Tongues of Scandal

• 1927

• Watchlist

Few screen characters suffered as much as those seen in a typical Vitagraph dramatic film of 1910. Tongues of Scandal begins as two sweethearts, forbidden by their parents to marry, run off and elope. To keep up appearances, the husband begs his wife to keep their marriage a secret while he tends to family business in Europe. Upon finding out that the heroine is pregnant, the local gossips begin wagging their tongues and covering the girl with a thick coat of scandal. Hoping to shield herself from these vicious attacks, the girl finds sanctuary in the town church. The local blue-noses demand that the pastor either oust the girl or resign his post; he chooses the latter and before long is reduced to poverty and disgrace. Eventually the husband returns, explains everything, restores the pastor to his former rank, and puts the hateful gossips in their place (the fact that his unwillingness to own up to his marital status was the cause of the whole scandal is never dwelt upon).