A complete, beautifully tinted copy in first-class condition is now available on a superb Alpha DVD. Alas, at 95 minutes, the movie does tend to out-stay its welcome even though affairs come to the sort of spectacular thousands-of-extras climax that we expect of director Cecil B. DeMille. Frankly, I didn't find the story quite engaging enough, despite the charm of Edith Roberts whom I'd not even heard of before, even though her impressive list of 158 acting credits run from 1915 through 1929. Here she steals the movie as the misplaced Irish lass, although Leatrice Joy gives her a good run for the money. Conrad Nagel is the society playboy and he's pretty much his usual stuffy self, despite the lack of sound, while Jack Mower (602 credits, would you believe, from 1914 through 1963) is appropriately nasty and surly as the unsympathetic chauffeur who marries the heiress and then proceeds to put her in her place – or rather in his place!
6 Reviews
A bit too long, but it has some really spectacular DeMille scenes!
JohnHowardReid1 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
DeMille Picks Up Where Fairy Tales End
springfieldrental14 November 2021
Leatrice Joy was a 28-year-old veteran actress when DeMille began casting for a replacement of Gloria Swanson for his primary on-screen protege. Her first role with the director was January 1922's "Saturday Night," as a upper crust socialite who falls for her chauffeur. On the opposite end of the spectrum is her wealthy former boyfriend, acted by Conrad Nagel, who is suddenly attracted by a laundress. Both couples get married to those outside their economic and social class. The Jeanie MacPherson script comes right out and states in its opening title that "most stories stop where the real drama of life begins." Fairy tales like Cinderella conclude before extending the story to reflect the tension between the couple's opposing economic backgrounds. DeMille unpeals the layers of the initial fantasyland, exposing the real differences the two couples experience because of their varied backgrounds.
Conrad's sister (in the movie) Elsie, played by Julia Faye, is the one person who realizes these pairings will be undergoing some rough crinkles in their marriage. "Satuday Night's" plot was especially personal to DeMille because, despite being wed to actress Constance Adams since 1902, he had been known to have a wandering eye. Faye first met the director in 1917 and was included in his circle of mistresses. The Richmond, Virginia born actress played a wide variety of roles, from maids to queens. Her on-screen association with DeMille lasted well into the 1950's, retiring after appearing in his 1958-produced 'The Buccaneer.'
Conrad's sister (in the movie) Elsie, played by Julia Faye, is the one person who realizes these pairings will be undergoing some rough crinkles in their marriage. "Satuday Night's" plot was especially personal to DeMille because, despite being wed to actress Constance Adams since 1902, he had been known to have a wandering eye. Faye first met the director in 1917 and was included in his circle of mistresses. The Richmond, Virginia born actress played a wide variety of roles, from maids to queens. Her on-screen association with DeMille lasted well into the 1950's, retiring after appearing in his 1958-produced 'The Buccaneer.'
One Unfortunate Saturday night
kidboots30 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
By 1922 with Gloria Swanson now a star in her own right Cecil B. DeMille thought that Leatrice Joy, an up and coming starlet and newly married to John Gilbert, had what it takes. But the relationship was stormy - she realised she had made a mistake in going with DeMille but he refused to release her, she even had her hair cut in an unattractive, close cut, mannish do but he wouldn't budge, just refused to to talk to her for a few years!! Their first collaboration was "Saturday Night", a re-working of Swanson's great hit "Male and Female" only taken a step further. This time the two sophisticates marry their servants all because of one horrendous Saturday night!!
DeMille must have used this film to introduce his new stars because Conrad Nagel was a new face as well - unfortunately though for both Nagel and Joy, their parts weren't sympathetic. She plays Iris Van Suydam, a spoiled society girl living it up on an uncle's allowance. She is engaged to wealthy Richard Prentiss (Nagel) but both of them pine for the simple things in life and think they have found the answer with their servants. Vibrant Edith Roberts who is the real star and find of the film plays Shamrock O'Day whose day-dreams turn washing rope into strings of pearls - she hangs about Tom McGuire, Iris's chauffeur who secretly treasures a little embroidered hanky from his employer!!
One unfortunate Saturday, Shamrock has an accident with the laundry from the Prentiss' household - she ends up at the bottom of the stairs, wearing a polar bear skin rug while trying desperately to save some gold fish. Richard is appalled at the snobbish dressing down she receives from his sister (Julia Faye) and offers to run her home. All seen by Iris who, to "get even", orders her chauffeur to take her on a picnic - with her "no one can tell me what to do" attitude she takes the wheel and her reckless driving sees the car stalled on a railway bridge. In a hair raising scene quick witted Tom saves the day and Iris as they both hang from the bridge to let the train pass.
I know it was the roaring twenties and anything goes - but little Shamrock was the only character to engender viewer sympathy. Leatrice Joy had a dignified beauty but her colourless personality was completely overshadowed by vibrant Edith Roberts. It was hard to believe her "I love you" declaration to Tom at the end, she didn't put her feelings across on the screen. Also, as working class as Shamrock's character was, she was the only one to realise that they were all mismatched but was powerless to stop fate!!
And so they were married - Iris finds Tom's friends low-brow but is herself roundly criticized for being "fast" when she lights up a cigarette at the table and of course Shamrock manages to embarrass Richard in front of his friends when she gets drunk (but still manages to come out looking like roses for the viewer). And that reminds me, it wouldn't be a DeMille movie without a bath scene and what a bath, an amazing fountain with spurting jets of water and of course Shamrock tries to eat the soap!! Iris realises that she was in love with the uniform of Tom the dashing chauffeur, not plain Tom, now unemployed and hunting for a job!! DeMille cryptically shows where his sympathies lie - Shamrock is forbidden by Dick's snooty sister to come down to the Halloween party in case she humiliates the family while the party looks the most idiotic, drunken orgy ever!!
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! - Can't quite work out the last scene. 7 years have passed (usually the time when people can marry again after separation or desertion) - Shamrock and Tom are having a wild time at Coney Island with their several children while over on Nob Hill Iris and Richard have just decided to announce their engagement. Now does this mean that Shamrock and Tom have decided to settle down without the benefit of clergy - or that Iris and Richard are so boring it has taken them 7 years to get around to becoming engaged again?? Just wondering.....
DeMille must have used this film to introduce his new stars because Conrad Nagel was a new face as well - unfortunately though for both Nagel and Joy, their parts weren't sympathetic. She plays Iris Van Suydam, a spoiled society girl living it up on an uncle's allowance. She is engaged to wealthy Richard Prentiss (Nagel) but both of them pine for the simple things in life and think they have found the answer with their servants. Vibrant Edith Roberts who is the real star and find of the film plays Shamrock O'Day whose day-dreams turn washing rope into strings of pearls - she hangs about Tom McGuire, Iris's chauffeur who secretly treasures a little embroidered hanky from his employer!!
One unfortunate Saturday, Shamrock has an accident with the laundry from the Prentiss' household - she ends up at the bottom of the stairs, wearing a polar bear skin rug while trying desperately to save some gold fish. Richard is appalled at the snobbish dressing down she receives from his sister (Julia Faye) and offers to run her home. All seen by Iris who, to "get even", orders her chauffeur to take her on a picnic - with her "no one can tell me what to do" attitude she takes the wheel and her reckless driving sees the car stalled on a railway bridge. In a hair raising scene quick witted Tom saves the day and Iris as they both hang from the bridge to let the train pass.
I know it was the roaring twenties and anything goes - but little Shamrock was the only character to engender viewer sympathy. Leatrice Joy had a dignified beauty but her colourless personality was completely overshadowed by vibrant Edith Roberts. It was hard to believe her "I love you" declaration to Tom at the end, she didn't put her feelings across on the screen. Also, as working class as Shamrock's character was, she was the only one to realise that they were all mismatched but was powerless to stop fate!!
And so they were married - Iris finds Tom's friends low-brow but is herself roundly criticized for being "fast" when she lights up a cigarette at the table and of course Shamrock manages to embarrass Richard in front of his friends when she gets drunk (but still manages to come out looking like roses for the viewer). And that reminds me, it wouldn't be a DeMille movie without a bath scene and what a bath, an amazing fountain with spurting jets of water and of course Shamrock tries to eat the soap!! Iris realises that she was in love with the uniform of Tom the dashing chauffeur, not plain Tom, now unemployed and hunting for a job!! DeMille cryptically shows where his sympathies lie - Shamrock is forbidden by Dick's snooty sister to come down to the Halloween party in case she humiliates the family while the party looks the most idiotic, drunken orgy ever!!
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! - Can't quite work out the last scene. 7 years have passed (usually the time when people can marry again after separation or desertion) - Shamrock and Tom are having a wild time at Coney Island with their several children while over on Nob Hill Iris and Richard have just decided to announce their engagement. Now does this mean that Shamrock and Tom have decided to settle down without the benefit of clergy - or that Iris and Richard are so boring it has taken them 7 years to get around to becoming engaged again?? Just wondering.....
Leatrice Joy Starring in a DeMille Film.
drednm24 May 2013
This comedy/drama from Cecil B. DeMille was Leatrice Joy's first starring film for the director after Gloria Swanson moved on. She plays a bored rich girl who is engaged to bored rich boy Conrad Nagel. The poor things have nothing to do but dress up and go to parties. They are sort of engaged.
But Joy is attracted to take-charge chauffeur Jack Mower and Nagel is fascinated by feisty laundress Edith Roberts. What to do? Things come to a head when bitchy sister Julia Faye forces the wedding announcement at a big party and Joy and Nagel meekly fall in line ... that is until fate throws the couple into the paths of their secret loves.
Wreckless Joy causes a train to smash her roadster, but she is saved by Mower. And Nagel runs off and marries Roberts. Society is shocked by the marriages. Joy is forced to live in a cold water tenement after Mower is fired, and Roberts is the butt of Faye's endless jokes as she tries to fit in with the society types.
Will love conquer all? Or will everyday life break up these mismatched marriages? It takes a blazing tenement fire to settle the issue.
The 4 stars all do well, with Leatrice Joy especially watchable. Julia Faye is notable as the sister. Co-stars include Theodore Roberts, Edythe Chapman, and Sylvia Ashton. Costumes and interior designs are sumptuous, and the Halloween pool party is not to be missed!
But Joy is attracted to take-charge chauffeur Jack Mower and Nagel is fascinated by feisty laundress Edith Roberts. What to do? Things come to a head when bitchy sister Julia Faye forces the wedding announcement at a big party and Joy and Nagel meekly fall in line ... that is until fate throws the couple into the paths of their secret loves.
Wreckless Joy causes a train to smash her roadster, but she is saved by Mower. And Nagel runs off and marries Roberts. Society is shocked by the marriages. Joy is forced to live in a cold water tenement after Mower is fired, and Roberts is the butt of Faye's endless jokes as she tries to fit in with the society types.
Will love conquer all? Or will everyday life break up these mismatched marriages? It takes a blazing tenement fire to settle the issue.
The 4 stars all do well, with Leatrice Joy especially watchable. Julia Faye is notable as the sister. Co-stars include Theodore Roberts, Edythe Chapman, and Sylvia Ashton. Costumes and interior designs are sumptuous, and the Halloween pool party is not to be missed!
After the Ball is Over
boblipton23 September 2018
Leatrice Joy throws over her rich fiance, Conrad Nagel, to wed her chauffeur, Jack Mower. Her uncle, Theodore Roberts, disinherits her. Nagel shows some initiative by marrying his pretty laundress, Edith Roberts. Neither his mother nor his snobbish sister, played by Julia Faye, care for this. Both couples insist they are happy, even though Leatrice burns the roast and Edith falls asleep at dinner parties. Matters continue to worsen in Cecil DeMille's movie about what happens after 'they lived happily ever after.'
This is one of DeMille's movies about the rich having a great time in the first five reels until the price is paid in the sixth, and there are wild parties aplenty; Miss Roberts watches the Best People behave like fools, and then takes off for Coney Island,
Demille's message is essentially normative, as it usually is: like should marry like, but first, let's make some whoopee, because it's fun to watch the big mistakes, like Edith trying to eat soap. The performances are all pretty good, but as usual, Teddy Roberts steals the show
This is one of DeMille's movies about the rich having a great time in the first five reels until the price is paid in the sixth, and there are wild parties aplenty; Miss Roberts watches the Best People behave like fools, and then takes off for Coney Island,
Demille's message is essentially normative, as it usually is: like should marry like, but first, let's make some whoopee, because it's fun to watch the big mistakes, like Edith trying to eat soap. The performances are all pretty good, but as usual, Teddy Roberts steals the show
Not the dud I thought it might be
scsu19753 December 2022
Shamrock O'Day is a laundress whose family works for wealthy Richard Prentiss. Tom McGuire is Shamrock's neighbor, and chauffeur to wealthy Iris Van Suydam. Shamrock and Tom each wish for the good life, while Richard and Iris yearn for the simple life. Richard and Iris have an arrangement to be married. But fate intervenes, and Richard finds himself falling for Shamrock, while Iris falls for Tom. Both couples marry, but their relationships take rocky turns as class differences come to the forefront.
At first, I thought this film would be a dud, but it did entertain me. It was interesting to see how each spouse got on the other's nerves, and how their relationships deteriorated. The situations ranged from comical to downright nasty. The leads all do good work, especially Edith Roberts. The supporting cast is also good, with Theodore Roberts as Joy's uncle, doing his cigar chomping, and Julia Faye, as Nagel's sister, acting the part of beyotch quite well. The climax has unnecessary melodrama, which I felt weakened the film, and also made the characters seem more reprehensible.
There are some nice bits in the film, particularly between Joy and Mower. When Joy moves into his apartment, she sits down at what seems to be a piano, only to discover it's a hide-a-bed. She draws a bath for Mower, who has just come home from work, and he asks why, noting that it's only Tuesday. When his friends drop over unexpectedly, he invites them to stay for dinner, and they turn out to be boors. Then, Joy lights up in front of everyone, which makes Mower shoot daggers at her.
These mini-spats are far and away the best parts of the movie.
At first, I thought this film would be a dud, but it did entertain me. It was interesting to see how each spouse got on the other's nerves, and how their relationships deteriorated. The situations ranged from comical to downright nasty. The leads all do good work, especially Edith Roberts. The supporting cast is also good, with Theodore Roberts as Joy's uncle, doing his cigar chomping, and Julia Faye, as Nagel's sister, acting the part of beyotch quite well. The climax has unnecessary melodrama, which I felt weakened the film, and also made the characters seem more reprehensible.
There are some nice bits in the film, particularly between Joy and Mower. When Joy moves into his apartment, she sits down at what seems to be a piano, only to discover it's a hide-a-bed. She draws a bath for Mower, who has just come home from work, and he asks why, noting that it's only Tuesday. When his friends drop over unexpectedly, he invites them to stay for dinner, and they turn out to be boors. Then, Joy lights up in front of everyone, which makes Mower shoot daggers at her.
These mini-spats are far and away the best parts of the movie.
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