''The Marriage Market'' is a 1923 American silent

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Edward LeSaint Edward LeSaint (January 1, 1871 – September 10, 1940) was an American stage and film actor and Film director, director whose career began in the silent film, silent era. He acted in over 300 films and directed more than 90. He was sometimes ...

and starring

Pauline Garon Marie Pauline Garon (September 9, 1900 – August 30, 1965) was a Canadian silent film, feature film, and stage actress. Early life Marie Pauline Garon was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on September 9, 1898, the daughter of Pierre-Auguste Ga ...

Jack Mulhall John Joseph Francis Mulhall (October 7, 1887 – June 1, 1979) was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years. Early years Mu ...

, and

Alice Lake Alice Lake (September 12, 1895 – November 15, 1967) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era and often appeared in comedy shorts opposite Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Career Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lake beg ...

. The film was released by the

CBC Film Sales Corporation Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation (also known as CBC Film Sales or simply CBC) was an American film studio that was founded on June 19, 1918 by brothers Harry and Jack Cohn and their friend and co-worker at Independent Moving Pictur ...

, which would later become

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

Plot

As described in a film magazine review, mischievous pranks lead to the expulsion of Theodora Bland from a young woman's fashionable academy. She aids Dora Smith, who is escaping from a reform school, and later impersonates her in the home of novelist Roland Carruthers. The latter hides her from the Sheriff. Theodora's relatives endeavor to force her into an unwelcome marriage. After various adventures, she defeats their schemes and weds Roland.

Cast

Production

A historical sequence in the film reproduces the scene depicted in the 1875 painting ''

The Babylonian Marriage Market ''The Babylonian Marriage Market'' is an 1875 painting by the British painter Edwin Long. It depicts a scene from Herodotus, Herodotus' Histories (Herodotus), ''Histories'' of young women being auctioned into marriage in the area then known as Ba ...

'' by

Edwin Long Edwin Longsden Long (12 July 1829 – 15 May 1891) was a British genre, history, biblical and portrait painter. Life and works Long was born in Bath, Somerset, the son of James Long, a hairdresser, (from Kelston in Somerset), and was edu ...

, which was also done in the Babylonian story of ''

Intolerance Intolerance may refer to: * Hypersensitivity or intolerance, undesirable reactions produced by the immune system * ''Intolerance'' (film), a 1916 film by D. W. Griffith * ''Intolerance'' (album), the first solo album from Grant Hart, formerly ...

'' (1916).

Preservation and status

Complete copies are held at the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a nonpro ...

and the

National Archives of Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. Th ...

References

Bibliography

* Jeanine Basinger (2013). ''I Do and I Don't: A History of Marriage in the Movies''. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

External links

* 1923 films 1923 comedy films Silent American comedy films Films directed by Edward LeSaint American silent feature films 1920s English-language films American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures films 1920s American films {{silent-film-stub