Film Friday: Our Modern Maidens (1929)
This week on «Film Friday,» I bring you one of the first silent movies I saw. It is also the only film that paired real-life husband and wife Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Joan Crawford. Directed by Jack Conway, Our Modern Maidens (1929) tells the story of Billie Brown (Joan Crawford), the fun-loving daughter of motorcar tycoon B. Bickering Brown (Albert Gran), who plans to marry her childhood sweetheart, Gil Jordan (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), as soon as his diplomatic promotion comes through. Hoping to expedite matters, Billie begins a fake romance with a well-connected diplomat, Glenn Jordan (Rod La Rocque). While Billie is spending all of her time with Glenn, Gil drunkenly seduces her friend, Kentucky Strafford (Anita Page), who becomes pregnant. Billie's manipulations work and Gil is soon assigned to a diplomatic post in Paris. When their engagement is officially announced, Glenn is devastated, as he had thought that Billie was really in love with him. Heartbroken, Glenn accepts a di...