The Soul of Youth (Silent) (DVD)

A child, born out of wedlock to a drug-addicted mother, is left at a Denver orphanage. Given the name Edward Simpson, he grows to hate the orphanage and runs away at the first opportunity. Finding life on the streets no more bearable than what he left behind, Edward struggles to survive until a rich family, The Hamiltons, take pity on him. But the Hamiltons are a target of Denver's corrupt mayor -- the father who abandoned Edward years before. Edward decides to find a way to save his new family from the man who turned his back on him, even if it costs him his life.

The hard-hitting melodrama of The Soul of Youth is a testament to the talent of its director, William Desmond Taylor. Prior to its release, Taylor had made his name with a trio of Mark Twain adaptations, Tom Sawyer (1918), Huck and Tom (1918) and Huckleberry Finn (1920). The Soul of Youth offered the promise of a new direction for Taylor, one that would sadly not be realized when he was murdered on February 1, 1922, in a crime unsolved to this day. Star Lewis Sargent had previously played Huckleberry Finn in Taylor's three Twain adaptations, and would play one of Fagin's pickpockets in Oliver Twist (1922). Pretty female lead Lila Lee would eventually find fame starring opposite two silent screen legends, Rudolph Valentino in Blood and Sand (1922) and Lon Chaney in The Unholy Three (1930).

• silent