AustLit

The film is based on a nineteenth-century stage melodrama by Dion Boucicault. Originally presented in the United States as The Poor of New York (1857), the play had been adapted to London as The Streets of London (1864); in the latter guise, it toured Australia in 1887.

While arguing with Gideon Bloodgood, from whose none-too-stable bank he is trying to recover his money, Captain Fairweather collapses and dies. This leaves Bloodgood, who retains Fairweather's money, vulnerable to the blackmailing activities of his clerk, Badger.