Strictly Unconventional

1930 Drama 54 minutes Directed by David Burton

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About Strictly Unconventional

Elizabeth Champion-Cheney (Catherine Dale Owen) is bored with her husband Arnold (Tyrell Davis), a member of Parliament, and means to run off with Ted (Paul Cavanagh), a Canadian. Her mother-in-law, Lady Catherine (Alison Skipworth), left Arnold's father Clive (Lewis Stone) for Lord Porteous (Ernest Torrence) thirty years earlier. Lady Catherine tries to stop Elizabeth from doing the same thing.

Cast & crew

More about Strictly Unconventional

David Burton directed. Sylvia Thalberg and Frank Butler wrote the screenplay from W. Somerset Maugham's 1921 play The Circle. The working title was The Circle. William H. Daniels and Oliver T. Marsh photographed it. Margaret Booth edited it. Douglas Shearer was recording director. Shooting ended in February 1930. MGM released it on 3 May 1930. It opened in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on 29 April 1930 and in New York on 11 July 1930. Copyright 28 April 1930 (LP1259). Western Electric sound, 4,970 feet, six reels.

Themes

  • A dull marriage in a titled house
  • An elopement planned with a Canadian
  • A mother-in-law who already ran
  • Elizabeth
  • Arnold Champion-Cheney
  • Ted
  • Lady Catherine
  • Lord Porteous
  • Clive
  • The Circle

Look

William H. Daniels and Oliver T. Marsh photographed the black-and-white picture.

Notes

  • Wikipedia lists 55 minutes. AFI lists 54. A circulating copy runs 54 minutes 41 seconds.
  • Mary Forbes plays Mrs. Anna Shenstone.
  • MGM had already filmed the play in 1925 as The Circle, directed by Frank Borzage, with Eleanor Boardman and Malcolm McGregor.
  • An uncredited valet, George, is played by Clarence Wilson. Frank Reicher and Vera Lewis play the Duke and Duchess of Brocklehurst.

Scenes

  • Elizabeth tells Ted she will leave Arnold.
  • Lady Catherine, who left Clive for Porteous thirty years before, tries to talk her out of it.

Influenced by

  • The Circle, play by W. Somerset Maugham (1921)