Goodness Gracious

Clara Kimball Young, batting her eyelashes even faster than Bernadette Peters, plays Gwendoline, an innocent(?) heroine who seeks a livelihood in the big city. She's briefly employed in a 'bucket shop' (a crooked brokerage house) and arouses the attention of a moustache-twirling top-hatted villain (played by her real-life husband James Young). After temporarily escaping his clutches, she finds gainful employment in the firm of a dry-goods millionaire (James Lackaye). The millionaire's youthful son Cornelius (played by Sidney Drew, well into middle age) falls in love with her ... but his father disapproves of their marriage, and he cuts off Cornelius with only a shilling (24 cents, it says here in the titles). The villain arrives, murders Gwendoline's employer (just temporarily, mind you) and frames Cornelius for the crime. Will true love triumph?

Directed by James Young, Goodness Gracious leans on a strong ensemble — Sidney Drew, Clara Kimball Young — 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 romance titles of 1914.