Lois Weber directs Louis Calhern for the second time in his second movie, and Claire Windsor in her third or fourth. I had seen this movie some time ago, but had no memory of it, and wondered why I had considered it competent but boring. This viewing reminded me.
Mr. Calhern is newly married to Miss Windsor She is a pretty little thing, but a bit of a nitwit and very clinging. Other Woman Mona Lisa -- yes, that's the name of the actress, so don't blame me -- is married to Phillip Smalley. He adores her, but she doesn't love him. She is smart enough to do everything right -- except when she threw over Mr. Calhern; instead of rushing back to propose, he had found consolation with Miss Windsor. However, Miss Lisa is willing to forgive him for that and begin an affair while Smalley is out of town.
This was Weber's first release through Paramount, and suddenly, everything is conventional and neat: too neat. the situations mirror themselves perfectly, the one interesting visual gloss is the way some of the titles take up the right three-quarters of the screen, allowing one of the players to pose. There is a bit of a fashion show; Miss Windsor wears a hat that in a high wind might carry her back to Kansas.
As much as I admire Miss Weber's movies of five years earlier, this one lacks the cinematic daring she had offered back then. All that's left is the preaching, and the fight over Calhern who, at this stage, is a long drink of water, but not much else.
