| The Master Mind | |
| Director: | Kenneth Webb |
| Producer: | Whitman Bennett |
| Cinematography: | Tom L. Griffith Rial Schellinger |
| Distributor: | Associated First National Pictures |
| Runtime: | 50 minutes; 5 reels |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Master Mind (also known as Sinners Three) is a lost[1] 1920 American silent crime drama film produced by Whitman Bennett and released by Associated First National Pictures, later just First National Pictures). Kenneth Webb directed and Lionel Barrymore stars. It is based on a 1913 play, The Master Mind, by playwright Daniel David Cohen also known as Daniel D. Carter.[2] [3]
As described in a film magazine,[4] in revenge for the successful prosecution of his younger brother Richard (Helton), accused of murder but innocent, by district attorney Wainwright (Kellard), Henry Allen (Barrymore), whose two passions are the study of psychology and his love for his brother, schemes to return the hurt to the lawyer and take away that which he holds dear. Finding that Wainwright loves a portrait of a young woman with a criminal record, Henry develops a scheme that takes Maggie (O'Brien) from prison and educates her abroad. Upon completion of her education he surrounds her with a pretending family, presumably to cover up her past, and brings her and the lawyer together and permits them to marry. With Wainwright running for governor, Henry goes to him and reveals the past of the Maggie and the criminal record of her family, intending to force Wainwright on threat of public exposure to withdraw from the election. Before this threat can be made effective, Maggie appeals to Henry, and he has a change of heart, realizing that vengeance is not man meted but God-visited. Henry leaves the loving couple to fame and happiness.