The $5 Baby (1922)

A tramp called the "Solitary Kid" finds an abandoned infant, Ruth, on a doorstep, with a note promising a rich reward upon the girl's eighteenth birthday. The Solitary Kid "hocks" her for five dollars with Ben Shapinsky, a Jewish pawnbroker, who rears the infant as his own daughter. In time, Ruth turns eighteen, and the Solitary Kid, who has continued to pay interest on his five-dollar "loan," returns to the pawnbroker and demands Ruth back. If Shapinsky refuses to turn the girl over, he insists on being paid $10,000. Ruth overhears the proposition and informs the police. The Solitary Kid is arrested. Ruth goes on to marry Larry Donovan, an Irish youth who was her childhood sweetheart.