Trial Marriage

1929 American drama film directed by Erle C. Kenton

10 March 1929 (1929-03-10)

Running time

70 minutes^[1]CountryUnited StatesLanguagesSound (Synchronized)
English

Trial Marriage is a 1929 American Synchronized sound pre-Code drama film directed by Erle C. Kenton from a story by Sonya Levien. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. Produced by Harry Cohn for Columbia Pictures Corporation, the film was released on March 10, 1929.^[2]^[3] Charles C. Coleman was assistant director. As was the case for the majority of films during the early sound era, a silent version was prepared for theatres who had not yet converted to sound.

Premise

Constance Bannister (Sally Eilers) enters into a trial marriage contract with Dr. Thorvald Ware (Jason Robards) and finds happiness with him. She defies his wishes by dancing at a charity ball in a revealing costume, however, and he dissolves the contract, not knowing that she is with a child.

Cast

Norman Kerry as Oliver Mowbray
Sally Eilers as Constance Bannister
Jason Robards as Dr. Thorvald Ware
Thelma Todd as Grace
Charles Clary as George Bannister
Naomi Childers as Mrs. George Bannister, 1st
Rosemary Theby as Mrs. George Bannister, 4th
Gertrude Short as Prudence

Music

The film featured a theme song entitled "I'll Never Forget" by Gus Kahn and Spike Hamilton. The song entitled "Dear Little Boy of Mine," composed by Ernest Ball and J. Keirn Brennan, was also featured on the soundtrack

Production

The June 29, 1928 issue of The Film Daily announced that Millard Webb was originally supposed to direct,^[4] however he was ultimately not involved in the final film.

Reception

A negative review from Variety on April 17, 1929 wrote: "An uninteresting story given a trite, long-winded, complicated treatment, with no redeeming features in the picturization."^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Variety (April 1929) at the Internet Archive. Variety, April 17, 1929. p. 22 (154) "Film Reviews". Retrieved June 8, 2021.
^ Trial Marriage. American Film Institute (AFI). Retrieved June 8, 2021.
^ Edmonds, Andy (1989). Hot Toddy: The True Story of Hollywood's Most Sensational Murder. New York: William Morrow and Co. Inc. p. 269. ISBN 0-688-08061-8.
^ The Film Daily (Jan-Jun 1928) at the Internet Archive. The Film Daily, June 29, 1928. p. 6 (1394). Retrieved June 9, 2021.