It's set in the 1920s in upstate New York and follows a secular young man raised in a strict Salvation Army home accused of murdering one of two young women with which he was in a relationship.
Clyde Griffiths (Phillips Holmes) is an unfocused young man raised in a city mission. He works as a bellhop in Kansas City but flees the city when a car in which he was a passenger after a night of drinking kills a young girl. In fictional Lycurgus, New York, he ends up where his Uncle Samuel (Frederick Burton) owns a shirt collar company. He gets a junior supervisor's job and, against the rules, begins a relationship with one of the workers, Roberta "Bert" Alden (Sylvia Sidney), who stamps collars. Unfortunately, he gets her pregnant about the same time he begins a relationship with Sondra Finchley (Frances Dee), daughter of a wealthy industrialist in town. He is too poor to help "Bert" get an abortion and waffles on marrying her despite her pressure.
The middle of the film follows the evolving relationships. Clyde hears of a boating accident in which the couple drowned. He begins to plot to solve his problem by drowning Roberta. A boating incident occurs, and Clyde is arrested and charged with murder.
The last third of the film shows the trial. Clyde takes the stand in his own defense. Did Clyde change his mind? Was it an accident? The jury makes its decision.
This is an early legal drama in the talking films age. Dreiser's novel was based on an actual 1906 case. The film was very engaging for its time, though it did not make as much of the class issues as Dreiser would have wished. In fact, he tried to sue to prevent the film's release.
Clyde Griffiths (Phillips Holmes) is an unfocused young man raised in a city mission. He works as a bellhop in Kansas City but flees the city when a car in which he was a passenger after a night of drinking kills a young girl. In fictional Lycurgus, New York, he ends up where his Uncle Samuel (Frederick Burton) owns a shirt collar company. He gets a junior supervisor's job and, against the rules, begins a relationship with one of the workers, Roberta "Bert" Alden (Sylvia Sidney), who stamps collars. Unfortunately, he gets her pregnant about the same time he begins a relationship with Sondra Finchley (Frances Dee), daughter of a wealthy industrialist in town. He is too poor to help "Bert" get an abortion and waffles on marrying her despite her pressure.
The middle of the film follows the evolving relationships. Clyde hears of a boating accident in which the couple drowned. He begins to plot to solve his problem by drowning Roberta. A boating incident occurs, and Clyde is arrested and charged with murder.
The last third of the film shows the trial. Clyde takes the stand in his own defense. Did Clyde change his mind? Was it an accident? The jury makes its decision.
This is an early legal drama in the talking films age. Dreiser's novel was based on an actual 1906 case. The film was very engaging for its time, though it did not make as much of the class issues as Dreiser would have wished. In fact, he tried to sue to prevent the film's release.