Kindred of the Dust (1922)

This sentimental melodrama (adapted from the novel by Peter B. Kyne) was the last silent film that director Raoul A. Walsh made under the auspices of his own production company. His then-wife, Miriam Cooper, stars as "Nan of the sawdust pile," who is victimized by a man who wed her illegally. She goes back to her Northwest hometown with a bastard child only to suffer malicious gossip and ostracism. The only one who stands by her is Donald MacKaye, her childhood sweetheart (Ralph Graves). But Donald's father, a mill owner (Lionel Belmore) thoroughly disapproves of their romance. Although he forbids his son to have anything to do with Nan, when Donald becomes seriously ill Nan is at his bedside until he recovers. Still Mr. MacKay refuses to warm up to Nan, but Donald marries her anyhow. Finally, when the couple gives him a grandson, MacKay gives them his fond approval. Miriam Cooper notes in her book, Dark Lady of the Silents, that during the filming of this picture, she burned her eyes severely by staring into a bank of arc lights -- a very dangerous thing to do in the early days of motion picture lighting. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi