The Unfortunate Marriage (1917) User Reviews

Standard silent melodrama

[MissSimonetta · 7/10 · 8 March 2020]

The 1917 version of the much-adapted THE WOMAN IN WHITE is a competent if unremarkable example of 1910s melodrama. There is much mustache-twirling and plotting against doe-eyed ingenues in this exposition-heavy tale that does not appear to lend itself well to silent film's unique language. The plot borders on the ludicrous often, with the bad guys plotting in the most inconvenient locations (always by open windows or balconies where innocent maids might overhear their sinister schemes, of course) or trailing people with only two feet between themselves and the mark. I have no clue how faithful this movie is or is not to the book, but the 1947 adaptation struck me as a more coherent and interesting product, maybe because it had more time to tell the story. As it is, this movie feels rushed and, aside from a few interesting compositions and double-exposures here and there, not terribly imaginative.

This was one of the last projects of the Thanhouser company and movie star Florence La Badie. Thanhouser's short films are among the best movies you'll find in the 1910s, while La Badie was a charming young actress whose promising career would be cut short by a fatal car accident not too long after THE WOMAN IN WHITE saw release.

One of Florence La Badie's last films

[scsu1975 · 7/10 · 21 November 2022]

This appears to be the first full-length version of the Wilkie Collins novel "The Woman in White." It has been a long time since I've read the novel, so I can't say if this is a faithful adaptation of it. However, the film is certainly well-made and entertaining, despite a slow and somewhat confusing start. Florence La Badie plays the heroine, as well as the mysterious "woman in white." Richard Neill, as her villainous husband after her inheritance, manages to be slick and nasty without going over the top. The climax is well-staged.

One major criticism is that the titles were written against a floral background, making them very difficult to read. On the other hand, the photography is very good.

Torturously Tortuous Melodrama

[Cineanalyst · 3/10 · 10 January 2010]

"The Woman in White" is an extremely convoluted melodrama and is one of the most ludicrous ones I've seen, which is saying something considering the many old-fashioned soap operas that I've seen from the silent era and since. It encompasses the usual flaws of the genre: sensational episodes, twists and turns; constant plotting and eavesdropping; classist distinctions superficially condemned yet supported by the underlying narrative that romanticizes the rich heroes and kills the self-sacrificing but dimwitted poor girl; and generally insufferably stupid characters who dig their own graves, but, of course, are only saved in the end by contrivance and the even stupider villains. In one scene, the baddies suggest that they finish their conversation where they can't be overheard; so, of course, they go outside and are overheard overhead by a character on a balcony. You can't escape eavesdroppers in bad dramaturgy. Additionally, the dastardly mustached villain in this film would especially have been well advised to study Occam's razor. Intricate plots can engage me, like anyone else, but they have to have some logic and craft. At least, this photoplay doesn't have an overly insulting or contradictory moral, a too far-fetched sentimental happy ending tacked on, and the acting isn't annoying, which in these respects is more than I can say about some of its fellow melodramas.

The lead Florence La Badie plays dual roles. Clever editing is used for the scene where her two characters meet. La Badie, however, does appear twice within a scene via superimposition, but that's in a flashback-within-a-mirror scene. There are a couple such scenes where La Badie's reflection in the mirror reflects her reflective melancholy mood. Anyhow, there's nothing in the way of the excellent double-exposure photography for Mary Pickford's dual roles in "Stella Maris" (1918) and "Little Lord Fauntleroy" (1921). Thanhouser, the production company for "The Woman in White", was a rather small producer, which went out of business later in 1917. La Badie also saw an unfortunate end that year when she died in an automobile accident.

(Note: Perhaps, someday, I'll read Wilkie Collins' novel, for which the motion picture is based, to see how it handled its sensationalism and influenced that in this film and, perhaps, all such films.)

Beautiful Florence La Badie's Almost Last Film

[kidboots · 9/10 · 10 December 2014]

I think it's just a fantastic attempt by a smaller studio to bring Wilkie Collins' classic Victorian tale of murder, madness and romance, "The Woman in White", to the screen. The Thanhouser company operated out of New Rochelle from a studio they had built from an old skating rink. In 1913 a fire destroyed the studios but the company just kept plugging away, even releasing a film "When the Studio Burned" to coincide with the disaster. They seemed to specialise in adaptations of classic novels and unlike the other reviewer I think this is a superior effort and can definitely be compared to other studios' films of the period. The titles are especially decorative with an Art Noveauish background.

While art teacher Walter Hartridge is walking to his new job he sees a "woman in white" running through the trees. She has just escaped from a lunatic asylum but implores Walter not to give her away and he keeps his word by acting dumb when a search party enquires after her. Walter and Laura, his new pupil, fall in love but unfortunately she has already been promised to Sir Percival Glyde - who is the "boo, hiss" villain. He is eager to get Laura's grumpy uncle to sign a clause that will enable either Laura or himself to inherit the estate in case of the other's death - and Sir Percival is determined not to die first!!! He also has Walter watched and interferes with the couple's letters so they both think the other is not serious about their love.

After the Glyde's honeymoon another bad egg arrives on the scene - he is Dr. Cuneo who conducts experiments on cute animals and is deeply in cahoots with Glyde's evil schemes. He sees a resemblance between Ann "the mad girl" and Laura and he hatches a plan....... I think the confusion comes about when Laura's older sister Marion, who has played a pretty subordinate role to the plot so far, but now, half way through becomes vital and propels the plot forward. Marion is drugged and taken away - Laura is told she is on a visit to London, then Ann is drugged and bought to the house, Laura is then drugged and taken away!!! Very confusing, especially as the lovely La Badie plays both Ann and Laura and Gertrude Dallas as Marion has a similar look!!!

1917 was the last year of production for Thanhouser. Earlier in the year an all round actor had died aged 62 but in October, when their brightest and most popular player Florence La Badie died in an automobile accident aged 27, the heart went out of the studio and by the end of the year Thanhouser was idle with no-one there except "the book-keeper and Mr. Thanhouser"!!