Robert and Beth Gordon are married but share little. He runs into Sally at a cabaret and the Gordons are soon divorced. Just as he gets bored with Sally's superficiality, Beth strives to ...
See full summary »
Get to know Moran Atias as she reveals the "Seinfeld" character she most relates to and the movie that makes her cry every time.
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: Why Change Your Wife? (1920)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
Learn more
More Like This
Male and Female
(1919)
Adventure
|
Drama
Director:
Cecil B. DeMille
Stars:
Thomas Meighan,
Theodore Roberts,
Raymond Hatton
Don't Change Your Husband
(1919)
Comedy
Director:
Cecil B. DeMille
Stars:
Elliott Dexter,
Gloria Swanson,
Lew Cody
The Affairs of Anatol
(1921)
Comedy
|
Drama
Director:
Cecil B. DeMille
Stars:
Wallace Reid,
Gloria Swanson,
Wanda Hawley
The Penalty
(1920)
Certificate: Passed
Crime
|
Drama
|
Horror
Director:
Wallace Worsley
Stars:
Charles Clary,
Doris Pawn,
Jim Mason
The Cheat
(1915)
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Cecil B. DeMille
Stars:
Fannie Ward,
Sessue Hayakawa,
Jack Dean
The Mark of Zorro
(1920)
Certificate: Passed
Adventure
|
Romance
|
Western
Director:
Fred Niblo
Stars:
Douglas Fairbanks,
Marguerite De La Motte,
Robert McKim
Manslaughter
(1922)
Drama
Director:
Cecil B. DeMille
Stars:
Leatrice Joy,
Thomas Meighan,
Lois Wilson
Old Wives for New
(1918)
Drama
Director:
Cecil B. DeMille
Stars:
Elliott Dexter,
Florence Vidor,
Sylvia Ashton
The Doll
(1919)
Comedy
|
Fantasy
Director:
Ernst Lubitsch
Stars:
Ossi Oswalda,
Hermann Thimig,
Victor Janson
Drama
Director:
Cecil B. DeMille
Stars:
Geraldine Farrar,
Wallace Reid,
Pedro de Cordoba
Beyond the Rocks
(1922)
Certificate: Passed
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Sam Wood
Stars:
Gloria Swanson,
Rudolph Valentino,
Edythe Chapman
Daddy-Long-Legs
(1919)
Comedy
|
Drama
Director:
Marshall Neilan
Stars:
Mary Pickford,
Milla Davenport,
Percy Haswell
Edit
Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Thomas Meighan | ... | Robert Gordon | |
| Gloria Swanson | ... | Beth Gordon | |
| Bebe Daniels | ... | Sally Clark | |
| Theodore Kosloff | ... | Radinoff | |
 |
Sylvia Ashton | ... | Aunt Kate |
| Clarence Geldart | ... | Doctor | |
| Mayme Kelso | ... | Harriette, the Dressmaker | |
| Lucien Littlefield | ... | Gordon's Butler | |
|
|
Edna Mae Cooper | ... | Gordon's Maid |
| Jane Wolfe | ... | Harriette's Client | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
Robert and Beth Gordon are married but share little. He runs into Sally at a cabaret and the Gordons are soon divorced. Just as he gets bored with Sally's superficiality, Beth strives to improve her looks. The original couple falls in love again at a summer resort. Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
Edit
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
19 September 1921 (UK) See more »Also Known As:
Hvorfor bytter Manden Hustru? See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
SilentColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1
Edit
See more »
Lyricst Alex Sullivan
Composer Josef Pasternack
Sung by John Steel
Published by Victor #18623-A
Recording date: 1919-09-29
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
For a silent movie, music plays an important part in it, with a private music recital and a public orchestra performance giving the mood for two scenes. Most significantly, music records with three different types of music are prominently displayed in the hands of two main actors, and are intrinsic to the story development. See more »Quotes
[Intertitle]: [about the cat and the dog] Two who already regret Robert's marriage.See more »
Soundtracks
Give Me a Smile and a KissLyricst Alex Sullivan
Composer Josef Pasternack
Sung by John Steel
Published by Victor #18623-A
Recording date: 1919-09-29
See more »
Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
Watch Hollywood hits and TV favorites for free with IMDb Freedive. Start streaming on IMDb and Fire TV devices today!
Explore popular action and adventure titles available to stream with Prime Video.
Today Cecil B. DeMille is probably best known for the overwrought (if thoroughly enjoyable) biblical epic "The Ten Commandments." But during the silent era he made several sophisticated comedies portraying the battle of the sexes such as "Why Change Your Wife," an engaging mixture of bizarre, over the top glamour (the negligee the husband buys his wife is so elaborately constructed I couldn't blame her for looking dismayed when she first saw it) and dead on day-to-day detail about married lifeis there a couple who hasn't gotten in each other's way and on each other's nerves when sharing a bathroom? Gloria Swanson plays Beth Gordon, a young wife who cannot resist the temptation to improve her husband, scorning his fox trot records for something called "The Dying Poet." She loses him to the proverbial shop girl, Sally Clarkhilariously played by Bebe Danielsa character so vulgar she owns a gyrating Kewpie Doll. (This film's frank endorsement of consumerism has often been remarked on, but it rightly acknowledges that what we chose to buy tells as much about our class and character as anything else). The husband soon realizes that he made a mistake, clearly finding Sally's baby talk even more tiresome than Beth's high minded nagging, but it isn't until Beth transforms herself into a sexy knockout wearing the height of pre-flapper fashion that the two reunite.
The movie isn't entirely cynical about romanceit is never really in doubt that Beth and her husband love each otherbut it is shrewd enough to recognize that in holding the attention of your partner a little glamour and sophistication doesn't hurt (the husband isn't let off the hook though, and his naiveté in expecting the honeymoon phase to last forever is mocked in a bathroom scene when Sally repeatedly interrupts his attempts to shave just as Beth did earlier).
A side note: All the leading players are engaging, but the violinist (played by Theodore Kosloff) who seduces women by making love to their souls steals every scene he is in.
To sum up, this worldly comedy challenges the common assumption that silent film is little more than slapstick or melodrama.