Life's a Funny Proposition (1919)

Young New York lawyer Jimmie Pendleton is shy around girls, but spends much time in escapades with his friend Herbert Austin, necessitating frequent wires to Jimmie's eccentric Uncle Tobias for money. After Jimmie becomes engaged to Herbert's sister Mary, Uncle Tobias arrives from Kansabraska with fat cousin Hepzibah and promises Jimmie $20,000 in Liberty bonds if he will marry her. Herbert, who is treasurer of the Belgian Babies War Relief organization, places a baby on Jimmie's doorstep as a practical joke. Herbert is subsequently involved in an auto accident and cannot leave the hospital for several days. Jimmie hides the baby in a cupboard and tries to conceal its cries from Mary and her mother. After Jimmie, believing that Herbert embezzled the relief group's funds, takes the Liberty bonds, and Hepzibah steals them from him and elopes with another man, Herbert escapes from the hospital, the bonds are recovered, Jimmie's reputation is reestablished, and his romance with Mary flourishes.