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involves a scandal when Lita is suspected of having an affair with the movie star. Guiltless, she takes the blame for her girl friend at the boarding school who had the affair and Lita is wrongly expelled. The
Hazlitts become so distressed over Lita’s welfare they become forever reconciled, and their daughter is exonerated.
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when he was informed he was to play the role of a father figure, rather than a youthful leading man: “If I’m Betty
Bronson’s father, then I must have been married at the age of sixteen!” When Menjou discovered the director would be Malcolm St. Clair, who had recently made successful films for Warner
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A couple, James and Alita
Hazlitt, have endured a long, difficult marriage that has oscillated between affection and animosity, intermittently separating and reconciling. Their only child, the teenage Lita, is away at boarding school. Seeking to permanently reunite her beloved parents, she devises a
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The central irony of the story arises from the revelation that personal conflicts between couples, who otherwise have affection for each other, is a measure of the depth and resilience of the relationship. The “double plot” traces the senior
Hazlitts in tandem with their unmarried daughter and the
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A young doctor enters the scene and he and Lita discover they are genuinely attracted to one another. When the young couple find that they quarrel frequently, the doctor explains to Lita that this is indicative of a couple in love. As such, Lita’s parents, too, still love one another. The climax
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Paramount studio’s policies, which “encouraged a good deal of creative freedom” was particularly conducive to St. Clair’s needs as a filmmaker. Are People
Parents?, his first project at Paramount, launched “the most important phase of his career.” As in all St. Clair’s sophisticated Paramount
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inanimate objects trace the deterioration of the
Hazlitt marriage. Ruth Anne Dwyer writes: “tems pass back and forth between husband and wife from each their respective rooms. With each progressive passage emotions are implied - fond remembrance, hope, frustration and anger.
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he two couples argue, ironically indicating to each other (and to the audience) the degree of their love by the ferocity of their disagreements. The younger unmarried couple demonstrate their mutual affection with verbal jousting, just as the old couple
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deception. She informs them she is infatuated with a conceited and shallow
Hollywood actor. Lita anticipates that her mother and father will join forces in a crusade to save her from a disastrous marriage to this phony “movie sheik.”
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After
Paramount had engaged Florence Vidor to play Mrs. Hazlitt and the 19-year-old Betty Bronson to play her daughter, Lita, director St. Clair personally requested Adolphe Menjou to play the role of her father, Mr. Hazlitt.
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Dwyer, 1996 p. 202: Filmography, plot synopsis, And p. 119: “...the two couples argue, ironically indicating to each other (and to the audience) the degree of their love by the ferocity of their disagreements.”
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Dwyer, 1996 p. 98: The “upward spiral” of his career, his
Paramount films “the peak of his career.” Dwyer cites Stroheim and Lubitsch, not Sternberg, who was hired by Paramount in 1926.
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wrapped production. The film was produced in
Philadelphia and New York City thus becoming a sort of time capsule record of buildings long gone and neighborhoods changed.
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with the amicable St. Clair, Menjou was reassured as to the seriousness of the production. He would later co-star with Florence Vidor in St. Clair’s
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St. Clair, in his use of this “subtle” approach to comedy, also makes reference to the notable “newspapers-at-the-table” scene from Lubitsch’s
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comedies, he borrowed cinematic devices termed the “light touch” or the Lubitsch touch. Indeed, the film reflects “the influence of
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young doctor who one another. The irony encompasses and transendes age, generation, and marital status:
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St. Clair exposes various middle-class social conventions to satire and “sometimes ridicule” in
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as originally produced on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre, Feb. 5 1924 to June 1925; IBDb.com
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marked St. Clair’s initiation into the echelon of top directors at Paramount studios, joining
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On February 2, 1955, a 60-minute version of the play aired on the
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Menjou, then aged 35, recalled his reaction in his 1948 memoir
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It's one of two films that co-starred popular Broadway actor
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with an element of irony favored at Paramount studios.
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720:Malcolm St. Clair: His Films, 1915-1948
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1567:Films directed by Malcolm St. Clair
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1172:The Grand Duchess and the Waiter
362:The Grand Duchess and the Waiter
565:Dwyer, 1996 p. 202: Filmography
547:Dwyer, 1996 p. 202: Filmography
1592:American black-and-white films
857:Hungry Lions and Tender Hearts
324:Charles Goodrich as Pop Fisher
16:1926 film by Malcolm St. Clair
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1587:American films based on plays
1562:American silent feature films
1411:The Jones Family in Hollywood
743:The Screen; Mr. Keaton Again.
1602:1920s English-language films
1577:Silent American comedy films
1067:When Knighthood Was in Tower
1041:When Gale and Hurricane Meet
728:, Lantham, Md., and London.
348:Bros. featuring the canine
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1572:Famous Players-Lasky films
59:Pierre Collings (scenario)
1124:The Lighthouse by the Sea
1035:The End of a Perfect Fray
893:Wedding Bells Out of Tune
828:Rip & Stitch: Tailors
254:) who died shortly after
138:August 16, 1926
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1011:Two Stones with One Bird
752:Retrieved 10 June, 2024.
718:Dwyer, Ruth Anne. 1996.
1260:The Canary Murder Case
1156:The Trouble with Wives
999:The Knight That Failed
840:No Mother to Guide Him
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1017:Some Punches and Judy
969:Entertaining the Boss
863:He Loved Like He Lied
583:Dwyer, 1996 p. 99-100
330:as Railroad Executive
286:and Gregory Kelly in
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203:play of the same name
178:(English intertitles)
1597:1920s American films
1466:The Man in the Trunk
1458:The Bashful Bachelor
1359:Time Out for Romance
1327:The Boudoir Diplomat
1311:Dangerous Nan McGrew
1220:Breakfast at Sunrise
1164:A Woman of the World
1148:After Business Hours
1097:For the Love of Mike
957:Their First Vacation
887:A Kitchen Cinderella
748:, August 23, 1926.
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527:The Best of Broadway
345:It Took Nine Tailors
309:as Clara, Joe's Girl
195:Famous Players–Lasky
158:7 reels (82 minutes)
1503:Swing Out the Blues
1496:The Dancing Masters
1425:Hollywood Cavalcade
1140:Are Parents People?
725:The Scarecrow Press
648:Are Parents People?
646:Dwyer, 1996 p. 14:
455:Library of Congress
449:Preservation status
433:Are Parents People?
410:The Marriage Circle
401:Are Parents People?
303:as Amy Fisher Piper
241:Josef von Sternberg
229:Are Parents People?
197:and distributed by
193:comedy produced by
189:is a 1926 American
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1322:(1930; uncredited)
1279:(1929; uncredited)
1180:A Social Celebrity
1029:Rice and Old Shoes
993:The Knight in Gale
943:Wedding Dumb Bells
931:You'd Be Surprised
869:His Youthful Fancy
812:Films directed by
746:The New York Times
637:Dwyer, 1996 p. 119
628:Dwyer, 1996 p. 119
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233:Erich von Stroheim
199:Paramount Pictures
124:Paramount Pictures
1582:1926 comedy films
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1526:Arthur Takes Over
1480:Two Weeks to Live
1473:Over My Dead Body
1443:Young as You Feel
1392:Safety in Numbers
1380:Dangerously Yours
1343:Goldie Gets Along
814:Malcolm St. Clair
480:Men Are Like That
453:Preserved at the
213:, the film stars
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45:Malcolm St. Clair
35:Theatrical poster
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1404:Everybody's Baby
1398:Down on the Farm
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937:Don't Be Foolish
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834:The Little Widow
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154:Running time
131:Release date
68:Adolph Zukor
55:George Kelly
24:The Show-Off
18:
1268:Side Street
1132:On Thin Ice
1109:Bee's Knees
925:Bright Eyes
511:Red Skelton
498:Madge Evans
357:tete-a-tete
350:Rin-Tin-Tin
301:Lois Wilson
252:Ruth Gordon
219:Lois Wilson
191:silent film
175:Silent film
114:Ralph Block
90:Lois Wilson
64:Produced by
41:Directed by
1557:1926 films
1551:Categories
1488:Jitterbugs
1079:King Leary
1047:Judy Punch
919:Call a Cop
713:References
601:Hall, 1925
475:Doris Hill
471:Hal Skelly
142:1926-08-16
104:Lee Garmes
51:Written by
981:Christmas
423:(1941).
369:Reception
239:and soon
171:Languages
110:Edited by
1351:Crack-Up
906:The Goat
741:. 1925.
394:Lubitsch
355:After a
82:Starring
524:series
483:(1930).
461:Remakes
335:Casting
163:Country
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1436:1940s
1295:1930s
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535:Notes
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427:Theme
387:Style
769:IMDb
730:ISBN
513:and
473:and
275:Cast
262:Plot
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