The Microbe

Story

Synopsis

Happy O'Brien, called "The Microbe," or "Mike" for short, a female street urchin who sells newspapers dressed as a boy to avoid harassment, is saved from arrest for fighting other newsboys in Chinatown by wealthy author DeWitt Spense. DeWitt, there to purchase drugs, is so moved by Mike's pugnacity, that he takes her to his mansion for literary inspiration. When DeWitt learns that Mike is a girl, he resolves to educate her. As Mike blossoms, DeWitt's attentions turn to love, to the dismay of Judith Winthrope, who wants to marry him, and his friend Robert Breton, who, with Judith, convinces Mike that DeWitt's writing is suffering because of her.

Director

Henry Otto

Writers

Henry Altimus, June Mathis

Language

English

Country

United States of America

Release date

21 July 1919

Ensemble

Cast

• 

  Viola Dana

  Happy O'Brien, The Microbe

• 

  Kenneth Harlan

  DeWitt Spense

• Arthur Maude

  Robert Breton

• 

  Bonnie Hill

  Judith Winthrope

• Ned Norworth

  Norman Slade

• Lucy Donahue

  Mrs. Risden