Lonely Mary Ellen ( Dorothy Gish ) works as a soda jerk in a sleepy Southern town, and she dreams of making it big in the city. She hops a train one day, and heads for New York where she finds a job in a shady cabaret run by William Gurson aka 'Will the Weasel' ( Charles K. Gerrard ). Will plots to swindle greenhorn Bob Fairacres ( Ralph Graves ) of his bankroll. He enlists Mary Ellen in his plan by framing her for a robbery and then threatening to jail her unless she participates. But Mary Ellen has fallen in love with Bob, and forewarns him at the last minute about the plan. The police arrive and take Will away, while Mary Ellen and Bob tie the knot, and then happy couple returns to her home town.
For fans of the talented Dorothy Gish and silent cinema, the loss of this film is sad. Surviving lobby cards for Mary Ellen Comes to Town, heightens the tragedy of so many lost silent films.
