Old Wives for New

Old Wives for New has been labelled as a departure for DeMille, specifically the point at which he lost his "integrity" to embrace pure commercialism. This is not quite the case. For a start, DeMille had been unashamedly commercial since the day he stepped on to the set of The Squaw Man (his debut feature). What's more this film and the ones after it were still made with intelligence and style.

It is true that this is a particularly sensationalist piece, which came straight after one of DeMille's deepest and most poignant dramas, The Whispering Chorus, so perhaps the perception of Old Wives for New was more one of contrast than a clear break. Changes were indeed taking place in the old DeMille technique around this period, although the process had already begun at the time of The Whispering Chorus. The biggest change was that the films were becoming wordier. Each act is introduced with a lengthy, quasi-philosophical mini-essay. These were the work of DeMille's longtime collaborator (and mistress) Jeanie Macpherson, an excellent dramatic storyteller but not quite the poet she thought she was. The individual scenes are also broken up by far more "speech" titles than are necessary.

Still, DeMille never lost his flair for captivating images, and Macpherson never lost her skill at weaving drama, and there are plenty of touches of brilliance here. Each player is introduced as a pair of hands, their actions revealing their character. DeMille also works harder than ever before to visualise the characters' thoughts – cutting in shots of Florence Vidor when Elliot Dexter is thinking of her, for example.

The acting is so-so here, and to be honest there are not many scenes where the actors actually get the chance to show off their talents. This again is the fault of all those intertitles, plus dozens of inserts which DeMille also overused during this period. An honourable mention however goes to Theodore Roberts, who played dozens of roles for DeMille, from English aristocrats to Moses. He was very versatile so long as he got to ham it up. His highlight in Old Wives for New is a melodramatic murder sequence which sums up everything about the DeMille/Macpherson partnership – straining credibility to breaking point, yet executed with grand theatricality.

Although the wordiness of Old Wives for New does seem like a burden, I should point out that there aren't any more intertitles than the average Hollywood picture from this period – it's just that until recently DeMille had been a master of the long, unbroken take, and had barely used title cards. This change brought him more in line with his contemporaries. At this point in cinema history, the camera still did not move very much, so filmmakers aimed to bring drama to life through editing patterns – inserts, reverse angles and of course titles. The long shot in drama was dying out, and it would be a while before a new generation of directors – people like George Cukor and William Wyler – would revive it in the sound era.

A bit of a commentary on the silent movie experience.

Cecil B. DeMille's Old Wives for New was not one of the spectacular costume productions for which he is best known. It was a love triangle story set in modern times -- at least modern for when it was released, May 1918. But for those of us who watch it today through the magic of the restored DVD it starts looking like a costumer when we see all the gorgeous and not so gorgeous proto-flapper babes dressed in bizarre, exotic fashions of the day. Long, flowing dresses gussied up with tassels and bows and flowers and feathers and gizmos that a fashion-ignorant man like me doesn't have a clue what it is. Head gear including everything from beaded, crocheted cloches to turbans to yard-wide hats. The baroque interior sets were likewise exotic looking viewed from the early twenty-first century. None of this gear is completely unfamiliar to me. I have a box full of photos inherited from my great Aunt Sue, who was a pretty teenager then, with her and her friends and relatives dolled up in the same fashions. Nevertheless, as I watched Old Wives for New, I had to keep reminding myself that this was not a historical drama but filmed with contemporary clothes and sets. That is one of the angles that makes watching silent movies such a pleasurable experience. We are not reading about history, we are seeing it. In May 1918 in France the huge and bloody climactic battles of World War I were raging, leading to its end six months later. Aunt Sue's future husband, whom she had not yet met, was "over there" in the middle of it. Late that year the influenza epidemic to end all epidemics would take the lives of more Americans than the Civil War had. Included among the dead were both my grandmothers.

I hope young people today realize what a treasure these old flicks are. When I was a kid in the 1950's, I would hear stories from my great grandmother and others about the Civl War and think how nice it would be if they had had movies then, and we could watch them now. Well, now we have movies from 90 years ago.

Old Wives for New was a pretty good one. Acting very good, especially from Elliot Dexter, Florence Vidor, and Sylvia Ashton, the principles of the love triangle. Direction, cinematography and layout were as good as always in a Cecil B. movie. I rated it a six but would probably have given it a seven if it had been a talkie. Sorry, not fair, but sound is so much a part of the movie experience, it seems a silent is just not quite a fulfilled movie, however good for the limitation.

That brings up the question of how much watching this handsomely restored DVD is like the real 1918 movie goer's experience. Were the tints really as good as we get on the DVD? Did they really have all those white highlights seen in some scenes? Were the tinted prints only shown in big city theaters and just black & white ones in the sticks? More importantly, my DVD version has made it into what is actually a sound movie. Don Juan (1926) was regarded then and still is by movie historians as the first sound picture, because it had a synchronized sound track with music and some sound effects but no talking. That's what New Wives for Old and other DVD restorations of silents have. Not only do we hear gun shots but the vocal of a phonograph. Not that I'm complaining. The beautiful score with appropriate period tunes greatly enhanced the enjoyment of watching the movie. But that's not the way anyone experienced it in 1918. At the premiere in a big movie house there may have been a full orchestra. Otherwise the best would have been an ensemble with piano and a couple of violins. At small Podunk town movie houses only a 4th rate piano player plunking out stock tunes appropriate for each scene but always the same for a love scene, always the same for a dramatic moment, always the same for a chase. Realizing this means that -- just possibly -- any given restored silent we see today may not have seemed so good when it was new.

Nevertheless, it is terrific to have the restored and "enhanced" silents to watch, and watching them is great fun. Old Wives for New is a good one.

Old Wives For New retained a special place in the list of Cecil B. DeMille films. He was noted for always having some kind of a bathroom scene in his movies and in Old Wives For New had the first one. DeMille states in his memoirs it was hardly for anything salacious. It involved Elliott Dexter trying to have his early morning shave in a rather badly kept bathroom courtesy of his slovenly wife Sylvia Ashton. There's a great scene also with Ashton eating chocolate candies, a hard thing to resist I can tell you. But in her case it so reminded me of Peg Bundy on the living room couch.

No wonder Dexter just decides to pursue pretty young Florence Vidor. But she herself gets into a jackpot being dragged into the murder of elderly roué Theodore Roberts. Roberts was an old time stage actor best known for playing Moses in the silent version of The Ten Commandments, but he's far from a prophet of God here. Of course it all works out in the end.

Of course it's also dated. Still it provides an interesting look in the mores of America in the years of World War I.

Old Wives for New (1918)

*** (out of 4)

Charles Murdock (Elliott Dexter), a rich oil man, begins to neglect his wife (Sylvia Ashton) because he feels she has let herself go by gaining too much weight and just sitting around the house all day. On a hunting trip with his son he falls for the younger and prettier Juliet (Florence Vidor) but she isn't happy when she learns that Charles is married. As Charles tries to figure out what to do things take a turn for the worse. I was fairly surprised at how entertaining this film was as it still holds up quite well today in a society where looks are judged so harshly. I think the film loses a lot of its punch in the final twenty-minutes do to an over the top plot twist but outside at that this is certainly one of the best films I've seen from this period of DeMille's career. His directing is what really keeps this story moving because it's top-notch. I love the way he tells the story as well as the way he edits everything to build up more drama. On a visual level with get some nice cinematography, which helps a lot, especially during the outdoor hunting scenes. The performances are also very strong with Dexter stealing the film as the husband in love with another woman. He does a very good job in showing his uncomfort with his wife and believe it or not we start to feel for him in his situation. Ashton does a nice job as well even though the screenplay doesn't do her any great justice since several scenes just have her in bed eating cookies or ordering a large breakfast. Vidor is wonderful as the younger woman and really comes across as intelligent when caught up in this mess. DeMille regular Theodore Roberts is also very good in his supporting role. The storyline today is rather politically incorrect but that's what keeps the movie pretty fresh and entertaining. This film has pretty much been forgotten in DeMille's career but that's a shame because it's certainly a good one.

When we think of Cecil B. DeMille we tend to think of lavish spectacles in period settings, often Biblical, featuring elaborately staged orgies, dances, battles, and at least one slightly naughty bathing sequence. Typically, after entertaining the audience with this material for several reels, DeMille would diligently underscore the story's lesson by punishing the wicked and rewarding the virtuous, and then wrap up the package with some stern moralizing. The director who crafted Old Wives for New hadn't yet developed into the master of Hollywood hokum he would become, but some of his soon-to-be-familiar motifs can be found here in embryonic form. Around the time this film was made DeMille (already working with his longtime collaborator, screenwriter Jeannie Macpherson) began a new series of popular dramas focused on married life in which contemporary mores were examined and questioned. Producer Jesse Lasky encouraged this move, based on a hunch that wartime audiences wanted modern stories which challenged the status quo -- up to a point, that is. The titles of these films often suggested more daring content than the stories actually delivered, for despite the modern trappings DeMille was essentially conservative in his storytelling, but you have to give the guy credit: he sure knew how to draw cash customers to the box office. Old Wives for New turned a handsome profit and set DeMille's course for years to come.

This film is introduced with a rather startling title card addressing the ladies in the audience through the character of Sophy Murdock, wife of the protagonist. Sophy is warned not to take her husband for granted just because she's already "landed" him, and not to become dowdy or bossy. The admonition concludes: "We must remember to trim our 'Votes for Women' with a little lace and ribbon -- if we would keep our man a 'Lover' as well as a husband." Soon afterward, DeMille introduces our protagonist Charles Murdock (played by Elliott Dexter), a brooding oil millionaire who has settled reluctantly into an unhappy marriage. The other main characters are introduced with the kind of quaint cinematic device that is so satisfying in silent movies: after a title card describes them as "the Five Pairs of Hands that Were to Weave the Threads of His Destiny," we are offered close-ups of five pairs of hands, each performing a task characteristic of the person to whom they belong. The chubby fingers of Sophy Murdock, the wife who has allowed herself to become dowdy (i.e. fat), pluck chocolates out of a candy box; Viola, a woman of loose morals, dips her brush in facial powder and daubs it on her face; Juliet, a noted fashion designer, carefully cuts fabric; Bladen, conniving secretary to Murdock, taps away at his typewriter keyboard; and Berkeley, a high-stepping old roué, sticks a key into the lock of his current girlfriend's apartment, opens the door, and enters. Once these introductions are out of the way, we concentrate on the unhappy marriage of the Murdocks.

The Murdocks have been married long enough to have two children who are on the verge of adulthood, but although Charles is still youthful and athletic, Sophy has become dumpy and depressive, lounging around the house in her robe reading the funny papers. They seem to have stayed together due to inertia rather than love. (They certainly look mismatched: imagine William Powell paired off with Marie Dressler.) When Charles broaches the subject of divorce Sophy won't hear of it, so the unhappy husband leaves for an extended camping trip with his son. Out in the woods he meets fashion designer Juliet Raeburn, also on vacation, and their friendship blossoms into love. Animal lovers aren't going to enjoy their "meet cute" scene, however: Charles and Juliet are each out hunting alone, and when they both shoot at the same bear they're brought together for their first conversation over the animal's carcass! In any event, the ensuing affair is a chaste one, but when they return to the city rumors begin to circulate. The situation worsens considerably when the woebegone Charles accompanies his high living business partner Berkeley for a night on the town with a couple of good- time gals, and things get out of hand. A shooting occurs, someone gets killed, there is an attempted cover-up to avoid scandal, poor Juliet Raeburn's name gets dragged through the mud, etc. etc. In the end, after the various complications have been sorted out, the virtuous characters are rewarded and even the "bad" ones get another chance . . . with one exception, anyhow.

Old Wives for New is, in short, a well produced soap opera but no more substantial than an episode of "Dynasty." For me, the story begins to lose any claim on credibility after the crime of passion, when the plot's improbabilities become increasingly obvious. (I haven't seen this film with an audience, but I believe there are moments towards the end that would provoke unintended giggles.) On the plus side, the film is a time-capsule of its era, particularly where clothing is concerned; DeMille's movies are known for sumptuous costuming, especially for the ladies, and this one boasts a lot of great 1918 vintage outfits for viewers who enjoy that sort of thing. It's also interesting to observe the characters' casual acceptance of adultery and divorce, attitudes we might associate with the Roaring Twenties, yet already present at this time. On the minus side, while the leading players are competent enough they're not very interesting, and there's no Gloria Swanson or Wallace Reid on hand to give things a boost. Theodore Roberts, who plays the old roué Berkeley, gives the flashiest performance, but he isn't on screen long. In sum, this is a moderately engaging silent drama that never rises above the standard level. It appears that DeMille did not approach the material with any unusual degree of interest or vigor, but not long afterward, when Miss Swanson arrived on the scene, their work together would produce more exciting results.