Playing With Souls (1925)

Genres - Drama  |   Sub-Genres - Melodrama  |   Run Time - 70 min.  |   Countries - United States  |  
  • AllMovie Rating
    5
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Share on

Synopsis by Janiss Garza

This silent drama, based on the novel by the Countess de Chambrun, had quite a few unusual twists. Amy and Matthew Dale (Belle Bennett and Clive Brook) separate and they place their young son, Matthew Jr., in a London boarding school. The boy grows up without knowing his parents, and is taunted by his schoolmates, who doubt the legitimacy of his childhood. By the time he is 20, Matt (William Collier Jr.) wants to find out about his parentage, so he travels to Paris, leaving behind his sweetheart, Margo (Mary Astor). He gets swept up in the nightlife of the Montmartre and becomes involved with Bricotte (Jacqueline Logan), who is -- to put it politely -- very popular with the men there. The banker who has been doling out Matt's allowance sends for Dale Sr., who arrives in Paris and presents himself to Matt as a friend of his dad's. He halts the affair with Bricotte by showing her up as the floozy she really is. Then he has to save his disillusioned son from jumping into the Seine. Things get even more interesting when Amy shows up and tries to vamp her own son. Dale has to take her aside to tell her his identity. In the end, Matt returns to London and Margo, while Amy and her husband are reunited.

Characteristics

Keywords

illegitimacy, reputation, seduction