Brilliant Marriage
| Brilliant Marriage | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Phil Rosen |
| Written by | Paul Perez |
| Produced by | Maury M. Cohen |
| Starring | Joan Marsh Ray Walker Inez Courtney |
| Cinematography | M.A. Anderson |
| Edited by | Roland D. Reed |
Production company | Invincible Pictures |
| Distributed by | Chesterfield Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 64 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Brilliant Marriage is a 1936 American drama film directed by Phil Rosen and starring Joan Marsh, Ray Walker and Inez Courtney.[1]
Plot[edit]
 | This article needs a plot summary. (January 2024) |
New York newspaper reporter Garry Dane tries to bluff his way into an invitation-only party held at the home of an affluent family, the Allisons, but is escorted out by the butler. At the party, longtime friend Dick Taylor, an aspiring civil engineer proposes to and is repelled once again by Madge, the only child of Rodney and Madeleine Allison. Madge seeks romance and adventure, implying to Dick that he is too plain conventional for her taste.
Garry has not started on his writeup, having failed to gain entrance to the Allison reception, until fellow news reporter Sally Patrick, who has a crush on him, gives him the reception guest list. The Allisons unwind after all the guests have left when Madam Yvette Duval, a former French cellmate of Madge's birth mother, appears and attempts extortion by threatening to publicly reveal the fact that Madge's deceased biological mother was imprisoned as an accessory to murder. Mr. Allison, fearing harm to Madge's reputation and her ability to attract appropriate suitors, agrees to meet up the next morning with the former inmate to arrange a cash payoff.
Madge, ashamed and shocked by the mysterious woman's revelation, subsequently displays observable behavioral changes, disconcerting to her parents. Madge meets Garry at one of his parties and gains his attention, witnessed by a jealous Sally. Dick, while horseback riding sees Madge and Garry on a date in Central Park. Dick visits Madge later that day to ask her to attend a concert, but Madge declines, stating she's exhausted from shopping all day. After Dick departs in his customary gentlemanly way, Mrs. Allison encourages her daughter to spend more time with him, but Madge expresses her infatuation with the older, more experienced and adventurous reporter.
Sally sees an unhappy Madge scurry up to Garry's place after Sally and Garry just had a fight over the attention he has been giving Madge. Garry proposes to Madge marriage by elopement, even after she confides in him the shocking news about her adoption and mother's incarceration, which she was previously unaware of until Yvette's visit a month ago. A dejected Sally enters a cocktail lounge, where Yvette is coincidentally sitting at the other end of a bar. An inebriated Yvette, in a celebratory mood, sings in French and tells the bartender she is sailing for France. Sally follows her hunch of a newsworthy story when she overhears Yvette mentioning the Allisons, and the bartender tells her Yvette is flashing a large sum of cash.
Sally takes home the ex-con, who blacked out, and rummages through her purse to find documents. A spiteful Sally pockets the cash in a scheme to convince Yvette to anonymously divulge the Allison family secret in exchange for getting her money back. The story exposing the true identity of Madge and her birth mother makes the front page. Madge, believing Garry betrayed her, breaks off all contact with him. Meanwhile, Dick visits Madge and successfully convinces her to accept his marriage proposal. However, Dick's mother goes behind his back and uses guilt and persuasion of disinheriting her son to influence Madge to break off their engagement.
Garry sneaks into Madge's bedroom and lures her back by mentioning exotic travels. They are set to sail tomorrow at noon. In the morning, a torn Madge tells Dick that she has changed her mind, is in love with Garry and will be going away with the newsman. Dick takes the news calmly and wishes her well. In the newsroom, Garry taunts Sally with his change in romantic fortune. A desperate Sally attempts to derail Garry's plans for the south seas but has difficulty inducing a relatively emotionless Dick to intervene, and thus, she resorts to fibbing about Garry already being married to another woman.
The ship captain greets and informs Madge that a young man called to say he is temporarily delayed. While Madge is waiting for Garry to come on board, a joyful Dick appears instead and tells her he is prepared for their 8-month adventurous voyage. Dick explains that Garry is tied up, and indeed he is literally all tied up when Sally finds him at his pad, where she discovers a thousand-dollar bill left by Dick. Sally insists the money is going into a joint bank account and Garry must marry her if he wants his half. Thus, Garry consents to marriage, and the ship captain marries Dick and Madge, who asserts it is a brilliant marriage because it has romance.
- Joan Marsh as Madge Allison
- Ray Walker as Garry Dane
- Inez Courtney as Sally Patrick
- Hugh Marlowe as Richard G. Taylor, III
- Doris Lloyd as Mrs. Madeleine Allison
- Ann Codee as Yvette Duval
- Olive Tell as Mrs. Jane Taylor
- Holmes Herbert as Mr. Rodney Allison
- Robert Adair as Thorne, the Butler
- Barbara Bedford as Brenda
- Dick Elliott as Editor
- Herbert Ashley as Captain
- Kathryn Sheldon as Ellen, the Maid
- Victor Wong as Wong
- George Cleveland as Bartender
- Lynton Brent as Blaine
References[edit]
- ^ Pitts p.114
Bibliography[edit]
- Michael R. Pitts. Poverty Row Studios, 1929-1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each. McFarland & Company, 2005.
External links[edit]
 | This 1930s drama film-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |