Salvation Nell (1915)

Nell Saunders, who lives with her poverty-stricken parents in the New York tenement district, is compelled to do all sorts of menial work to support her family, and incidentally, to provide money to satisfy her father's craving for liquor. When she is unable to do so, she is abused by him. Yet in spite of the fact that she is remarkably pretty, she keeps on the path of virtue. One morning she receives a few dollars for her laundry work, but her father takes the money from her by brutal force. Her pals, Jim Piatt, of doubtful reputation. Sid McGovern and Myrtle, arrive just in time to save Nell from further harm. After spending this money on drink, her father comes home and demands more from his wife and daughter. Unable to get it, he raises a beer bottle and kills his wife. Terror-stricken he proceeds to the saloon again, and as he cannot pay for the drinks, is thrown out of the place. His head strikes the pavement and the police find him dead. At this moment "Hallelujah Maggie," a Salvation Army lassie, arrives on the scene and tries to comfort Nell and to induce her to join the Salvation Army. While walking along, they meet Jim. Sid and Myrtle, who succeed in persuading Nell to live with them. In the course of time, Nell and Jim fall in love, yet Nell refuses to live with him. Finally, when she discovers the beginning of an "affair" between Jim and Sal, she consents to do so. After they leave, Sid asks Myrtle to live with him, but she refuses, saying she prefers to live in luxury and to start on the "Golden Path." A year later Myrtle is installed in a luxurious apartment by an old roué. Jim has become a drunkard and forces Nell to get work so that she may supply him with money. Myrtle impresses upon Nell that she is foolish to waste her time on Jim and that she might do as well as she does herself, but Nell refuses to even think of such a plan. One day, while she is scrubbing the floor in some restaurant, Jim arrives, takes her money and goes off with Sal. A little later, she has finished her work and is approached by a tough fellow who wants to take her to her room. She resents this, but he forces his way in and from the window points out Jim and Sal kissing each other. Jim arrives, and a fight ensues in which he throws his antagonist down the stairs. The police arrive and take Jim along. He is sentenced to five years in jail, and Nell, in despair, joins the Salvation Army, to become one of its most ardent and faithful members. Some time elapses. The Major of the Army proposes to Nell, but she tells him she is determined to wait for Jim and to convert him also. When she is given permission to visit him in jail, he repudiates her insistent request to join the Salvation Army. The Major renews his marriage proposal, and Nell tells him all about her past life. Some time later Jim is released from jail. He meets one of his former pals who induces him to rob the old roué that night. Nell hears about this, and while Jim hesitates to carry out the crime, she prays at the foot of the stairs. Conscience-stricken, he decides at last to reform. Meanwhile Myrtle, who has adopted "The Golden Path," has sunk lower and lower, until finally, having become an habitual drunkard, she is led off to prison. At this moment the Salvation Army arrives on the scene, with banners flying and music playing. The Major, Nell and the new recruit, Jim Piatt, are seen among its members. Nell harangues the assembled crowd with prayer. Truly, indeed, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity."