The story
“As Little Fawn, in Betrayed, a Mutual Masterpicture, Deluxe Edition, produced by the Thanhouser Film Corporation, Grace DeCarlton, attractive and talented young star of the New Rochelle studios, delivers one of the most impressive portrayals ever presented on a motion picture screen. And as Heart-of-Oak, young chief of a remnant of the vanishing race, Robert Whittier, long a star of the legitimate stage, who is making his initial appearance as a Mutual leading man as co-star of Miss DeCarlton, presents an equally striking interpretation. American history presents no more pitiful a tragedy than that of the red man, who ruled supreme throughout the North American continent until the coming of the white man gradually drove him from the forests and the plains to the reservations, where he is now living under strict government supervision.
“It is true that many of the Indians, descendants of the greatest warriors and chieftains their race has ever known, are making desperate efforts to save the remnants of their people by securing an education in government colleges, in the hope of later devoting their services to the welfare of their brother and sister red men. And, too, the Indian hopes to preserve himself by getting an education which shall make him the equal of white man—but in most instances all his knowledge ever brings him is melancholy, a still more forlorn hopelessness of surviving his conquerors. His imagination, his arts, his way of living all belong to an age that is past and gone. How often repeated has been the history of young Indian sons and daughters who have returned with their education to the tribes of their people—only to sink back into lethargy due to the overpowering influences of environment and the listlessness which has come from the suppression of all their splendid racial traditions!
“Betrayed presents the Indian in a new role, something heretofore never attempted in a motion picture drama. It deals with Heart-of-Oak, who shakes the dust of a Western reservation for a college career in the East. Heart-of-Oak is the son of a noted chief, and has taken the preservation of his race deeply at heart. His younger sister, Little Fawn, worships him. At college, the Indian quickly becomes a favorite. He wins a place on the varsity crew, and finds a friend in a fellow oarsman, Granville Wingham, a young American of wealthy parents. Granville’s sister, Carolyn, also has a high regard for Heart-of-Oak, though the attachment never becomes romantic, Carolyn being bethrothed to a young man whom she has known since childhood. Little Fawn wins a scholarship in the Indian school in the West, and surprises her brother by announcing that she is ready to return East with him the second year to share his studies. Carolyn befriends Little Fawn in her strange surroundings. At the sophomore ball, dressed in an Indian costume, she innocently captures the admiration of Granville. On their return West for the summer Little Fawn secretly cherishes memories of the handsome white student who has covertly made love to her.
“Wingham, the elder, owns a ranch near the reservation. His son and daughter visit the property. They see a great deal of Heart-of-Oak and his sister. With deep foreboding the Indian watches Little Fawn and his friend. He talks gravely with the girl, telling her that for the sake of her own people she should not think of marriage outside her ancestral race. The Indian puts his trust in his college friend, whom he believes to be the soul of honor. When the disillusionment comes Heart-of-Oak tracks the runaways into the wilderness. The deep-rooted passion of the redskin for revenge takes possession of this educated Winnebago, who reverts to the type of his savage forebears. Ordering his sister into the hills, he closes in ferocious man-to-man battle with her lover—until the white man, bound and helpless, lies at the mercy of his erstwhile friend. Meanwhile, Carolyn has been summoned by the ruthless Indian. His vengeance is to be complete. But Little Fawn, driven back to the place by anxiety for the man she loves, is in time to sacrifice her own life for the safety of the white woman. His fury quenched by the sight of this sister, dead at his feet, Heart-of-Oak commands his victims to return to their own people—that he may be alone with his next of kin.”
Summary from Reel Life · 15 January 1916
