The melodrama was written and directed by Theodore Wharton, and stars E.H. Calvert, Ruth Stonehouse, Mildred Weston, Dolores Cassinelli, Bryant Washburn and Billy Mason.

The film received generally positive reviews and was noted for its emotional and social themes of suicide, humanity, wealthy and poor characters, and the bread line scenes.

Realizing how little of real life she knows, the man, disgusted with the social whirl of her class, dons his old attire and wanders down by the river for a breath of fresh air.

He was regarded as being a pioneer in the film industry, making an impression on his colleagues for his innovative use of superimpositions; as seen near the end of the movie where Calvert remembers his encounter with the young woman on the bridge, with a flashback shot of the meeting superimposed above his head.

[3][4] The film's ending scene where Calvert saves Stonehouse from going into the water, was ironically shot beneath the "suicide bridge",[a] which has since been destroyed.

[3][4] Barbara Tepa Lupack writes in her book, Silent Serial Sensations: The Wharton Brothers and the Magic of Early Cinema, that the story is one of "loss and redemption".

It shows us that poverty begets sympathy and that wealth has the tendency to breed selfishness and apathy, when those who possess it fail to keep in touch with their less fortunate creatures".

[8][9] The Alton Evening Telegraph praised the film as a "subtle tense superb dramatic masterpiece, portrayed by the Essanay eastern players, a photoplay for long remembrance".

[11] The Meriden Daily Journal referenced the ending where he meets the girl who saves him, and the reunion of two hearts that have risen "from the submerged" is made complete.

[4] Independent filmmaker Michael Glover Smith said that "while the plot is similar to that of the contrived Victorian-style melodramas common to the era, the film is sensitively directed and well acted.

While this is, in itself, a familiar movie image, what really impresses about the moment is the way that E.H. Calvert slowly and sadly shakes his head while tearing up the picture, a subtle and exquisite bit of film acting".