Back Pay

Hester Bevins is trapped - by her small town, by her slovenly aunt's run down boarding house, by the attentions of her piggish 'uncle'. She finally flees in the company of a traveling salesmen. All she leaves behind is her heart, held by earnest clerk Gerald. Hester soon trades up the boyfriend chain in the big city until she lands the big one: war profiteer Wheeler (Montagu Love). But Hester's debt to Gerald is beyond measure.

Famed 'Orchid Girl' Corinne Griffith was one of the silent era's greatest stars, retiring soon after the advent of the Talkies. Back Pay is one of her few surviving films and the only Talkie.

In this early sound film, an innocent country gal tires of her dull pastoral life and equally boring beau so she heads for the big city in search of adventure. Instead, she finds herself the kept woman of a rich war profiteer. Deep down, she still loves the country boy who has been seriously injured while fighting WW I; when the girl hears he has returned home blind and dying, she pleads with her wealthy benefactor to be allowed to see him one last time.