The Moral Deadline (1919)

While walking in Central Park, Evelyn Merrill, a shop girl, meets Hal Oaker when he retrieves her blown-off hat from a stream. Inadvertently, Hal gives Evelyn the card of the man who earlier crashed into his taxi, and after a few dates, they marry, although Hal keeps the other name because he fears the reaction of his father, a wealthy financier who wants him to marry a society girl. After Oaker convinces Hal to leave Evelyn for a year to test the strength of their love, Oaker tries unsuccessfully to pay Evelyn to divorce Hal. Hal is shanghaied by sailors, while Evelyn has their child and becomes a dancer to support it. In order to raise money for an operation to save her baby's life, Evelyn dances at a disreputable Eastside café, which the Vice Society, led by Hal's mother, and the police raid. Hal, having become a reporter after escaping the sailors, defends Evelyn and begs her forgiveness.