The Commuted Sentence (1915) [N/A]
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Featuring:
Thomas A. Curran, Ethyle Cooke, Dorothy Benham
Directed by:
Ernest C. Warde
Release Date:
November 2, 1915
Original Title:
The Commuted Sentence
Genres:
Drama
Production Companies:
Thanhouser Film Corporation
Production Countries:
United States of America
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
A famous ex-convict, freed by the Governor, called and thanked the head of the state for his clemency. The convict was a rough appearing man, but he seemed very thankful for his release and promised to lead an honest life. Well-meaning police officers, however, believing that they were acting in the best interests of the public, watched the paroled prisoner closely, and by telling of his prison record rendered it difficult for him to obtain employment. At last, starving and desperate, he crept through the open window of a handsome house and was seized by the servants as he was about to commit theft. The master of the house chanced to be the Governor's father-in-law, a kindly old man, whose heart was touched by the prisoner's plight. He saw that the convict had been forced into wrong-doing, talked to him gently gave him food and a place to sleep for the night. Early the next morning the paroled prisoner stole away, his heart full of gratitude. Several hours later he was overtaken by a police officer and arrested, charged with murder of his elderly benefactor. He was searched and jewelry belonging to the wealthy old man was found in his possession. He was brought back to the scene of the tragedy, and the officers tried to force a confession. "He gave me food and money," the prisoner declared, "I would have died rather than harm him." The evidence against the man, however, was so conclusive that the detective in charge of the case, although strongly believing that the prisoner told the truth, had no option except to order the ex-convict's arrest. The Governor's wife was grief-stricken by her father's death. She firmly believed the ex-convict's guilt, and felt that her husband himself was indirectly responsible, for he had paroled the man. The prisoner was placed on trial. A verdict of guilty was soon reached and the convict sentenced to death. Only the detective and the Governor believed that there might be some doubt of his guilt. The Governor had been tempted to commute the ex-convict's sentence to life imprisonment, but he was deterred by his wife's words: "If you stop the execution of my father's slayer," she declared, "my child and I will leave you forever." And so he deferred taking action until the night before the execution, when, spurred on by the consciousness that he was in danger of allowing a terrible wrong to be committed, he ordered the execution stopped and changed the prisoner's sentence to life imprisonment. The following morning his wife and child came to the executive mansion. The Governor pleaded with her but to no effect. Just as the woman and child turned to leave the room the door opened and the detective entered. In a few words he told how he had just succeeded in trapping the butler of the murdered man, and that the servant had confessed to killing and robbing his employer. He had cast suspicion upon the ex-convict by hiding some of the jewelry in his clothes. The woman listened in silence. She realized that she had tried to send an innocent man to death, while her husband, with keener vision had protected the prisoner. At last she lifted her eyes to his, and the Governor took his wife in his arms.
