The Idle Rich (1929)

Millionaire William van Luyn falls in love with his secretary Joan Thayer and marries her. Her family, part of "the great middle class" (as blowhard nephew Henry keeps reminding us), is ... See full summary »

Director:

William C. de Mille

Writers:

Edith Ellis (play), Edgar Franklin (adapted from the story: "Regular People" by),

Stars:

Conrad Nagel, Bessie Love, Leila Hyams

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Conrad Nagel	...	William van Luyn
Bessie Love	...	Helen Thayer
Leila Hyams	...	Joan Thayer
Robert Ober	...	Henry Thayer
James Neill	...	Mr. Thayer
Edythe Chapman	...	Mrs. Thayer
Paul Kruger	...	Tom Gibney
Kenneth Gibson	...	Frank Thayer

Storyline

Millionaire William van Luyn falls in love with his secretary Joan Thayer and marries her. Her family, part of "the great middle class" (as blowhard nephew Henry keeps reminding us), is happy for Joan, but reluctant to take charity from Will. He moves in with them, and they keep resisting, until one day he takes drastic action.

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Plot Keywords:

middle class | marriage | apartment | family relationships | class distinction | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 June 1929 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was an adaptation of a Broadway play titled "White Collars" by Edith Ellis. The original stage production opened at the Cort Theatre in New York on Feb. 23, 1925 and ran for 104 performances. There was a later film adaptation called Rich Man, Poor Girl starring Robert Young, Lew Ayres, Ruth Hussey and Lana Turner.

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Connections

Version of Rich Man, Poor Girl (1938)

User Reviews

One of the finest of MGM's early talkies

William DeMille, brother of Cecil, directed one of the finest of MGM's early talkies. Conrad Nagel plays a millionaire who marries his secretary and then sets out to change her middle-class family's bias against the upper class.

Although the film - based on a play - is confined to mainly one set, it never appears stagy, thanks to a good variety of camera setups and seamless editing. And the cast is uniformly excellent, with Nagel again proving why he was one of the most in-demand actors of the early talkies, with his strong speaking voice. The recorded sound is also very clear.

As far as I know, TCM has shown this gem only once, but it's high time they make it available again