Having seen and loved THE KEEPER OF THE BEES, I was happy to find another filmed version of a Gene Stratton-Porter story.
This story centers of a young girl named Laurie (Jean Parker), raised in the limberlost (timbered swamp land in Indiana) by her bitter aunt (Marjorie Main). It seems Laurie's mother married the man the aunt wanted for herself.
Laurie is a dreamy young lady who collects butterflies, reads books, and dreams of going to the city. One day she means a city lady lost in the swamp (Betty Blythe) and they become friends. She also meets a young man (Eric Linden) who has just graduated from law school.
The local thug is also the area's richest man (Edward Pawley) who has his eye on Laurie since his wife is dead. He persuades the aunt to let him marry the girl by promising her money and clearing the mortgage debt on her shack. But Laurie has seen him beat a poor orphan boy he took in to work around his place. And she has fallen for the young lawyer.
The aunt prevails by telling Laurie that her parents were never married and that the mother killed herself. She'll tell everyone if she doesn't marry the old man.
At the joyless wedding, the townspeople stand around like statues because they are appalled the aunt has forced the girl into marriage with the brute. But the orphan boy changes everything when he threatens to shoot the old man.
This is a low budget film from Monogram studio with lots of outside filming. Parker and Linden are excellent as the young couple. Former silent star, Betty Blythe, is warm as the caring lady. Pawley is appropriately snarky as the brute. Also good are Hollis Jewell as the orphan and George Cleveland and Sarah Padden as the store owners. But it's Marjorie Main as the grim aunt who turns in a great performance. There's not a whisper of humor in her Aunt Nora.
Very enjoyable film with a good story and a solid cast.