Mary Astor is "The Runaway Bride" in this early talkie directed by Donald Crisp - and not very well, I might add. The young and beautiful Astor is Mary Gray, who is eloping with her fiancée (David Newell). He drives too fast, is wealthy, and doesn't want to work. Mary wants a husband who will make something of himself. For unexplained reasons, Mary doesn't seem to realize what this man is like until they elope.
Mary breaks off the engagement, and he leaves the suite they've rented to make arrangements for the wedding because he's determined to marry her. While he's gone, a robber enters her room and, unbeknownst to her, hides $80,000 worth of stolen pearls in her purse. He's killed by someone else, and then the police show up. With the help of a maid, Mary makes a run for it and winds up as a cook in the home of a wealthy bachelor (Lloyd Hughes). But the gang still wants their pearls.
Convoluted and directed in a meandering fashion, this film suffers from ETS (early talkie syndrome). The dialogue is said slowly, with pauses in between, throwing the rhythm of the film off. I just saw "Paid" from around the same time, and for some reason, that film doesn't suffer from this. But so many early talkies do, with the actors not used to speaking.
Dated, draggy, and predictable, this film is only worth seeing for Astor, who in spite of the problems, manages to do quite well. Actually the performances aren't bad. But the story! Ouch.
Mary breaks off the engagement, and he leaves the suite they've rented to make arrangements for the wedding because he's determined to marry her. While he's gone, a robber enters her room and, unbeknownst to her, hides $80,000 worth of stolen pearls in her purse. He's killed by someone else, and then the police show up. With the help of a maid, Mary makes a run for it and winds up as a cook in the home of a wealthy bachelor (Lloyd Hughes). But the gang still wants their pearls.
Convoluted and directed in a meandering fashion, this film suffers from ETS (early talkie syndrome). The dialogue is said slowly, with pauses in between, throwing the rhythm of the film off. I just saw "Paid" from around the same time, and for some reason, that film doesn't suffer from this. But so many early talkies do, with the actors not used to speaking.
Dated, draggy, and predictable, this film is only worth seeing for Astor, who in spite of the problems, manages to do quite well. Actually the performances aren't bad. But the story! Ouch.