For Alimony Only

For Alimony Only (1926)

Genres - Drama  |   Sub-Genres - Marriage Drama  |   Release Date - Sep 20, 1926 (USA - Unknown), Sep 20, 1926 (USA)  |   Run Time - 72 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Though For Alimony Only was technically a Cecil B. DeMille production, it was directed by DeMille's less-flamboyant brother William C. DeMille. Mercenary Narcella (Lilyan Tashman) schemes to land a wealthy husband, fully intending to divorce the poor sap and reap the benefits of a handsome alimony settlement. After cleaning out one husband, she sets to work on hubby number two, John Williams (Clive Brook). Happy to be rid of Narcella, John agrees to her alimony demands, though he has a tough time keeping up payments. After the divorce, John falls in love with pretty art student Mary Martin (Leatrice Joy) -- and when he's thrown into alimony jail for missing a payment, it is Mary who bails him out. Upon marrying John, Mary vows to keep the household financially solvent (after all, he can't) -- and to this end she becomes a busy interior decorator. Inevitably, Mary is hired to redecorate the home of John's ex-wife Narcella -- and equally inevitably, she misunderstands when John pays Narcella a visit, hoping to negotiate an alimony reduction. Angrily, Mary walks out on John and accepts a dinner invitation from Bertie (Casson Ferguson) -- who happens to be the social parasite currently sponging off Narcella. The whole mess is untangled by a kindly Irish cop, who seems to have more common sense than the rest of the characters put together.

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Keywords

alimony, con/scam, divorce, love, love-conquers-all, marital-problems, marriage, marriage-trap, mercenary, student