Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1919)(Silent) (DVD)

Mary, a young teen at an orphanage, becomes so attached to a abandoned little boy that she steals away with him before his birth mother arrives to reclaim him. Mary seeks refuge at the home of Mrs. Wiggs, a tenderhearted widow. She and the boy are discovered by the police and separated. The boy's birth mother is severely injured in a riding accident, paving the way for Mary to declare herself the boy's permanent caretaker.

Based on the 1901 best-selling novel by Alice Hegan Rice, "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch" was produced as a movie four times. Ohio-born Marguerite Clark was an immensely successful actress on Broadway during her late teens and early twenties. She then became a popular silent film star, beginning her career with Hugh Ford's The Crucible (1914) and appearing in several pictures helmed by J. Searle Dawley, including The Valentine Girl (1917). Originally from Wales, Gareth Hughes joined a London acting troupe at the age of 17; after the troupe toured the United States, Hughes chose to remain and ended up a Broadway star. He's best known for his roles in Sentimental Tommy (1921) and Scareheads (1931). Hugh Ford directed a number of silents between 1913 and 1921, including Sapho (1917) and The Price of Possession (1921). He was also a screenwriter for films like Molly Make-Believe (1916), which also starred Clark.

• silent