by Hal Erickson
synopsis
No, Richard Barthelmess doesn't don women's apparel in the 1929 talkie The Drag. Barthelmess plays a Vermont newspaper editor, happily married to Alice Day. That is, he was happy until the day his wife's troublesome in-laws (Lucien Littlefield, Katherine Ward) came to visit. Wifey's parents stay, and stay, and stay--and what a drag it is. The title could also refer to the film itself, since The Drag drags along at an excruciating 118 minutes (plus two arbitrarily inserted songs). This yawn-inducer was based on a (hopefully) more entertaining novel by William Dudley Perry.
characteristics
- Newspaper
- In-law
- Husband-and-wife
