''The Teaser'' is a 1925 American silent

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

written by

Lewis Milestone Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein (Russian: Лейб Мильштейн); September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was a Moldovan-American film director. He is known for directing '' Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) and ''All Quiet on the Weste ...

, Edward T. Lowe Jr., and Jack Wagner based upon the play of the same name by Adelaide Matthews and Martha M. Stanley. The film was directed by William A. Seiter for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, and stars

Laura La Plante Laura La Plante (born Laura Laplante; November 1, 1904 – October 14, 1996) was an American film actress, whose more notable performances were in the silent era. Early life La Plante was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 1, 1904, the da ...

, Pat O'Malley,

Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...

, and

Walter McGrail Walter B. McGrail (October 19, 1888 – March 19, 1970) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1916 and 1951. Besides feature films, he appeared in ''The Scarlet Runner'', a 12-chapter serial. McGrail was born in ...

Plot

Ann Barton (

), a girl from a once-wealthy family, must make a living by clerking in a cigar store. There she meets and falls in love with James McDonald ( Pat O'Malley), a cigar salesman. She is then adopted by Margaret Wyndham (

), her rich and aristocratic aunt, who disapproves of James due to his crude manners. Wishing to break up the two, Aunt Margaret sends Ann away to finishing school. In response, Ann acts out publicly and embarrasses her aunt. In the meantime, James learns how to be a proper gentleman and wins her back through having learned good manners and a more dignified bearing.

Cast

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' felt there was no need to be overly enthusiastic about the films's plot or character portrayals: "it contains a silly, soulless lot of characters and a weird idea of drama." When they expanded on Pat O'Malley's character of the cigar salesman, they granted that while it would be reasonable for a salesman to be willing to push his wares, they questioned the script having his character be so naive as to press the issue when he is at the home of his girlfriend's benefactors attempting to impress them and win her heart, by writing "one does not expect James MacDonald to be such an utter fool as to stick cigars under the noses of guests in a pretentious mansion at a time he hoped to wage war on the heart of the pretty Ann Barton." And in speaking toward Laura La Plante's character, who is scripted as being "a sly little minx, who believes in uttering untruths when they help her out of a difficulty, even if they do reflect on other persons,", they offerered that "Miss La Plante is not particularly effective in this picture." They concluded "The story is a pathetic little thing which is not apt to interest many persons." ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

'' offered that "The extraordinarily blonde Laura La Plante occupies herself genially enough in the title part."

Preservation

It is unknown whether any copies of this film exist, and it is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

References

External links

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Still
at silenthollywood.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Teaser, The 1925 films 1920s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by William A. Seiter Lost American films Universal Pictures films 1925 lost films Lost comedy-drama films Lost romance films 1925 comedy films 1925 drama films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films Silent romantic comedy films Silent romantic drama films Silent American comedy-drama films