A free-spirited young woman named Mary (Norma Shearer) meets a stuffy English aristocrat named Philip (Herbert Marshall) at a costume party. They fall in love and get married on a whim, but are soon a happy husband and wife, with a daughter. However, the wife embarks on an affair with a charming young man called Tommie (Robert Montgomery), despite her initial refusal. The man falls from a balcony to his death, causing scandal for the woman and leaving people wondering if it was an accident, murder, or suicide.
I watched this film a while ago, so I don't remember the exact details. It's pretty much a paint-by-numbers Norma Shearer Pre-Coder, complete with an unwelcome moralistic happy ending at the end. Norma had pretty much entirely grown out of her silent movie mannerisms by this point, so her performance is more palatable than usual (for non-fans) here. Herbert Marshall is his usual, boring, stuffy self, and Robert Montgomery-
I feel bad for Robert Montgomery's characters in his Norma Shearer films. He's always so in love with, and clearly a much better fit for her (and much better looking) than the man she is lusting after (Marshall, Chester Norris, Rod la Rocque, you name it), yet after a quick affair, she always tosses him aside and goes after the dull-as-dishwater leading man she had initially done away with. Ah, morals.
The plot, as I mentioned above, is predictable, and doesn't hold up well today, giving the film a sort of time capsule feel ("Oh, look at the quaint little antique, because after all, film history started with The Godfather!"). All stars have done better, but in this film, they are passable entertainment. The beginning is amazing- Herbert and Norma in insect-man suits (!)- but the film gradually peters out and is rather dull by the time it ends. I hate to say this, but most of Norma Shearer's Pre-Coders haven't held up well.
Yet if you only see one of these "Norma Shearer plays a classy, slutty free soul who ends up with the same guy she ditched in the beginning" films, let it be Riptide. One question, though- why did she often play characters named Mary?
I watched this film a while ago, so I don't remember the exact details. It's pretty much a paint-by-numbers Norma Shearer Pre-Coder, complete with an unwelcome moralistic happy ending at the end. Norma had pretty much entirely grown out of her silent movie mannerisms by this point, so her performance is more palatable than usual (for non-fans) here. Herbert Marshall is his usual, boring, stuffy self, and Robert Montgomery-
I feel bad for Robert Montgomery's characters in his Norma Shearer films. He's always so in love with, and clearly a much better fit for her (and much better looking) than the man she is lusting after (Marshall, Chester Norris, Rod la Rocque, you name it), yet after a quick affair, she always tosses him aside and goes after the dull-as-dishwater leading man she had initially done away with. Ah, morals.
The plot, as I mentioned above, is predictable, and doesn't hold up well today, giving the film a sort of time capsule feel ("Oh, look at the quaint little antique, because after all, film history started with The Godfather!"). All stars have done better, but in this film, they are passable entertainment. The beginning is amazing- Herbert and Norma in insect-man suits (!)- but the film gradually peters out and is rather dull by the time it ends. I hate to say this, but most of Norma Shearer's Pre-Coders haven't held up well.
Yet if you only see one of these "Norma Shearer plays a classy, slutty free soul who ends up with the same guy she ditched in the beginning" films, let it be Riptide. One question, though- why did she often play characters named Mary?