The Single Standard
About The Single Standard
Arden Stuart wants one rule of conduct for men and women. Her romance with chauffeur Anthony Kendall ends when he is fired and kills himself. She then sails for the South Seas with painter Packy Cannon, comes home, and marries Tommy Hewlett, with whom she has a son. When Packy returns, Tommy plans a hunting accident so she can leave without a scandal, but she chooses the child. She stops Tommy, and Packy's yacht sails out of the harbor.
Cast & crew
More about The Single Standard
John S. Robertson directed Josephine Lovett's script, and Hunt Stromberg produced. Wikipedia says the shoot ran in April and May 1929 in Hollywood, with receipts of $659,000 in the United States and $389,000 abroad, and an MGM profit of $333,000. Wikidata lists 73 minutes.
Themes
Background
Garbo's last three non-talking films, Wild Orchids, The Single Standard, and The Kiss, all carried scores and effects with dialogue on title cards.
Making
There is no spoken dialogue. A synchronized score and effects were recorded on Western Electric sound-on-film and also transferred to discs.
Reviews
Hal Erickson wrote in the All Movie Guide that, photographed in the MGM manner by Oliver Marsh, the film shows how to tell a talkie story inside a silent film.
Audiences
Wikipedia says that after the Chicago Board of Censors passed the film for adults only, one theater took in $71,200 in the first week, and that the picture was among the year's strongest grosses.
Look
Oliver T. Marsh, also called Oliver Marsh by Hal Erickson, shot the Hollywood production.
Technique
Western Electric sound-on-film carried the score, with disc copies for houses wired only for sound-on-disc.
Music
William Axt is the Wikidata composer. Louis Alter wrote the theme Forever With You. The track has music and effects and no spoken dialogue.
Preservation
Wikipedia says a VHS of the original soundtrack appeared in the 1980s, during Garbo's lifetime.
Notes
- Greta Garbo plays Arden, Nils Asther plays Packy Cannon, and Johnny Mack Brown plays Tommy Hewlett.
- It is Garbo's fifteenth film and her second with Asther, after Wild Orchids.
- Joel McCrea appears uncredited as Blythe, and Robert Montgomery is an uncredited party guest.
- The theme song Forever With You was composed by Louis Alter. Wikidata lists William Axt as composer.
- Oliver T. Marsh is the cinematographer on Wikidata. Hal Erickson, in the All Movie Guide, credits Oliver Marsh.
- Blanche Sewell edited. James Manatt shot stills, and Ruth Harriet Louise made portraits in May 1929.
Scenes
- Anthony Kendall kills himself after he is fired for the affair.
- Packy's yacht leaves the harbor while Arden and Tommy stay with their son.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The Single Standard (1929).webm)
