The Way Out

While packing her trunk preparatory to leaving home for the adjoining county, where she has been called to teach, the young schoolteacher discovers that one of her rings is broken. Her father volunteers to have the ring mended and bring it to her. On her first day at school a new pupil is enrolled, the motherless daughter of a resident, who personally escorts the child to school. The acquaintance thus begun ripens into love. The girl's father writes that he is coming to visit her. He does not come, but is brought in, dead, by men who have found his body on the trail, a victim of bandits. When the girl resumes her school work, her lover's daughter, among others, brings her a little token of sympathy.

Directed by Anthony O'Sullivan, The Way Out leans on a strong ensemble — Claire McDowell, Harry Carey, L.M. Wells — 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 1915.