The Flirting Widow | |
---|---|
Directed by | William A. Seiter |
Screenplay by | John F. Goodrich |
Based on | Green Stockings 1911 play by A.E.W. Mason |
Produced by | William A. Seiter |
Starring | Dorothy Mackaill Basil Rathbone Leila Hyams William Austin Claude Gillingwater |
Cinematography | Sidney Hickox |
Edited by | John F. Goodrich |
Music by | Alois Reiser |
Production company | |
Distributed by | First National Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 72 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $179,000 [1] |
Box office | $348,000 [1] |
The Flirting Widow is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Dorothy Mackaill, Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams and Claude Gillingwater. It was produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. [2]
The film's plot is based on the story Green Stockings by A. E. W. Mason. The film has been previously made as a Synchronized sound film (with a musical score and sound effects) in 1927 under the title of Slightly Used by Warner Bros. Another sound version was made in 1933 as Her Imaginary Lover at the Teddington Studios, the British branch of Warner Bros.-First National Productions. [3]
William Faraday refuses to let his youngest daughter, Evelyn, get married before her older sister, Celia. Celia, who has no interest in getting married, takes pity on Evelyn and her suitor Bobby and pretends to have gotten engaged to Colonel John Smith during a short vacation away from home. To avoid difficulties, she states that Smith has sailed to join the British Field Force in Arabia. When her father receives this news, he consents to Evelyn's marriage.
At Evelyn's insistence, Celia writes a love letter to her fiancé, never intending to send it. She later burns the magazine in which she hid the letter, unaware someone has posted it already. The letter is received by a real Colonel Smith stationed in Arabia. He is amused and curious.
After Evelyn's marriage, Celia publishes a death notice in the London Daily Times for her Colonel Smith. The real Smith decides to pay a visit to Celia, pretending to be a close friend of the deceased bringing some mementos. When he gives them to Celia, she is uncomfortable. She eventually realizes "Colonel Vaughan" is not who he says he is, but over the course of a single night, they fall in love.
According to Warner Bros., the film earned $234,000 domestically and $114,000 from foreign showings. [1]
The film survives intact and has been broadcast on both television and cable. It is also preserved in the Library of Congress collection. [4]
Captain Blood is a 1935 American black-and-white swashbuckling pirate film from First National Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, produced by Harry Joe Brown and Gordon Hollingshead, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Ross Alexander.
The Life of the Party is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy filmed entirely in Technicolor. The musical numbers of this film were cut out before general release in the United States because the public had grown tired of musicals by late 1930. Only one song was left in the picture. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred.
Spite Marriage is a 1929 American silent comedy film co-directed by Buster Keaton and Edward Sedgwick and starring Keaton and Dorothy Sebastian. It is the second film Keaton made for MGM and his last silent film, although he had wanted it to be a "talkie" or full sound film. While the production has no recorded dialogue, it does feature an accompanying synchronized score and recorded laughter, applause and other sound effects in some scenes. Keaton later wrote gags for some up-and-coming MGM stars like Red Skelton, and from this film recycled many gags, some shot-for-shot, for Skelton's 1943 film I Dood It.
Bright Lights, later retitled Adventures in Africa, is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. It premiered in Los Angeles in July 1930 but was edited and rereleased in early 1931. Although it was photographed entirely in Technicolor, the only surviving print is in black and white. The film stars Dorothy Mackaill, Frank Fay, Noah Beery and Frank McHugh. It also features the screen debut of John Carradine, who appears in a small, uncredited role.
The Office Wife is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon, released by Warner Bros., and based on the novel of the same name by Faith Baldwin. It was the talkie debut for Joan Blondell who would become one of the major Warner Bros. stars for the following nine years.
Tenderloin is a 1928 American sound part-talkie crime film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Dolores Costello. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects, along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. It was produced and released by Warner Bros. Tenderloin is considered a lost film, with no prints currently known to exist.
Glad Rag Doll is a 1929 American sound part-talkie pre-Code drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Dolores Costello, Ralph Graves, and Audrey Ferris. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects, along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. This is one of many lost films of the 1920s, no prints or Vitaphone discs survive, but the trailer survives. The film's working title was Alimony Annie, but was changed match the title of the theme song. The theme song is entitled Glad Rag Doll both played and sung throughout the soundtrack.
Safe in Hell is a 1931 American pre-Code melodrama directed by William A. Wellman and starring Dorothy Mackaill and Donald Cook, with featured performances by Morgan Wallace, Ralf Harolde, Nina Mae McKinney, Clarence Muse, and Noble Johnson. The screenplay by Joseph Jackson and Maude Fulton is based on a play by Houston Branch.
The Next Corner is a 1924 American silent romantic melodrama film directed by Sam Wood. The film starred Dorothy Mackaill and Lon Chaney. Based on the romance novel of the same name by Kate Jordan, the film was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
The Great Divide is a 1929 American pre-Code Western film directed by Reginald Barker and starring Dorothy Mackaill. Released in both silent and sound versions, it was produced and distributed by First National Pictures. The film is a remake of The Great Divide, made at MGM in 1925 and also directed by Barker. There was another remake in 1931 as the full sound film Woman Hungry. All three films are based on the 1906 Broadway play The Great Divide by William Vaughn Moody.
One-Round Hogan is a lost 1927 American synchronized sound boxing-drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Howard Bretherton. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. The film starred Monte Blue and Leila Hyams. Blue also appears in the 1925 predecessor called Hogan's Alley, written by Darryl F. Zanuck.
The Bishop Murder Case is a 1929 American pre-Code mystery film directed by David Burton and Nick Grinde and starring Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams and Roland Young. Ten years before assuming his role as Sherlock Holmes in a series of 14 films, Rathbone essayed the character of S.S. Van Dine's detective Philo Vance in this single outing.
Party Husband is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film produced by First National Pictures and released through their parent company Warner Bros. It was directed by Clarence G. Badger and stars Dorothy Mackaill. It is preserved at the Library of Congress.
Strictly Modern is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Dorothy Mackaill and Sidney Blackmer. It was produced and released by First National Pictures and was based on the play, entitled Cousin Kate, written by Hubert Henry Davies.
The Bush Leaguer is a lost 1927 American synchronized sound comedy film directed by Howard Bretherton and starring Monte Blue and Leila Hyams. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. The film was produced and distributed by the Warner Bros..
Land of the Silver Fox is a 1928 sound part-talkie American adventure film directed by Ray Enright and written by Howard Smith and Joseph Jackson. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. The film stars Rin Tin Tin, Leila Hyams, John Miljan, Carroll Nye, Tom Santschi, and Neola May. The film was released by Warner Bros. on October 18, 1928.
His Captive Woman is a 1929 American sound part-talkie part-talking drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Milton Sills and Dorothy Mackaill. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. This film is "based on the short story "Changeling" by Donn Byrne in Changeling and Other Stories ." It was produced and distributed by First National Pictures which was already a subsidiary of the Warner Brothers studios. Both Mackaill and Sills as well as director Fitzmaurice had worked together on the previous year's The Barker.
The Brute is a 1927 American silent Western film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Monte Blue. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. It is considered to be a lost film.
The Bridge of Sighs is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Phil Rosen and written by Louis D. Lighton and Hope Loring. The film stars Dorothy Mackaill, Creighton Hale, Richard Tucker, Alec B. Francis, Ralph Lewis, and Cliff Saum. The film was released by Warner Bros. on January 1, 1925.
The Making of O'Malley is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Eugene Clifford. The film stars Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill, Helen Rowland, Warner Richmond, Thomas Carrigan and Julia Hurley. The film was released on June 28, 1925, by First National Pictures. The Gerald Beaumont short story was also the basis of the 1937 Warner Bros. film The Great O'Malley, directed by William Dieterle and starring Pat O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart.