The River of Romance

Buddy Rogers was raised by the Quaker relatives of his mother. He returns home to father Henry B. Walthall's southern plantation, where he quickly becomes engaged to Walthall's ward, June Collyer, while her younger sister, Mary Brian also falls in love with him. No sooner has Walthall announced the engagement, than in comes Walter McGrail, who challenges Rogers to a duel. Rogers, because of his upbringing, thinks there's no reason to fight, so Walthall kicks him out for violating the Code Of The Southern Gentleman and marries Miss Collyer to McGrail, who turns out to be an utter dud. Rogers heads out and falls in with one-eyed Wallace Beery, who teaches him how to act like a bloodthirsty maniac.

It's based on a stage play by Booth Tarkington, and the first half hour with its southern-fried mint-julep attitude, where every man is at least a major, and prepared to fight at the drop of of a black-eyed pea, is rather dull. There's some fun with Beery which neatly skewers the Southern stereotype, but Rogers is rather dull as the lead, even when he's wearing a fake mustache. With Fred Kohler and Natalie Kingston.