Young idealist Richard Miller is selected as valedictorian for his New England high-school commencement class of 1906 and intends to inject modern anti-capitalistic ideas into his speech. His father, Nat Miller, accidentally learns of it and interrupts Richard's speech before he can make a fool of himself. The small town later celebrates the Fourth of July with customary fireworks and picnics. Richard spends time with his girl, Muriel McComber, who promises to allow him to kiss her one day. When he sends her love poems, quoting the likes of Omar Khayyám and Swinburne, her father forbids her to ever see him again and forces her to write a letter denouncing him. Heartbroken, Richard drowns his sorrow in a local bar, drinking and smoking with a vamp called Belle, and comes home drunk. Alcoholic uncle Sid, who is used to the effects of liquor, nurses Richard back to sobriety, but Richard must still face the uncertain punishment of his father as he worries about his future with Muriel.
Ah Wilderness!
Story of small-town life in turn-of-the-century America, and a young boy's problems facing adolescence.
