Poor Relations

Poor Relations is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by King Vidor. Produced by the Brentwood Corporation, the film starred Vidor’s wife Florence Vidor and featured comedienne ZaSu Pitts.
The picture is the final of four Christian Science precept films that represent a brief phase in Vidor’s output championing the superiority of self-healing through moral strength and supplemented by the benefits of rural living.

Plot

Country girl Dorothy Perkins succeeds as an architect in the city, but then is scorned by her old-money in-laws.

Cast

Florence Vidor as Dorothy Perkins
Lillian Leighton as Ma Perkins
William De Vaull as Pa Perkins
Roscoe Karns as Henry
ZaSu Pitts as Daisy Perkins
Charles Meredith as Monty Rhodes

Reception

The reviews were "poor". Exhibitors Trade Review observed that "the slender, fragile story has just about all it can do to make its way through the new-mown hay atmosphere."

Theme

Poor Relations provides an early example of Vidor’s “feminist” presentation of professional and independent women, emphasizing reciprocal exchanges between the sexes.