The Matrimaniac

1916 RomanceComedy 46 minutes Directed by Paul Powell

Open in new tab

About The Matrimaniac

Marna Lewis (Constance Talmadge) elopes with Jimmie Conroy (Douglas Fairbanks). Wally Henderson (Clyde Hopkins), the man her father prefers, boards the train and wires Colonel Lewis (Wilbur Higby) to stop the wedding. At Wiseburn, Jimmie gets off for the Reverend Tubbs (Fred Warren) and the train leaves with Marna. He hauls Tubbs, at one point by mule, to Jazboro. Her father and the police have shut her in a hotel with Wally. Tubbs is jailed for vagrancy. Jimmie, labeled an escaped lunatic, is chased through town and ends up on a telephone pole.

Cast & crew

More about The Matrimaniac

Paul Powell directed. Anita Loos and John Emerson wrote the scenario from a story by Octavus Roy Cohen and J. U. Giesy. Fine Arts made it for Triangle. It opened in New York on 3 December 1916 and was released on 16 December 1916. Five reels, about 5,000 feet. AFI lists the running time as 46 or 58 minutes. Winifred Westover plays the maid, Monte Blue an assistant hotel manager, and Charles Stevens a lineman. Also known as The Matrimoniac. A 35mm print is in the Raymond Rohauer collection at Cohen Media Group. The Internet Archive identifier is silent-the-matrimaniac.

Themes

  • an elopement
  • a minister who misses the train
  • a chase through Jazboro
  • Jimmie Conroy
  • Marna Lewis
  • Reverend Tubbs
  • telephone pole
  • Fairbanks
  • Triangle

Making

Powell built the comedy as a chase that keeps separating the bride from the minister Fairbanks is dragging along.

Preservation

A 35mm print is in the Raymond Rohauer collection at Cohen Media Group. A copy is on the Internet Archive. Public domain in the United States.

Notes

  • Moving Picture World of 28 October 1916 said Fairbanks had just started work on it, then titled The Matrimaniacs.
  • Some reference books name John Emerson as director. Silent Era says that credit is wrong and that Powell directed.
  • Public domain in the United States.
  • The AFI record does not settle on one minute count.
  • The chase uses a mule, a hotel, a jail, and a telephone pole.

Scenes

  • Jimmie steps off at Wiseburn for the minister and the train pulls out with Marna.
  • He tows Tubbs toward Jazboro on a mule.
  • The town chase leaves him stuck on a telephone pole.

Also available

  • Internet Archive (silent-the-matrimaniac)

More from Paul Powell

View all →