A Bachelor's Wife Explained

A Bachelor’s Wife
Director:Emmett J. Flynn
Starring:Mary Miles Minter
Studio:American Film Manufacturing Company
Distributor:Pathé
Runtime:5 reels
Country:United States
Language:Silent (English intertitles)

A Bachelor's Wife is a 1919 silent drama film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring Mary Miles Minter. As with many of Minter's films, the film is thought to be a lost film.[1] In the weeks before its release, some film magazines listed the feature under its working title “Mary O’Rourke.” [2]

Plot

As described in Motion Picture Herald,[3] Mary O’Rourke (Minter) arrives in America from Ireland and finds her young friend and baby deserted by the husband. Mary takes the baby to the Stuyvesant mansion, demanding that it be recognized. Mrs. Stuyvesant, an invalid, is delighted with the child, and mistaking Mary for her daughter-in-law, invites her to stay and take charge of the house. The doctor informs Mary that she must comply with the old lady's request, as a shock might prove fatal to her. John Stuyvesant arrives home and denounces Mary as an imposter. She admits that she is but insists that he shall do right by Norah. He insists he was never married, and to prove it starts to marry another girl. Mary confronts him with the marriage license, which it appears belongs to J. Frederick Stuyvesant, a cousin. He had failed to acknowledge Norah as his wife while waiting to come into his fortune. Things straighten themselves out, Norah and the child come into their own and Mary and John decide to marry.

Cast

Notes and References

  1. https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.3560/default.html The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: A Bachelor’s Wife
  2. List of Current Film Release Dates . Moving Picture World . 40 . 7 . https://archive.org/details/moving40chal/page/n545 . Chalmers Publishing Company . New York . May 17, 1919 .
  3. Reviews: A Bachelor's Wife . Exhibitor's Trade Review . 5 . 26 . https://archive.org/details/exhibitorstrader00newy/page/n1203 . Exhibitor’s Trade Review, Inc. . New York . May 31, 1919 .