Ten Nights in a Bar-Room

Joe Morgan, the town miller, is worried about the frail health of his beloved daughter Mary. He heads down to the local tavern, The Sickle And Sheaf, to make the acquaintance of the new doctor, who has just arrived in town. While there, he knocks out a tough guy who has been terrorizing the bar. Simon Slade, the bar owner insists that the teetotaling Morgan celebrates with a drink. In short order, Slade has Morgan stinking drunk. A terrible demon has been unleashed in the miller, and soon he is staggering home sloshed nightly. His descent into unbridled alcoholism is swift, and within a year he has lost his dignity, his mill, and the respect of his family. When dear little Mary comes to the bar, pleading for her father to return home, she is struck in the head with a beer mug, and the horrified father realizes that his actions may have cost the life of the child he holds most precious.

Based on the hit temperance play and three previous silent film versions, Ten Nights In A Bar-Room features William Farnum in a haunting performance as the miller who loses all to the bottle and Thomas Santschi is loathsome as the demonic bar owner. Farnum achieved fame on the stage playing Ben-Hur in 1900. Between 1915 and 1925, he became a huge motion picture star, earning an astronomical $10,000 a week in films such as Drag Harlan (1920) and If I Were King (1921). He is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

• drama