''What Fools Men Are'' is a 1922 American silent

comedy drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

George Terwilliger George Walter Terwilliger (February 27, 1882 – December 12, 1970) was an American film director, screenwriter, and journalist.Faire Binney Frederica "Faire" Binney (August 24, 1900 – August 28, 1957) her name pronounced like the country ''Zaire'', was an American stage and film actress.Soister, Nicolella & Joyce p.732 Biography Born Frederica Binney in Morristown, New Jersey, sh ...

Lucy Fox Lucy Fox (October 25, 1897 – May 21, 1970) was an American actress active in the era of silent film.Solomon, p. 290 Partial filmography * '' Just for Tonight'' (1918) * '' Why I Would Not Marry?'' (1918) * ''The Bishop's Emeralds'' (1919) * '' ...

, and

Huntley Gordon Huntley Ashworth Gordon (October 8, 1879 – December 7, 1956) was a Canadian actor who began his career in the Silent Film era. Profile Gordon was born in Montreal, Quebec, educated in both Canada and England. He had various jobs including w ...

. It is based upon the play ''The Flapper'' by

Eugene Walter Eugene Ferdinand Walter, Jr. (November 30, 1921 – March 29, 1998) was an American screenwriter, poet, short-story author, actor, puppeteer, gourmet chef, cryptographer, translator, editor, costume designer and well-known raconteur. During his y ...

Plot

As described in a film magazine review, Peggy Kendricks, the gayest and most daring of society

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptab ...

s, allows her brother-in-law Bartley Claybourne to secretly pay for her beautiful clothes. Her sister Kate finds discovers the truth and declares that she will name Peggy

co-respondent In English law, a co-respondent is, in general, a respondent to a petition, or other legal proceeding, along with another or others, or a person called upon to answer in some other way. 7.4.19 Divorce More particularly, since the Matrimonial C ...

in her

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

proceedings. She goes to

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

under the understanding that Bartley will eventually marry Peggy. However, Peggy has no such notion and suddenly marries Ralph Demarest, a young man whose father Horace detests flappers. Horace offers her money to separate from his son which, true to her form, she accepts. She then uses the money and, in the end, wins the love and respect of her former victims

Cast

References

Bibliography

* Connelly, Robert B. ''The Silents: Silent Feature Films, 1910-36, Volume 40, Issue 2''. December Press, 1998. * Munden, Kenneth White. ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1''. University of California Press, 1997.

External links

* 1922 films 1922 drama films 1920s English-language films American silent feature films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films Films directed by George Terwilliger 1920s American films {{1920s-US-film-stub