The Three Wise Men

• Watchlist

Madge Fields succumbs to the blandishments of William Owens, a wealthy roisterer, and when he tires of her beauty he casts her aside. Too late she realizes the wages of sin. She was loath to believe that Owens had deserted her and her little one. She wrote him letter after letter, pleading and tearful letters which would soften the heart of any one but a selfish rounder. But Owens came not. Christmas time was drawing near. To William Owens and Horace Johnson, his friend, Christmas Eve meant the bright lights, the merry laughter of women and popping of champagne corks. At the height of the merry making of Owens, Johnson and their friends, enters Nellie of the Salvation Army. She refuses the brimming glass of liquor offered to her. "I don't drink," she says, "but let me tell you a story that was once told to you at your mother's knee." "When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He that is born King, for we have seen His star in the East, and have come to worship Him.'" Then the minds of the merry makers revert back to Biblical days when the Savior was born in the manger, and the wise men came bearing gifts. "They crucified Him and two others with Him." Then comes a vision of Bethlehem and Owens, by a miracle, finds a sudden distaste for the revelry and leaves the café. Seated alone on a park bench, in imagination, he is escorted through Galilee. On one side are his tempters and on the other side is the Salvation Army lassie. Suddenly he awakens by the Christmas morning bells chiming the message of peace and good will to all men. Standing there before him is Nellie, the Salvation Army lassie. Owen's thoughts go back to Madge Fields, the woman whom he had betrayed. Led by Nellie, he goes in search of Madge, finds her, and life's real happiness begins for both of them.