Spite Marriage (1929) on Netflix
Elmer, a dry cleaner who dresses formally to watch Trilby Drew perform, idolizes the stage actress from the theater seats. She asks him to marry her to make Lionel Benmore jealous.
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- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb6.9/102,852 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Elmer is always in the audience in imposing formal dress, taken for a wealthy admirer, though he earns his living pressing clothes at a dry cleaner. He idolizes the stage actress Trilby Drew and comes back to watch her night after night. Trilby is in love with a fellow actor, Lionel Benmore, who has temporarily turned to the younger Ethyl Norcrosse. On impulse, Trilby asks Elmer to marry her. Her manager worries what it would do to her career if the public learned she had married a pants presser, and the next day he tells Elmer that she wants out of the marriage.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Spite Marriage (1929)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Buster Keaton wanted Spite Marriage to be his first talkie, but MGM production head Irving Thalberg opposed it: in fall 1928 the studio had only one set of recording equipment, and he believed full sound would raise costs for a star who relied on time-consuming improvisation.
- After Spite Marriage, Buster Keaton recycled many of its gags for Red Skelton's 1943 film I Dood It, some of them shot-for-shot, while writing gags for up-and-coming MGM stars.
