The Married Virgin
About The Married Virgin
Mary McMillan loves the lawyer Douglas McKee. Her stepmother Ethel is having an affair with Count Roberto di San Fraccini. John McMillan, Mary's father, keeps locked in his office safe the gun he fired during a fight in which another man was killed. Ethel and Roberto steal it and try to extort him. When he refuses to pay, they force Mary to marry the count so they can take the dowry to Argentina. Roberto later tries to break into Mary's room; the maid Annie stops him. On a drive, Ethel threatens him with poison, they struggle, and the car goes off a cliff, killing her. Douglas clears McMillan. The marriage is annulled because it was never consummated, and Mary is free to marry Douglas.
Cast & crew
More about The Married Virgin
The first Maxwell Productions picture, directed by Joe Maxwell and shot in rented space at Universal Studios. General Film Company announced a December 1918 release; it may not have gone out then. In 1920 Fidelity Pictures cut it from seven reels to six and put it on the states-rights market as The Married Virgin and as Frivolous Wives. After The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), Maxwell issued the re-edited version again under the Frivolous Wives title. Wikipedia lists the running time as 71 minutes.
Themes
Making
Valentino was still being cast as a villain. The picture sat, was shortened, and was pushed again once he was a star.
Preservation
A print survives at the Library of Congress. David Shepard reconstructed a longer version using material from Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Library of Congress.
Notes
- Rudolph Valentino is billed as Rodolfo di Valentina and plays the count, a heavy rather than a romantic lead.
- Vera Sisson plays Mary, Frank Newburg plays Douglas McKee, Kathleen Kirkham plays Ethel, Edward Jobson plays John McMillan, and Lillian Leighton plays the housekeeper Annie Mullins.
- Silent Era notes that attributions differ on whether the housekeeper's name is Anne Mullin or Annie Mullins.
- David Shepard later put footage found in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Library of Congress back into a Frivolous Wives print to approach the longer version.
- A print is held at the Library of Congress.
Scenes
- Mary agrees to marry Count Roberto so her father will not go to prison.
- Annie stops Roberto at Mary's door.
- Ethel and Roberto struggle over a bottle of poison and the car goes off a cliff.