Trial Marriage

1929 American drama film directed by Erle C. Kenton

Trial Marriage

Directed by| Erle C. Kenton
Written by| Sonya Levien
Produced by| Harry Cohn
Starring| Norman Kerry
Sally Eilers
Cinematography| Joseph Walker
Edited by| Pandro S. Berman
William Hamilton

Production
company

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Release date

* 10 March 1929 (1929-03-10)

Running time

| 70 minutes[1]
Country| United States
Languages| Sound (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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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

## Production

[edit]

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

[edit]

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]

## See also

[edit]

* List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Variety (April 1929) at the Internet Archive. Variety, April 17, 1929. p. 22 (154) "Film Reviews". Retrieved June 8, 2021.
2. ^ Trial Marriage. American Film Institute (AFI). Retrieved June 8, 2021.
3. ^ 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.
4. ^ The Film Daily (Jan-Jun 1928) at the Internet Archive. The Film Daily, June 29, 1928. p. 6 (1394). Retrieved June 9, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Trial Marriage at IMDb
* Trial Marriage at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Erle C. Kenton

* Salome vs. Shenandoah (1919)
* Down on the Farm (1920)
* Love, Honor and Behave (1920)
* A Small Town Idol (1921)
* A Fool and His Money (1925)
* Red Hot Tires (1925)
* The Love Toy (1926)
* Other Women's Husbands (1926)
* The Sap (1926)
* The Palm Beach Girl (1926)
* The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary (1927)
* The Girl in the Pullman (1927)
* Bare Knees (1928)
* Name the Woman (1928)
* Nothing to Wear (1928)
* Companionate Marriage (1928)
* Golf Widows (1928)
* The Street of Illusion (1928)
* The Sideshow (1928)
* The Sporting Age (1928)
* Trial Marriage (1929)
* Father and Son (1929)
* Song of Love (1929)
* Mexicali Rose (1929)
* A Royal Romance (1930)
* X Marks the Spot (1931)
* Left Over Ladies (1931)
* The Last Parade (1931)
* Guilty as Hell (1932)
* Island of Lost Souls (1932)
* From Hell to Heaven (1933)
* Disgraced! (1933)
* Big Executive (1933)
* Search for Beauty (1934)
* You're Telling Me! (1934)
* Party Wire (1935)
* The Best Man Wins (1935)
* The Public Menace (1935)
* Devil's Squadron (1936)
* Counterfeit (1936)
* She Asked for It (1937)
* The Devil's Playground (1937)
* Little Tough Guys in Society (1938)
* The Lady Objects (1938)
* Everything's on Ice (1939)
* Escape to Paradise (1939)
* Remedy for Riches (1940)
* Petticoat Politics (1941)
* Melody for Three (1941)
* Naval Academy (1941)
* They Meet Again (1941)
* Flying Cadets (1941)
* North to the Klondike (1942)
* The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
* Frisco Lil (1942)
* Pardon My Sarong (1942)
* Who Done It? (1942)
* It Ain't Hay (1943)
* House of Frankenstein (1944)
* She Gets Her Man (1945)
* House of Dracula (1945)
* The Cat Creeps (1946)
* Little Miss Big (1946)
* Bob and Sally (1948)
* One Too Many (1951)
* Secrets of Beauty (1951)

This 1920s drama film–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template