The Open Door (1919)

After serving fifteen years of a twenty-year prison term for embezzlement, Joe Moore is released early for good behavior. In New York, he finds Matthew Owens and James Horton, his former business associates, and demands that they pay what they owe him. Since Moore has lost his copy of their agreement, Owens refuses, but Horton, who has raised Moore's daughter as his own, promises to pay. When Horton is found murdered, Moore is suspected. After Robert Blakemore, the fiancé of Moore's daughter, discovers Horton's copy of the agreement, it is revealed that Moore, previously the business' bookkeeper, took the blame for Owens' embezzlement in return for $25,000 and the assurance that his daughter would be cared for. Owens, in attempting to steal this money from Horton's safe, was stopped by Horton, who was then killed by Owens' hired man. Owens is imprisoned, while Moore leaves without informing his daughter of his true identity, to protect her reputation.