Smilin' Through (1922)

Synopsis
Producer Joe Schenck reportedly paid seventy-five thousand dollars (an immense sum in those days) for the film rights to the stage play written by Jane Murfin and actress Jane Cowl (as a vehicle for herself). But it was money well spent, because it was a success for his wife, Norma Talmadge, who starred. On the wedding day of Moonyeen (Talmadge) and John Carteret (Wyndham Standing), her former suitor, Jeremiah Wayne (Harrison Ford), kills her. Carteret, as a result, grows into a bitter old man. He winds up raising his niece Kathleen, who grows up to look exactly like Moonyeen (because she's also played by Talmadge). When she falls in love with Kenneth Wayne, the nephew of the hated Jeremiah (Ford once again), Carteret does everything he can to oppose the match. But love wins out in the end, both in real life with the young people, and in the spirit world, when Carteret's dead sweetheart returns to comfort him. Ten years later, another Norma -Norma Shearer -- would remake this picture under the auspices of her producer husband, Irving Thalberg, and once again Sidney A. Franklin would direct. And that wasn't the end of it, either -- the story was filmed once again in 1941 and starred Jeanette MacDonald. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide