Film
A Wife by Proxy
1917 · Dir. John Collins
The film opens in Ireland, as a dying Patrick McNairne tells his daughter Jerry to go to New York and look up Norton Burbeck, a wealthy young man whose life Patrick had saved some time earlier (the surviving print, largely complete, lacks the second page insert of a letter explaining the full background). The affable Burbeck is due to inherit his uncle’s fortune provided he’s married by November; if not, the inheritance will go to his cousin Howard Curtis. An adventuress, Beatrice Gaden, and her husband Dick are in cahoots with Curtis: Beatrice pretends to be single in order to string Norton along up to the November date, at which time Curtis will come into the money and give a share to his unscrupulous partners.
- Released
- 1917-01-06
- Runtime
- 50 min
- Rated
- NR
- Language
- EN
- IMDb
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Starring
Mabel Taliaferro
Jerry McNairne
Robert Walker
Norton Burbeck
Sally Crute
Beatrice Gaden
Fred Jones
Frederick Gaden
Yale Benner
Howard Curtis
George D. Melville
Timothy McNairn
Ricca Allen
Scraggs (housekeeper)
Jerome N. Wilson
Guyler (Burbeck's lawyer)
Edward Mack
Flynn (the butler)