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  • For Lack of Evidence (1917)
  • Short | Short, Crime, Drama
Primary photo for For Lack of Evidence
For Lack of Evidence (1917)
Short | Short, Crime, Drama
Martha Young, on trial for white slavery, is freed for "lack of evidence." Sitting in the courtroom is a girl who seems more than ordinarily interested in the trial. A few days later the girl comes across Martha, apparently very ill. The ...See moreMartha Young, on trial for white slavery, is freed for "lack of evidence." Sitting in the courtroom is a girl who seems more than ordinarily interested in the trial. A few days later the girl comes across Martha, apparently very ill. The girl offers to take her home. Martha accepts. Philip Harding, a reporter, recognizes Martha. Only a day or two before he has seen her at the home of Peter Drayton, the "Big Fellow." Harding warns the girl, but is told to mind his own business. He hails a taxi and follows. He is astounded at reaching the home of Martha to see the girl bid her good-bye and leave. He discovers that the girl lives directly across the hall from him. On the night following, he sees the landlady tidying up the room for the next occupant. He learns that the girl has left in order to "be with friends." He loses no time in getting to Martha's home. He sees Drayton and tracks him to Martha's door. He climbs the fire-escape and enters through the kitchen window. He listens at the sitting-room door and overhears Drayton say: "We must get her away from here." At that moment someone opens the hall door and he dives into a bedroom. Peeping out, he sees the girl go into the room where Drayton and Martha are talking, and again listens. He hears the girl accept Drayton's invitation to visit his country house in New Jersey, when again the hall door is opened and his escape is cut off. He rushes back into the bedroom and enters the closet, when the girl opens the bedroom door. The closet is stuffy, and Harding is unsuccessful in stifling a sneeze. The girl hears it; she is amazed at seeing him and orders him out. Once more he begs her to believe him, but she again orders him to go. Martha, Sadie and the girl leave for the country on the following morning, and that night Harding, locating the house in Eastwood, looks in through the window and sees the three in the big living room. He manages to climb the back porch and enters the house from a second story window. He is hardly inside, however, when he is seized, bound and gagged by two men. The girl in the meantime has gone to her room on the first floor. Sadie and Martha hear the scuffle upstairs, and Sadie goes in to investigate. Peeping through the keyhole, she sees the two men sitting at the window, both wearing the badges of the secret service. Descending swiftly to the hall, she meets Drayton, who has arrived with two henchmen, and gives the alarm. The two henchmen run swiftly up the stairs, burst in with guns drawn. The two secret service men, taken by surprise, surrender. Drayton then goes to the girl's bedroom door, forces an entrance, and locks himself and the girl in the room. Upstairs, when the lights go on, Harding is discovered and one of Drayton's men removes his gag. He tells them he is with the "big fellow" and commands them to get the keys from the officers and remove the handcuffs from his wrists. He is obeyed. He then commands them to tie the officers up while he keeps them covered. He is handed the guns and the henchmen start to bind the secret service men when Harding swings on them and covers them. Ordering the secret service men to take care of the now-bewildered crooks, Harding goes to the rescue of the girl, who is battling with Drayton. A few seconds later Drayton and his "gang" are linked together and Harding learns that the girl is the famous Mary Lane of the Secret Service, who has been trying to trap Drayton and Martha for months. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less
Read more: Plot summary
Director
Edwin Stevens
Writers
John C. Brownell (scenario) | Hugh McNair Kahler (story) (as Blair Hall)
See all filmmakers & crew (3)
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Status
Edit Released
Updated Apr 17, 1917
Release date
Apr 17, 1917 (United States)

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Cast

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4 cast members
Name Known for
Tina Marshall
Mary Lane - the Secret Service Operative Mary Lane - the Secret Service Operative   See fewer
The Yellow Menace (1916)
George Marlo
Phillip Harding - the Reporter Phillip Harding - the Reporter   See fewer
The Mill on the Floss (1915)
Ned Burton
Peter Drayton - the Big Fellow Peter Drayton - the Big Fellow   See fewer
Thunderbolts of Fate (1919)
Adella Barker
Martha Young - the Woman of Mystery Martha Young - the Woman of Mystery   See fewer
Romeo and Juliet (II) (1916)
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