''For Alimony Only'' is a 1926 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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by William C. deMille and starring

Leatrice Joy Leatrice Joy (born Leatrice Johanna Zeidler; November 7, 1893 – May 13, 1985) was an American actress most prolific during the silent film era. Early life Joy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to dentist Edward Joseph Zeidler. She at ...

Clive Brook Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English stage and film actor. After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the Unit ...

, and

Lilyan Tashman Lilyan Tashman (October 23, 1896 – March 21, 1934) was an American stage, silent film, and sound film actress. Early life Born Lillian Tashman in 1896 in Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish family, Tashman was the youngest of eight children, bor ...

. The film's sets were by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Max Parker while the costumes were designed by

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the ma ...

, later known for his work at

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

Plot

As described in a film magazine review,

gold digger A gold digger is a person, typically a woman, who engages in a type of transactional sexual relationship for money rather than love. If it turns into marriage, it is a type of marriage of convenience. Etymology and usage The term "gold di ...

Narcissa marries Peter Williams so that she can then divorce him and live comfortably on the

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide ...

. After Peter takes a second wife in the person of Mary Martin, he discovers that it is an expensive thing to maintain a past and present wife. With tight family finances, Mary is so understanding and such in love with Peter that she starts working in

interior decorating Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a creative flair, an interior ...

to help their cause. While decorating the home of wife #1, she finds her husband visiting the ex-wife. Mary immediately steps out with Marcissa's boyfriend, Bertie Waring. After several situations, both couples end up at a roadhouse and all four are caught up in a police raid on the premises. To save the situation, Mary tells the police that Narcissa and Bertie were about to stage a wedding ceremony. To avoid arrest, they go through with it. The marriage of the ex-wife now ends Peter's alimony obligation, and Mary is satisfied that she put one over on the former gold digger.

Cast

as Mary Martin Williams *

as Peter Williams *

as Narcissa Williams *

Casson Ferguson Casson Ferguson (May 29, 1891 – February 12, 1929) was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1917 and 1928. His father was John J. Ferguson, a jeweler in Alexandria, Louisiana. Early in his ...

as Bertie Waring * Toby Claude as The Maid * André Cheron as Shop Manager *

Harry Semels Harry Semels (November 20, 1887 – March 2, 1946) was an American film actor. He appeared in over 315 films between 1917 and 1946. Career Semels made his film debut in 1917. He appeared in several Three Stooges shorts for Columbia Picture ...

as Cop * Florence Wix as Christmas Party Guest

Production

Leatrice Joy had impulsively cut her hair short in 1926, and

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

, whom Joy had followed when he set up

Producers Distributing Corporation Producers Distributing Corporation (PDC) was a short-lived Hollywood film distribution company, organized in 1924 and dissolved in 1927. In its brief heyday, film director Cecil B. DeMille was its primary talent and owner of its Culver City� ...

, was publicly angry as it prevented her from portraying traditional feminine roles. The studio developed projects with roles suitable for her “Leatrice Joy bob”, and ''For Alimony Only'' was the fourth of five films before she regrew her hair. Despite this, a professional dispute would end the Joy / Demille partnership in 1928.

Preservation

A copy of ''For Alimony Only'' is preserved film at the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a nonpro ...

References

Bibliography

*Donald W. McCaffrey & Christopher P. Jacobs. ''Guide to the Silent Years of American Cinema''. Greenwood Publishing, 1999.

External links

* 1926 films 1926 drama films 1920s English-language films American silent feature films Silent American drama films Films directed by William C. deMille American black-and-white films Producers Distributing Corporation films 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub