The Marriage Clause on AllMovie

Though his glory days as a matinee idol were well behind him in 1926, Francis X. Bushman cut quite a dashing figure in the romantic drama The Marriage Clause. Bushman is cast as Broadway impresario Barry Townsend, who takes it upon himself to make a star out of aspiring actress Sylvia Jordan (Billie Dove). Rival producer Max Ravenal (Warner Oland) spirits Sylvia away from Townsend, signing her to a three-year contract. But there's a hitch: the contract has a "marriage clause," prohibiting Sylvia from getting married during those three years. Feeling somewhat betrayed (especially since he's fallen in love with the girl), Townsend retires from show business, whereupon Sylvia falls into a personal and professional slump, culminating in her on-stage collapse during opening night of her biggest show. Ultimately, of course, Townsend and Sylvia are reunited, and the no-marriage clause is instantly nullified. The Marriage Clause represented a cinematic comeback for pioneering woman director Lois Weber, whose own career ironically went on the skids after her divorce from actor-director Phillips Smalley.