A Romance of the Underworld (1918)

Overview

Convent raised Doris Elliott moves to New York to live with her brother Richard not knowing that he is part of a drug trafficking ring controlled by unscrupulous ward boss Michael O'Leary. At first Doris remains ignorant of the pervasiveness of crime and corruption in the Lower East Side until her friend, Mamie Bronson, whose brother, "Dopey Benny," has fallen victim to drugs, confesses that O'Leary has raped her. When O'Leary breaks into their home and attempts to rape her as well, he is shot when Richard unexpectedly arrives. Finding O'Leary dead and Richard unconscious, the police arrest Doris, and she is tried for murder. Defense lawyer Thomas McDonald, who has been working to expose the politician, is losing his case when Dopey Benny testifies that he killed O'Leary to avenge his sister's assault. Acquitted Doris is now free to marry Thomas.