Lonely Wives
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Russell Mack
Edward Everett Horton
Esther Ralston
Laura La Plante
Patsy Ruth Miller
Spencer Charters
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Miss Minter, Richard Smith's new secretary, learns from butler Andrews that Richard, a stern and proper attorney, turns into a weak-kneed womanizer every night at eight o'clock, she immediately telephones her friend, actress Diane O'Dare. Diane is seeking a cheap divorce from her husband, a vaudeville impersonater named Felix, the Great Zero, and Miss Minter predicts that she can flirt her way into Richard's good graces and receive a discount for his legal services. In spite of carefully timed interruptions by Mrs. Mantel, his suspicious but loving mother-in-law, Richard, whose wife Madeline is vacationing in the mountains, makes a ten-o'clock dinner date with both Miss Minter and Diane. Soon after, Felix arrives at Richard's seeking permission to impersonate the famous trial lawyer in his next vaudeville act. Immediately impressed by Felix's abilities, Richard suggests that if Felix can fool Mrs. Mantel for one evening, he can impersonate him on the stage. Felix agrees to the arrangement, but shortly after Richard leaves for his date, Madeline arrives, overflowing with wifely passion. Unable to summon Richard, Felix gives in to his desires and kisses the attractive Madeline, who then insists that they retire for the night. The next morning, Richard arrives home, unaware that his wife has spent the night in their adjoining bedrooms with Felix. At the same time, a very drunk Diane, who has been riding in a taxicab all night out of fear of her jealous husband, shows up at Richard's to borrow money for the cab fare. While Richard tries to hide Diane from Mrs. Mantel, a desperate Felix tries to get his jacket from a very confused, drunk Andrews. Finally, Richard sees Madeline, who reminds him of the unusually passionate night they enjoyed together. Sick with jealousy, Richard threatens Felix, who presents himself out of costume just as Diane is attempting to sneak away. Completely exposed, Richard chases Felix around the house, brandishing a pistol, until his wife confesses that she knew from the first kiss that Felix was an imposter and reassures Richard that nothing "improper" occurred in the bedrooms. Cured of his nightly "blooming," Richard embraces Madeline, while Felix, relieved to learn that his wife had spent the night in a cab, embraces Diane.
Director
Russell Mack
Cast
Edward Everett Horton
Esther Ralston
Laura La Plante
Patsy Ruth Miller
Spencer Charters
Maude Eburne
Maurice Black
Georgette Rhodes
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although onscreen credits list A. H. Woods as the author of the source work, reviews of the stage production credit him as producer and list Walter De Leon and Mark Swan as adaptors. According to an August 1922 article in New York Times, the play was scheduled to open in New York in late August 1922 with well-known female impersonator Julian Eltinge as its star, but was "shooed away" from there because it was deemed "meretricious." The article adds that the play was "to be in a home for fallen dramas, undergoing reformation, a somewhat pathetic victim of our suspected, sudden change in appetite." In spite of the film's onscreen reference to Woods's "stage success," no evidence that the play ever opened in a major venue has been found. The Variety review noted that "at the Mayfair the picture in 8,167 feet, unless later cut for that house, ran 85 minutes. At the customary running time of eleven minutes for one thousand feet, the picture should have taken around 90 minutes. However, it did not appear from the running that extra speed was on." RKO acquired this film from Pathé Exchange when Pathé was bought out by RKO in January 1931.
