The Echo of a Song
Directed by Allan DwanMacQuarrie is a modern Fagin, a man of almost irredeemable character. The mother is dead and he raises the children himself in his own way. He terrorizes them and makes them beg, while he carries on his business of petty thievery. When the children come in, he takes their money and pushes them out again. The weary children bear the sound of an organ as they pass a church, and being tired they enter. The organist sees their grief and gets their sad story from them. She insists upon accompanying them to their home, and is insulted by the father. She tells the police what she knows. That night the father makes the children go out to beg again, and he starts forth with his tools to ply his nefarious trade. The children seek the church and the kind lady. She gathers them to her and all sing as she plays. The father is interrupted by the police, and in a running fight he is shot. He throws his hat away and misleads his followers. Passing the church, and being desperately wounded, he seeks its shelter. He sinks to the floor and sees his children with the organist. She plays a song that his mother used to sing, and in half delirium, his mind wanders back to earlier days. He sees his young mother at a similar organ and remembers the thrill it used to cause him. He sees himself coming home drunk and her anguish. His time has come, and he staggers to the little group, gasps out a plea for forgiveness, and dies. The organist clasps the children to her, determined that their lives will start anew in beautiful surrounding.
Where to Watch The Echo of a Song
