Timothy's Quest (1922) DVD-R

Starring Joseph Depew, Helen Rowland, Marie L. Day, Margaret Seddon, Bertram Marburgh
Directed by Sidney Olcott

Print: Black and White
Runtime: 70 min.
Genre: Drama

A picture featuring orphans was always a good box-office bet in the early '20s, so it's no surprise that the novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin found its way to the screen. Eleven-year-old Joseph Depew (who grew up to direct The Beverly Hillbillies) is Timothy, who lives in an orphanage and takes care of a little girl he calls Lady Gay (Helen Rowland). He runs away with the girl and they set out in search of a mother. Their travels lead them to a ride on a freight train headed out to the country. The children pick out a house that they think would be nice to live in, but its resident, spinster Avida Cummins (Marie Day), has no intention whatsoever of being a "mother" to anyone and refuses to take them in. Needless to say, it's only a matter of a few days before she changes her mind and allows the orphans to become part of her life. Eventually, she is given the opportunity to let Timothy go, but by then she has come to love the little boy. Wiggin's story was filmed as a talkie in 1935.