''Idle Wives'' is a 1916 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

co-directed by Lois Weber and

Phillips Smalley Wendell Phillips Smalley (August 7, 1865 – May 2, 1939) was an American silent film director and actor. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was the grandson of Wendell Phillips; he was the son of George Washburn Smalley, a war correspon ...

. The film was released by Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Surviving reels of the film are preserved at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. The film was released on DVD/Blu-ray in 2018.

Plot

Characters go to the movies to watch ''Life's Mirror'', a film where they see their own lives turned into dramas. A shop girl dating a young man against her parents' wishes watches her onscreen counterpart become pregnant; an impoverished family watches as a family onscreen lives beyond their means; and an unfaithful husband watches as his onscreen wife leaves him and returns to social work. After the film characters have learned their lessons: the shop girl apologizes to her parents; the family decides to live within its means; and the wealthy man leaves his mistress and returns to his wife.

Cast

* Lois Weber as Anne *

as John Wall * Mary MacLaren as Molly * Edwin Hearn as Richard * Seymour Hastings as Billy Shane * Countess Du Cello as Wall's Mother * Pauline Aster as Alberta * Cecilia Matthews as Molly's Mother * Ben F. Wilson as Mr. Jamison * Maude George as Mrs. Jamison *

Neva Gerber Genevieve Dolores Gerber (April 3, 1894 – January 2, 1974) was an American silent film actress who appeared in more than 120 films between 1912 and 1930. Early life and career She was born in Argenta, Illinois, to S. Nelson Gerber (1870 ...

as Mary Wells * Charles Perley as Tough Burns

References

External links

''Idle Wives'' on National Film Preservation Foundation cite
with a brief clip and film notes by film historian Shelley Stamp
''Idle Wives'' entry in American Film Institute catalog
* * {{Lois Weber 1916 films American silent feature films Films directed by Lois Weber 1916 drama films American black-and-white films Silent American drama films Universal Pictures films 1910s American films

Plot

Cast

References

Further reading

External links