Don't Marry for Money on AllMovie

After receiving excellent training through working alongside Maurice Tourneur, Clarence Brown became a full-fledged director in his own right with this sophisticated, independently made drama (although he had already really shown his mettle by taking over for an ill Tourneur on The Last of the Mohicans). After landing a job as a modiste for a fashionable Fifth Avenue shop, Marion Whitney (Rubye DeRemer), wins millionaire Peter Smith (House Peters). Marion finds that life with Smith isn't romantic enough for her, and she becomes easy prey for Crane Martin (Cyril Chadwick), a society hanger-on who makes a business out of seducing bored, wealthy wives and then blackmailing them. Before things get too far, Smith catches wind of Martin's scheme and orchestrates the situation to expose him for what he really is. Marion proves to be true to her husband after all and dumps the scoundrel. After this routine little picture, there was nowhere for Brown to go but up, and he went on to direct some of the silent era's most memorable films, including The Eagle with Rudolph Valentino and several of Greta Garbo's best films. He made the transition to sound films and had a long and memorable career at MGM.