Brilliant Marriage
Cast & Crew
Phil Rosen
Joan Marsh
Ray Walker
Inez Courtney
John Marlowe
Doris Lloyd
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
On the night of her debut into society, Madge Allison, daughter of Rodney and Madeline Allison of Park Avenue, New York, receives a visit from a strange French woman named Yvette Duval. Yvette blackmails the Allisons by telling Madge that she was adopted by the Allisons after her real mother, Justina Lamont, Madeline's sister, was sent to prison as an accessory to the murder of her husband. According to Yvette, who was Justina's cellmate until she died the previous year, Madge's real father found Justina in a compromising position with another man, who killed him with a knife. After Rodney pays Yvette off in one-hundred dollar bills, Madge runs to her room, ashamed. Although her stepparents promise her that no one has to know her true identity, Madge refuses to see her boyfriend, Dick Taylor, a civil engineer, even though he has repeatedly proposed to her. Madge then becomes reckless and she and her friend, Brenda, spend time with Bohemians in Greenwich Village. One day, Brenda brings her to a party at the apartment of a globe-trotting reporter named Garry Dane, who earlier had tried to sneak into Madge's debut reception, but was turned out by the Allisons' butler, Thorne. Believing Garry possesses the excitement and romance Dick lacks, Madge sees Garry against her stepparents' warnings, and becomes infatuated with him. When Garry's reporter girl friend, Sally Patrick, accuses Garry of "two-timing" her, he denies it. Frightened about her prospects for marriage, Madge visits Garry and, after pleading with him to tell her he loves her, tells him who she really is. In a bar, Sally overhears Yvette, terribly drunk, mention the name Allison. When Yvette passes out, Sally takes her to her apartment, where she forces Yvette to tell her the Allisons' secret. Sally then prints a story that Park Avenue debutante Madge Allison has been unmasked as the daughter of a murderess. Madge assumes Garry leaked the story and, realizing how foolish she has been to ignore Dick, accepts his proposal. Dick's mother opposes the match, however, and tells Madge that she will disinherit Dick if he marries her. Believing she will be protecting Dick, Madge agrees to sail with Garry to Tahiti, after he swears he did not print the scandal. Sally warns Dick, however, and he ties up Garry in his apartment, takes his ticket, and meets Madge on the ship. Meanwhile, Sally discovers Dick's payment for Garry's ticket and tells Garry he may have half of it if he marries her. Dick's gallant rescue is all the romance Madge needs, and after Mrs. Taylor sends the couple her blessings for a happy honeymoon, the ship's captain marries them.
Director
Phil Rosen
Cast
Joan Marsh
Ray Walker
Inez Courtney
John Marlowe
Doris Lloyd
Ann Codee
Olive Tell
Holmes Herbert
Robert Adair
Barbara Bedford
Dick Elliott
Herbert Ashley
Kathryn Sheldon
Victor Wong
George Cleveland
Lynton Brent
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The plot summary for this film was taken from a revised script. Although Motion Picture Herald release charts give a release date of March 25, 1936, the film was not reviewed until September 1936. Grand National released Invincible pictures in certain territories. An ad promotes this film as "a new slant on the woman of today." Lawson Trent is listed as a leading player in an early Hollywood Reporter production chart and in the Film Daily review, neither of which lists John Marlowe in the cast. Marlowe is listed in Film Daily and Motion Picture Herald ads, and in the Variety and Daily Variety reviews as a leading player, and probably replaced Trent in the cast.
