original sensitivity through a surgical procedure May has broken off the relationship with the Senator and agrees to marry Von Eiden. ........

Source: Wikipedia