The Mother and the Law (1914)

Synopsis
While busy with The Birth of a Nation, director D.W. Griffith began a small-scale contemporary drama called The Mother and the Law. The film was designed as an indictment against professional do-gooders who take it upon themselves to "reform" the poor. One victim of this misguided treatment is played by Mae Marsh, whose baby is claimed by the moral uplifters when her husband (Bobby Harron) proves unable to provide for his family. The film's dramatic highpoints include a violent capital vs. labor clash, and a climactic race for life as the husband is slated for execution for a crime he did not commit. If this all sounds familiar, it is because an abbreviated version of The Mother and the Law was incorporated into Griffith's four-part spectacular Intolerance; it was later released as a separate feature, with newly shot scenes added. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide