- A crooked lawyer schemes to dispossess the heir to a baronetcy.
- An intensely unhappy woman hatches a plot to switch the babies of a poor family and a rich family. But the nurse hired to pull off this transfer refuses to go through with it, leaving each baby with its proper family. When the babies are grown, the man from the poor family (who has been led to believe that he did come from the rich family) goes to the house of the other and throws him out. The remainder of the movie deals with the frustrations of mistaken identity.—Ulf Kjell Gür
- Desirous of making the child of his mistress, Mrs. Brophy, heir to his fortune, Sir James Hall bribes the nurse, Mrs. Stanger. to exchange his infant son, Robert, for the illegitimate son, Nicholas. Mrs. Stanger and her baby daughter, Gertrude, having just been deserted by her husband, has a strong motherly feeling for the wronged mother. Consequently she disobeys instructions, and deceives Sir James by not making the exchange. As years pass, both sons grow to manhood and Gertrude to a handsome young woman who acts as a barmaid, under an assumed name. Her father, Stanger, a pal of Nicholas and frequenter of the tavern, does not know her as his daughter. Mrs. Brophy, on her death-bed. gives to her son, Nicholas, a letter written by Sir James, explaining the scheme of exchange of his infant sons. Nicholas, thinking he is the legitimate son, becomes much elated, until told by her in her dying breath the exchange was never made, and the old nurse was the only living person who knew the secret. Nicholas immediately goes to see Sir James, but finding him out, meets Robert, to whom he shows the letter and succeeds in convincing him that he, Nicholas, is the rightful heir. Robert at once departs from his father's house, but before leaving, gives to his fiancée, Beatrice, a note for Nicholas to meet him at the old mill to obtain more information about his knowledge of the affair. Beatrice reads the note before delivery, and, fearing trouble, makes her way to the mill and hides. Nicholas encounters Sir James, who is very much upset at his past being unearthed, but wishing to verify the story, makes known his intentions to visit the old nurse. Nicholas, knowing this, arrives before him, and under pretense of giving his old servant a kerchief, chokes her with it while placing it about her neck. After his escape, the police finding the kerchief to be a handkerchief upon which Robert's initials appear, seek him as the murderer. Nicholas turns the meeting at the mill into a trap for Richard, who is locked up into the game room where Beatrice is hiding. Together they make a daring escape down the mill-wheel, where a desperate battle is fought, with fatal results to one of Nicholas's confederates, Grigg, the miller. Nicholas visits the tavern and falls in love with Gertrude, who is enticed to his rooms by Stanger, known as Dyke. After being drugged and spending a hideous night, her escape is planned by Dyke, who, during the arrangements, discovers her to be his own daughter. Together they start for the trial of Robert, who has been accused of murder, and is being defended by Nicholas, who in turn has all the witnesses bribed to testify against his client. At the critical point, Stanger and his daughter appear, giving evidence against the defendant's lawyer, which results in his suicide and the clearing up of the plot.—Moving Picture World synopsis
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Top Gap
By what name was The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1914) officially released in Canada in English?
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