The Sin of Lena Rivers

Following the death of her beloved grandfather, orphaned teenager Lena Rivers goes with her grandmother to live in the Kentucky home of her Uncle John, whose family believes the girl illegitimate. Lena meets Durrie Belmont, the ward of her wealthy next-door neighbor, and romance blossoms. But bitterness and jealousy from members of both families plaque the young couple, and ugly rumors about Lena's parentage lead to a shocking revelation that irrevocably alters her life.

Based on a popular novel that had already been adapted to the screen three times and dramatized for the stage, The Sin of Lena Rivers was a prestige motion picture for Tiffany Productions, the classiest independent studio operating in Hollywood during the early Depression years. Although it lacked the resources of MGM or Paramount, Tiffany gave its movies sturdy production mounting and hired the best casts available. That careful approach to indie filmmaking distinguished its product and is particularly apparent in Lena Rivers, which greatly pleased the small-town and working-class audiences for whom it was intended. It also kick-started the career of wholesome ingenue Charlotte Henry, who became a minor star after appearing in Paramount's Alice in Wonderland the following year, but is best remembered for her role as Little Bo-Peep in the Laurel and Hardy classic, Babes In Toyland (1934).

ALICE IN WONDERLAND is frequently cited as the film that "discovered" winsome 1930s ingenue Charlotte Henry, yet here she is, playing the title character in the backwoods drama LENA RIVERS. Based on a popular novel by Mary J. Holmes, the film concentrates on Lena's misadventures when her fisherman grandpa is lost at sea and she is sent to live with her wealthy Kentucky relatives. Shunned by her pretentious aunt (Betty Blythe) and obnoxious cousin (Joyce Compton), Lena enjoys a sudden change of status when it is learned that her real father is the family's aristocratic neighbor (James Kirkwood). As frosting on the cake, our heroine falls in love with Durrie (Morgan Galloway), the neighbor's handsome young ward. A previous version of LENA RIVERS was filmed in 1925.