A Wife by Proxy

A Wife by Proxy — Plot

The film opens in Ireland, as a dying Patrick McNairne tells his daughter Jerry to go to New York and look up Norton Burbeck, a wealthy young man whose life Patrick had saved some time earlier (the surviving print, largely complete, lacks the second page insert of a letter explaining the full background). The affable Burbeck is due to inherit his uncle’s fortune provided he’s married by November; if not, the inheritance will go to his cousin Howard Curtis. An adventuress, Beatrice Gaden, and her husband Dick are in cahoots with Curtis: Beatrice pretends to be single in order to string Norton along up to the November date, at which time Curtis will come into the money and give a share to his unscrupulous partners.

• Release date
• January 6, 1917
• Runtime
• 50 min
• Genres
• Drama
• Director
• John H. Collins

A Wife by Proxy — Cast

Mabel Taliaferro Jerry McNairne

B

Bob Walker Norton Burbeck Sally Crute Beatrice Gaden

F

Fred Jones Frederick Gaden Yale Benner Howard Curtis

G

George D. Melville Timothy McNairn Ricca Allen Scraggs (housekeeper)

J

Jerome N. Wilson Guyler (Burbeck's lawyer)