Wealthy Cynthia is in love with not-so-wealthy Roger, who is married to Marcia. The threesome is terribly modern about the situation, and Marcia will gladly divorce Roger if Cynthia agrees to a financial settlement. But Cynthia's wealth is in jeopardy because her trust fund will expire if she is not married by a certain date. To satisfy that condition, Cynthia arranges to marry Hagon Derk, who is condemned to die for a crime he didn't commit. She pays him so he can provide for his little sister. But at the last minute, Derk is freed when the true criminal is discovered. Expecting to be a rich widow, Cynthia finds herself married to a man she doesn't know and doesn't want to.
Direction
DeMille's last silent—opulent sets barely masking sound-era jitters.
Acting
Charles Bickford's brooding miner vs. Conrad Nagel's polished coward.
Director
Cecil B. DeMille
Conrad Nagel
Roger Towne
Kay Johnson
Cynthia Crothers
Charles Bickford
Hagon Derk
Julia Faye
Marcia Towne
Joel McCrea
Marco
Robert Edeson
Wise Fool
William Holden
Wise Fool
Leslie Fenton
Young 'Vulture'
Tyler Brooke
The Life of the Party
Robert T. Haines
The Judge
Douglas Scott
Bobby (as Douglas Frazer Scott)
Jane Keckley
His Mother
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
DeMille shot this as a silent then added synchronized sound sequences, creating a awkward hybrid that critics roasted.
The 'marriage deadline' plot mirrored real 1920s anxiety about wealthy women's financial dependence—Cynthia's agency was radical for the era.
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