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This week on "Film Friday" I bring you the first (and so far only) silent film I ever saw. It is highly unplausible and overly melodramatic, but (surprisingly enough) I loved it. Theatrical release poster Directed by Clarence Brown, A Woman of Affairs (1928) tells the story of Diana Merrick (Greta Garbo), a young British aristocrat in love with Neville Holderness (John Gilbert), to whom she pledged herself when their were children. Their plans to marry are thwarted by Neville's father, Sir Morton (Hobart Bosworth), who disapproves of the Merrick family's lifestyle . Hoping to force his son to forget Diana, Sir Morton sends Neville on a business trip to Egypt. After waiting in vain for two years for Neville's return, Diana marries David Furness (John Mack Brown), who is also in love with her and whom her alc oholic brother Jeffr y (Douglas Fairban ks Jr.) w orships. During their honeymoon in Paris, they receive a visit from detectives, which ends wi...

Since today marks the 79th anniversary of the release of one of my favorite films (classic or otherwise), this week on «Film Friday» I am telling you all about it. Theatrical release poster Directed by William A. Wellman, Small Town Girl (1936) tells the story of Kay Brannan (Janet Gaynor), a young grocery store worker so bored with her humdrum life in the small town of Carvel that she can barely tolerate her family and her prospective suitor, Elmer Clampett (James Stewart). When hundreds of football fans drive through Carvel on their way to the big annual game between Yale and Harvard, Kay lets herself be picked up by Robert «Bob» Dakin (Robert Taylor), a handsome, socially prominent surgeon from Boston. After a night of drunken partying, Bob insists they have a justice of peace marry them. Eager to escape from the tedium, Kay promptly agrees. When the story hits the newspapers the following morning, Mr. and Mrs. Dakin (Lewis Stone and Nella Walker) are shocked...