Four Months - Production & Contact Info

Four Months (1916)
Short | Short, Drama

Four Months (1916)

Short | Short, Drama

Billy Carrington, millionaire and idler, is notified by his family physician, Dr. Howard, that he is afflicted with a new and incurable disease, hamora, and that at the best he has but four months to live. Billy takes the news ...See moreBilly Carrington, millionaire and idler, is notified by his family physician, Dr. Howard, that he is afflicted with a new and incurable disease, hamora, and that at the best he has but four months to live. Billy takes the news philosophically, and through the reading of a book dealing with the problems of the poor, and through catching his valet, Fordham, in the act of opening up his safe, there comes to him an inspiration. He notifies his lawyer, Johnson, of his plan and swears him to secrecy. To the first deserving person or cause that he can find, he determines to leave his entire wealth. His home closed, and having allowed the report to be spread that he has left for a tour of South America, he takes up quarters in a distant part of the city under an assumed name. Chance leads him to the office of the Woman's Redemption Society, and to investigate its worthiness, he succeeds in obtaining a position as secretary for the society. But Buffum, the president of the home, has more than a charitable interest in fallen women, and others connected with him, for instance Hazel, a vulture of the tenements, and "Mug" Mullalay, with a lengthy police record, are not of the religious type. Billy leaves his position, and informs the police that it would be well to investigate the society's business. Detectives are put on the case immediately. In the same tenement where Billy lives, there rooms a young girl by the name of Bess, who has come from the country to undertake a literary career. "Mug" Mullalay, also living in the same tenement, sees her and sets her down for his victim, while Billy also meets her and considers her as a candidate for his wealth. One night Billy informs Bess that he was once the valet of Billy Carrington, the millionaire, and that he knows the combination of the Carrington safe. Without giving her a chance to declare herself, he leaves her with a key to the house, and also a diagram of the room, and the combination of the safe, and departs. Bess angrily tears up the paper. Fordham, Billy's discharged valet, reads that Carrington is supposed to be touring South America, and he plans to open the safe himself. But when Billy finds the safe opened, and the bit of paper that he left in it, he at once logically concludes that Bess must have done the work. The paper that he had left in the safe reads: "Perhaps some day you will learn that honesty is not only the best policy, but also the only policy. William Carrington." Mullalay and Hazel drug Bess and take her to Mullalay's room. Returning to the tenement, Billy is about to enter his room when he hears Bess, now beginning to recover from the effects of the dope, pleading with her captors. He knocks at Mullalay's door and demands admittance. Mullalay and Hazel hurriedly shove Bess into a closet, with a gag over her mouth, and admit Billy. He tells them that he is going to look in the closet for her after they have stated that they have seen nothing of her, and in attempting to prevent him, Mullalay draws a gun. Billy struggles with him, and in the scuffle the gun is discharged. The landlady hears the report and policemen are summoned. Billy finally opens the door of the closet, and Bess, wounded by the bullet, falls into his arms. The police arrive. Bess is sent to the hospital, and the others taken to the police station. That same night sufficient evidence has been obtained to raid the Woman's Redemption Society, and in this raid Fordham and Buffum are caught. At the police station the note that was left by Billy in the safe is found on Fordham, and when Billy recognizes his former valet, he realizes that it was he, and not Bess, who opened the safe. Billy goes to the hospital and finds that Bess's wound is only a slight one, and begs forgiveness from her for the proposition that he made, stating that perhaps she will understand later. Leaving the hospital, Bess is informed by Johnson that all the wealth of the millionaire Carrington has been turned over to her. She rushes to break the news to Billy. He congratulates her warmly. While at this point Johnson discovers an item in a newspaper and dashes to find Billy. He finds Bess with him. Billy reads that the well-known Dr. Howard has been found insane, having a mania for pronouncing his patients to be afflicted with a new and incurable disease, and giving them but four months to live. Bess turns to Johnson, tells him that she guesses that she will not accept the Carrington wealth, that she would rather be just a poor girl, but here, Billy discloses to her that he himself is William Carrington, and that he is willing to have his estate returned but only on condition that she comes with it, and to all of this Bess agrees. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
6 cast members

Name	Known for
Gayne Whitman Billy Carrington (as Alfred Vosburgh) Billy Carrington (as Alfred Vosburgh) See fewer	Money Madness (1917)
Vivian Rich Bess Bess See fewer	In Trust (1915)
George Periolat Mug Mullalay Mug Mullalay See fewer	The Red Lily (1924)
Gardina Bennett Hazel (as Gerdina Bennett) Hazel (as Gerdina Bennett) See fewer	Four Months (1916)
William Tedmarsh Buffum Buffum See fewer	The Girl of the Manor (1912)
George Webb Fordham Fordham See fewer	Black Beauty (I) (1921)