Some of the movies in the 30's make the adults seem so childish. Not that some adults aren't childish today, but they were childish in a different way back then that was supposed to be virtuous.
Claire Tree (Mae Murray) was in love with Clayton Stoddard (George Barraud) and she insisted he marry her, except that Clayton didn't believe in marriage. He was a modern, rich, playboy who believed in romance and also believed that marriage killed romance (see "Perfect Understanding" (1933) and "Illicit" (1931) for similar mindsets from the main character). Claire was resolute; it was marriage or nothing.
What needs to be noted is that Claire met Clayton at a swanky hotel in New York City. This is important because a "house detective," as he was called, saw Claire hooking up with Clayton and had her pegged as a prostitute.
When Claire broke it off with Clayton she called up an old high school sweetheart named Jim Bradbury (Jason Robards Sr.) who was dying to marry her. He hopped on the next thing smoking to New York to swoop up Claire. He was so desperate to marry her they married the day he arrived no questions asked.
That was his first mistake, and he wasn't alone in that. It seems that a LOT of people got married hastily back then without vetting their potential spouse. They were so impatient, impetuous, and pollyanna. They had an idea of the man or woman, fell in love with the ideal image, and proceeded based upon that.
By pure coincidence Jim chose the same swanky hotel for he and Claire's honeymoon. When the nosy, pushy, and presumptive house detective saw Claire with Jim the very next day after he'd seen her with Clayton, he decided to clear them out. "This isn't THAT kind of hotel," was his message. Even when Jim said that he and Claire were married the keystone cop wasn't buying it. He told both of them to leave.
I can't imagine that such a position existed. A hotel "detective." Do that many crimes happen in hotels that they needed their own detective. And even if such a position did exist, I doubt they would've been as boorish, rude, insulting, and as much of a jerk as the detective, Dugan (William Thorne), was.
Jim wasn't going to let such impertinence and rudeness go. He spoke to the manager of the hotel and demanded an apology from Dugan. Dugan doubled down. He insisted that she was what he intimated she was (he couldn't say prostitute back then) because he saw her with Clayton just the night before.
So started the drama. Jim began to let his inner child out.
Jim's anger turned towards his wife. He grilled her and demanded answers to which she pleadingly tried to answer without making herself look like a ho ho ho. The more Jim grilled her the more HE looked like a buffoon.
I've seen it several times in these 30's movies. Man is dying to marry woman. Woman has checkered past by 30's standards. Woman gives in and marries man. Man finds out about past and behaves like an angry child.
This is one of the worst cases. Jim hadn't seen Claire in years and he rushed to marry her after just a phone call. He could not have been more impatient and hasty. If he cared so much about her having lovers before him, why didn't he ask?
Oh yeah, because of what I said before: they fell in love with an image and dared not ask a question that could possibly ruin that image.
The way I see it, if you didn't care enough to ask before you got married, you shouldn't care enough to know after you got married. Furthermore, if you loved her soooo much, why wouldn't you take her word?
Eventually Jim found out more than he wanted to and left Claire in a huff like the petulant child he was. They were married less than a day before he left her. In the end Clayton proposed to Claire as it always happens when anyone begins the movie denouncing marriage, and all was right with the world.
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Claire Tree (Mae Murray) was in love with Clayton Stoddard (George Barraud) and she insisted he marry her, except that Clayton didn't believe in marriage. He was a modern, rich, playboy who believed in romance and also believed that marriage killed romance (see "Perfect Understanding" (1933) and "Illicit" (1931) for similar mindsets from the main character). Claire was resolute; it was marriage or nothing.
What needs to be noted is that Claire met Clayton at a swanky hotel in New York City. This is important because a "house detective," as he was called, saw Claire hooking up with Clayton and had her pegged as a prostitute.
When Claire broke it off with Clayton she called up an old high school sweetheart named Jim Bradbury (Jason Robards Sr.) who was dying to marry her. He hopped on the next thing smoking to New York to swoop up Claire. He was so desperate to marry her they married the day he arrived no questions asked.
That was his first mistake, and he wasn't alone in that. It seems that a LOT of people got married hastily back then without vetting their potential spouse. They were so impatient, impetuous, and pollyanna. They had an idea of the man or woman, fell in love with the ideal image, and proceeded based upon that.
By pure coincidence Jim chose the same swanky hotel for he and Claire's honeymoon. When the nosy, pushy, and presumptive house detective saw Claire with Jim the very next day after he'd seen her with Clayton, he decided to clear them out. "This isn't THAT kind of hotel," was his message. Even when Jim said that he and Claire were married the keystone cop wasn't buying it. He told both of them to leave.
I can't imagine that such a position existed. A hotel "detective." Do that many crimes happen in hotels that they needed their own detective. And even if such a position did exist, I doubt they would've been as boorish, rude, insulting, and as much of a jerk as the detective, Dugan (William Thorne), was.
Jim wasn't going to let such impertinence and rudeness go. He spoke to the manager of the hotel and demanded an apology from Dugan. Dugan doubled down. He insisted that she was what he intimated she was (he couldn't say prostitute back then) because he saw her with Clayton just the night before.
So started the drama. Jim began to let his inner child out.
Jim's anger turned towards his wife. He grilled her and demanded answers to which she pleadingly tried to answer without making herself look like a ho ho ho. The more Jim grilled her the more HE looked like a buffoon.
I've seen it several times in these 30's movies. Man is dying to marry woman. Woman has checkered past by 30's standards. Woman gives in and marries man. Man finds out about past and behaves like an angry child.
This is one of the worst cases. Jim hadn't seen Claire in years and he rushed to marry her after just a phone call. He could not have been more impatient and hasty. If he cared so much about her having lovers before him, why didn't he ask?
Oh yeah, because of what I said before: they fell in love with an image and dared not ask a question that could possibly ruin that image.
The way I see it, if you didn't care enough to ask before you got married, you shouldn't care enough to know after you got married. Furthermore, if you loved her soooo much, why wouldn't you take her word?
Eventually Jim found out more than he wanted to and left Claire in a huff like the petulant child he was. They were married less than a day before he left her. In the end Clayton proposed to Claire as it always happens when anyone begins the movie denouncing marriage, and all was right with the world.
Free on YouTube.