The Crystal Gazer

Rose Jorgenson, a poor tenement dweller who lives with her daughters Rose and Norma in a slum and whose husband is in prison, finds out that he is to be electrocuted. Distraught, she commits suicide. The children are adopted--Rose by the wealthy Judge Keith, who brings her up in the lap of luxury, and Norma by a poor neighbor, who raises her in the squalid tenement she was born in. After they reach adulthood Norma is hired as an assistant to the shady hypnotist Caistro, who also knows Rose and notices the strong resemblance between the two. Complications ensue.

Directed by George Melford, The Crystal Gazer leans on a strong ensemble — Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Winifred Greenwood — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1917.