Spite Marriage

Elmer presses trousers for a living and is hopelessly in love with the stage actress Trilby Drew. Trilby wants to make her leading man jealous, and marries Elmer to do it. Elmer does not realise; he thinks he is having the best day of his life. This is Buster Keaton's last silent film. It was his second production for MGM and the last on which the studio allowed him any creative control. Keaton wanted it made as a talkie; MGM settled for music and sound effects. Its best-known passage is the long, entirely physical sequence in which Elmer tries to get a drunk Trilby into bed. Edward Sedgwick is credited as director with Keaton effectively staging the gags. Dorothy Sebastian plays Trilby. It opened on 25 March 1929. Who it's for: Viewers interested in silent comedy, Keaton's physical invention, and transitional moments in film history. Who it's not for: It is not as free as the films Keaton produced himself in the early 1920s, and the studio's hand is felt. The plot is thin.