Todd of the Times (1919)

Although he is known for having the "keenest nose for news" on the Springfield Evening Times , city editor Theobald Todd lacks the assertiveness to realize his dream of becoming the managing editor when the position opens. Married to a domineering former widow who runs a boardinghouse and dotes on her overgrown, lazy son Roy, Todd is henpecked into getting Roy a job on the paper. After the owner puts Todd in charge when he goes away for a few days, Todd and his star reporter, although hampered by Roy's interference, expose a gambling ring whose members operate under the guise of stock brokers, in defiance of the newly-passed anti-betting law, led by the town's self-appointed head of an anti vice crusade. The paper's "extra" receives the commendation of the returning owner, who gives Todd the managing editor position. At home, Todd smashes the parlor furniture and proves he is "managing editor of his own establishment," thus ending his wife's reign of terror.