Kept Husbands
by Lloyd Bacon
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dorothy Mackaill, Joel McCrea, Lita Chevret, Mary Carr, Robert McWadeDirector: Lloyd Bacon
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 75 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Alpha Video
Movie Reviews of Kept Husbands
Movie Review: fine motion picture with a strong shot in the arm from a young Joel McCrea
Summary: 5 Stars
Kept Husbands has a good plot which moves along nicely; it held my attention every step of the way and the acting is very convincing. The cinematography is pretty good; and the choreography shines in crowd scenes and scenes at the steel mill factory. This is definitely one of the better films out there from Alpha Video.
When the film starts, we quickly meet some members of a fabulously wealthy family in the steel business. There's Mr. Arthur Parker (Robert McWade) and his wife Henrietta (Florence Roberts); we also meet their snooty and spoiled brat daughter Dorothea (Dorothy Mackaill). Arthur announces to everyone's shock and disgust that he's invited a low level "steel boss" to dinner; he explains to them that the young man is a hero who saved three lives in a fire at the steel mill--and he even refused a reward check! Despite the fact that Arthur thinks highly of the young man, Dorothea and her mother believe that he's too "common" to even eat at the same table with them. Henrietta carries on as if she were about to have a heart attack! However, when Richard "Dick" Brunton (Joel McCrea) shows up for dinner, they are impressed with him for having been such a great football player just a few years back.
But there's more. Dorothea, much to everyone's surprise, can't take her eyes off Dick at the dinner table. He has impeccable manners, too; and she vows to her father that she'll be marrying him within four weeks! Arthur doesn't really believe Dorothea can pull that off; but Dorothea makes it her business to visit Dick just about every day at the steel mill and eventually she proposes to him! He accepts, too.
But then things start to happen that could threaten their relationship; Dick doesn't want to be a "kept" husband like Llewllyn Post (Freeman Wood) is being kept by his rich wife Henrietta (Clara Kimball Young). Henrietta ruined Llewllyn's drive to become a great architect; and Dick doesn't want Dorothea to ruin his ambitions, either. After a lavish honeymoon of many months (and several cables to the states asking father for yet more money), Dick sees that Dorothea is gradually ruining his ambition to truly earn his keep at the company. It soon becomes a tug-of-war as to which one of them really wears the pants. Dick becomes even more uncomfortable after he is "promoted" to 3rd vice president of Arthur's steel company.
What happens next can be anyone's guess. Dick is told by his father-in-law there's a big sales job to score a contract on a bridge--it's the biggest gamble the company will ever make. Arthur wants Dick to go to Saint Louis to sell the plan and get the contract. Trouble is, Dorothea throws a temper tantrum and tries anything she can to make Dick stay--will she succeed? What about all the money they need from Arthur to keep up that extravagant lifestyle--will Arthur eventually stop giving them money? Will Dick even stay with Dorothea or will they divorce? Watch and find out! Look also for excellent performances from Ned Sparks as Hughie Hanready and Mary Carr as Dick's mother.
Kept Husbands is a great film that deals with issues that still crop up in our times; but it must have been somewhat scandalous in its day. I highly recommend this film for fans of the actors in it; and people who like classic movies would do well to get this film.
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