The Pursuit of the Phantom (1914)

Accompanied by his dog Skookum artist Richard Alden goes to work painting the beauty of Laguna Beach There he courts a city woman much to the delight of a whimsical waif who weaves fantasies about the lovers The idyll is interrupted though when Wyant Van Zandt an ambitious millionaire steals the artists sweetheart Alden marries the waif who later bears him six children Years pass and Van Zandts son falls in love with Helen the artists daughter Indignant at the unsuitability of the match the millionaire forces his son to break with Helen Thinking that his daughters honor has been compromised Alden attacks and chokes the youth but at young Van Zandts bedside all are reconciled An allegorical epilogue contrasts the lots of Van Zandt and Alden To the left the millionaire embraces a skeleton in black while to the right the artist holds his wife From TCMcom Database powered by the AFI