... thus I cannot rate it. It is about the son of a rich man (Ben Lyon as Sidney Brock) who is living in a rooming house because he wants to make his own way in life. The girl born out of wedlock who works as a maid in the rooming house, (Rose Hobart as Ann/Stella), loves the guy. But, alas, he is engaged and in love with Connie, a rich girl. Connie comes to the boarding house to tell Sidney she is marrying somebody else because Sidney is taking too long trying to make it on his own and she is tired of waiting. As a result Sidney gets very drunk, and Stella takes care of Sidney in his inebriated state. The owner of the rooming house hears the commotion in Sidney's room, bursts in and sees them together, and insults Stella, saying she would expect this kind of behavior, like mother like daughter. Sidney blurts out to the rooming house owner that he and Stella are engaged. He actually does this to salvage Stella's reputation.
Sidney goes through with the marriage, and even as almost shotgun as it was, he and Stella are happy. Sidney's father, John Brock, thinks Stella is not good enough for Sidney, and that Stella is a gold digger. John (Claude Gillingham) seems to relent, although it is really just an act. When Connie gets divorced, John sees his chance to get rid of Stella. Connie gets Sidney to drive her home as a favor, but she is plotting more. John tells Stella that Sidney has gone off with Connie to her apartment because it is she that Sidney has always loved.
Stella rushes off to Connie's apartment. When she gets there, Connie makes it seem that Sidney is in the bedroom, lying about what is actually going on. In fact Sidney is trying to phone Stella downstairs. Crushed, Stella returns home, and tells John that he is apparently right, and she will leave for Paris and give Sidney his divorce, no headaches. However, Sidney rushes home in time to catch her, tell her that they were both pawns in a deception, and that he really loves her. She believes him and stays, but hopefully they get their own place because John Brock obviously cannot be trusted!
These kinds of stories about the evils of class consciousness and the poor but virtuous girl who marries into the suspicious rich family were common in the 20's and 30's so there is really no new ground here, so perhaps that is the reason this film is lost. Usually early sound films were lost because they were either Technicolor or were Vitaphone, but this film is neither of those. Too bad too, because although Ben Lyon had a long career in radio, his time in film was rather short, and it would have been good to see this performance. Plus this would have been a good opportunity to see Rose Hobart just starting out, and Claude Gillingham was always good as the crusty old guy. Juliette Compton, who played Connie, had lots of minor roles, but lived a long life, as did Rose Hobart for that matter.
I'm sorry to give you a "and then" rather mechanical synopsis more than a review, but this is the best I can do given that no trailer or film elements still exist.
Sidney goes through with the marriage, and even as almost shotgun as it was, he and Stella are happy. Sidney's father, John Brock, thinks Stella is not good enough for Sidney, and that Stella is a gold digger. John (Claude Gillingham) seems to relent, although it is really just an act. When Connie gets divorced, John sees his chance to get rid of Stella. Connie gets Sidney to drive her home as a favor, but she is plotting more. John tells Stella that Sidney has gone off with Connie to her apartment because it is she that Sidney has always loved.
Stella rushes off to Connie's apartment. When she gets there, Connie makes it seem that Sidney is in the bedroom, lying about what is actually going on. In fact Sidney is trying to phone Stella downstairs. Crushed, Stella returns home, and tells John that he is apparently right, and she will leave for Paris and give Sidney his divorce, no headaches. However, Sidney rushes home in time to catch her, tell her that they were both pawns in a deception, and that he really loves her. She believes him and stays, but hopefully they get their own place because John Brock obviously cannot be trusted!
These kinds of stories about the evils of class consciousness and the poor but virtuous girl who marries into the suspicious rich family were common in the 20's and 30's so there is really no new ground here, so perhaps that is the reason this film is lost. Usually early sound films were lost because they were either Technicolor or were Vitaphone, but this film is neither of those. Too bad too, because although Ben Lyon had a long career in radio, his time in film was rather short, and it would have been good to see this performance. Plus this would have been a good opportunity to see Rose Hobart just starting out, and Claude Gillingham was always good as the crusty old guy. Juliette Compton, who played Connie, had lots of minor roles, but lived a long life, as did Rose Hobart for that matter.
I'm sorry to give you a "and then" rather mechanical synopsis more than a review, but this is the best I can do given that no trailer or film elements still exist.
