Summary
A porcelain-skinned heiress-in-name-only glides into a mahogany-paneled sanctum where destinies are bartered like railway bonds; within minutes the orphan’s gloved fingers sign a marriage compact that will ricochet from Wall Street to Mayfair. Kitty Silverton—whose laughter sparkles like cracked crystal—agrees to wed a titled stranger so that Lord Reginald Belsize can outmaneuver a draconian testament, placate his venal mistress Mme. de Semiano, and still clutch his cornucopian legacy. The clandestine nuptials are staged as vaudeville: Kitty dons dowdy calico, becomes the anti-belle, dupes the jealous diva, then retreats to a Long Island cottage where sea-spray and conscience erode the original bargain. Months of staged estrangement mutate into authentic tenderness; when the aristocrat finally returns, the counterfeit wife greets him with unfeigned ardor, and the mercenary chorus line of chorus girls, speculators, and dowagers collapses into a finale of renunciation and reclamation.
Synopsis
For the first time in her life Katherine Silverton--Kitty to her friends--hesitated about spending carfare to ride six blocks to the law office of her godfather, John Travers. She was not used to walking and she didn't intend to start just because her money supply was short and she faced a future which threatened economy of the strictest sort. Kitty's father had died leaving her practically nothing. She sought the advice of Mr. Travers. At the moment she entered the outer office, Mr. Travers had a perplexing problem on his hands. He was attorney for a large estate, the heir to which, Lord Reginald Belsize, had that morning arrived in New York to claim his inheritance. Lord Reginald was young, good-looking and ambitious to marry Mme. Helen de Semiano. Mme. Helen saw a favored match in Lord Reginald, who was soon to be wealthy, and her young-spendthrift brother Jack Churchill encouraged the match. But certain provisions of the will perplexed Mr. Travers. They also perplexed Lord Reginald. It was stipulated that Lord Reginald was to marry within a year or lose his inheritance; it further was stipulated that he was not to marry an actress. Lord Reginald didn't see how it could be arranged as he had brought Mme. Helen and her brother to New York. Mr. Travers suggested that he marry someone else first, leave her after the wedding and in six months she will obtain a divorce on grounds of desertion, making you free to marry whom you please. Then Kitty entered the office. Kitty assented to the proposition readily. She had the promise of a large sum of money, a quick divorce, and a chance to look around the world. But Kitty was very attractive and pretty, and Lord Reginald said that if Mme. Helen, who had reluctantly agreed to the arrangement, should see such an attractive young woman, she would refuse her consent. But resourceful Kitty rearranged her hair, put on a gingham apron, rolled up her sleeves, and made herself into a most unpromising person. Mme. Helen passed approval, not knowing the hoax. The ceremony was quickly performed and Lord Reginald and his bride left to be gone for several months until Kitty had gained her divorce. Meanwhile the jealousy of Mme. Helen was discouraging Lord Reginald, so one day he went to Long Island where Kitty was living. Realizing her opportunity, Kitty did everything within her power to make him happy. When Mme. Helen arrived, having followed Lord Reginald, the latter told her the time had come for the parting of their ways. Kitty, he said, was the woman he loved, and Kitty admitted that she loved him.
Review Excerpt
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A champagne-cork plot, effervescent and unpredictable, explodes across the monochrome canvas of Cecil B. DeMille’s formative era, yet this 1915 confection—sometimes misattributed to DeMille but actually shepherded by a triumvirate of Franco-American scribes—owes more to the drawing-room cynicism of Marivaux than to the biblical bombast for which the director later became synonymous.
The camera, still tethered to theatrical proscenium conventions, nonetheless glides with feline curiosity, frami..."
