What Love Can Do (1916)

Widower Calvert Paige leaves his baby daughter Johnnie in New York and goes West, where he becomes wealthy as a mine owner and newspaperman. Lil Magill, who came to work on his newspaper, is lovestruck with Paige, as he is with her, and they become lovers. After several years Lil has become a successful author but Paige has tired of her. Their friction grows when Lil takes the side of striking miners against him. Because Johnnie has asked to be with her father, Paige now decides to break his relationship with Lil. He writes both women letters, but accidentally switches them. The result is that Johnnie sees something of what her father is like and resolves to go to him. Paige fires Lil because of her closeness with the miners and his growing resentment of her. When miners threaten violence, Johnnie, who has come to know Lil, begs her to intercede. When Paige sees this, he becomes enraged, but the scene is interrupted by a angry miner who shoots at Paige. Lil throws herself in front of her lover, saving his life, and when Lil recovers, Paige realizes that he still loves her.