Party Husband (1931)

On their wedding day, the bride (Dorothy Mackaill) and groom (James Rennie) announce to their guests that their marriage will be a "modern" marriage without the restrictions of traditional marriage. As they soon find out, that's easier said than done. Based on the novel by Geoffrey Barnes and directed by Clarence C. Badger (NO NO NANETTE). This pre code drama has nowhere to go. As viewers, we pretty much know exactly how this will end up and it does. As a pre code, its casual attitude toward adultery is "daring" but we know that traditional morality will win out. Even at it a brief running time of one hour and 14 minutes, it runs out of steam well before it wraps up. The appealing Dorothy Mackaill is a plus but there's nothing to recommend here. With Dorothy Peterson, Mary Duran and Donald Cook.