Laddie (1926 film)


Laddie is a 1926 American drama film directed by James Leo Meehan with John Bowers in the title role. It was based on Gene Stratton-Porter's novel, Laddie, A True Blue Story.

Plot

Laddie, son of the Stantons, an Ohio pioneer family, falls in love with Pamela Pryor, daughter of a neighboring aristocratic English family, though the Pryors adopt a condescending attitude toward the Stanton family. Through the efforts of Little Sister, who knows of Laddie's love, the two secretly communicate, and Mr. Pryor takes a liking to Laddie when he tames a wild horse for him. Meanwhile, Shelley, a Stanton girl, falls in love with city lawyer Robert Paget; when he leaves her under mysterious circumstances, she returns home heartbroken. The Pryors, disgraced because of a false accusation against their son in England, are at length forced to accept Laddie. It develops that Paget is actually the banished son of the Pryors; after a strained crisis Pryor forgives his son, and Laddie and Pamela, Robert and Shelley, and the Stantons and the Pryors are happily united.

Cast

The title character of Laddie is modeled after Stratton-Porter's deceased older brother, Leander, to whom she gave the nickname of Laddie. Stratton-Porter's brother drowned in the Wabash River on July 6, 1872, when he was a teenager. As in Stratton-Porter's own family, Laddie is connected with the land and identifies with Stratton-Porter's father's vocation of farming. The novel on which the film is based was published in 1913.

Technical Specifications