| The Cup of Life | |
| Director: | Thomas Ince Raymond B. West |
| Producer: | Thomas Ince New York Motion Pictures |
| Starring: | Bessie Barriscale Enid Markey Charles Ray |
| Distributor: | Mutual Film |
| Runtime: | 50 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Silent English intertitles |
The Cup of Life is a 1915 American silent drama starring Bessie Barriscale. It was directed by Thomas Ince and Raymond B. West with a scenario written by C. Gardner Sullivan and Ince.[1] [2]
Though Thomas Ince produced both films, this film is unrelated to The Cup of Life (1921).[1] It is about the lives of two women who choose separate paths. It is extant.
As described in contemporary film magazines,[3] [4] sisters Helen and Ruth Fiske are living a humble life on their department-store salaries. Helen dreams of an easy life of luxury and Ruth dreams of a simple, but contended domestic life. Helen takes up with the wealthy John Ward, despite Ruth's doubts. Ruth marries a man of modest means and they build a solid household. Helen begins circulating among men of the monied class.
After some years, Ruth is now a mother and runs a happy household. Helen has been abroad, but her position in high society is waning as she ages. Helen returns to America to win back a former suitor, James Kellerman, but he has moved on to a younger, less jaded woman. The sisters are reunited, but seeing her sister's dream fulfilled depresses Helen further and she proceeds further down a path of dissipation.
Complete prints of The Cup of Life are held by the Library of Congress and the Cineteca Del Friuli in Gemona.[5]