Ten Nights in a Bar-Room (1931)

Based on the cautionary stage play by Edwin Waugh, the story concerns Joe Morgan (William Farnum), a highly respected business executive and family man who throws his life away by consuming mass quantities of booze. His sweet little daughter Mary Morgan (Patty Lou Lynd) wanders into the saloon, tugs her drunken father by his tattered sleeve and whines "Daddy, won't you come home with me now?" This proves to be the first step towards Morgan's redemption, but first he has a score to settle with Simon Slade (Tom Santschi), the villain who dragged him to degradation and stole his business. The film's highlight is a knock-down, drag-out fistfight between William Farnum and Tom Santschi, in emulation of their famous battle in 1914's the Spoilers. The story was previously filmed six times during the silent era. 71 Minutes.