The Laughing Lady (1929)
Director:
Victor Schertzinger
Writers:
Bartlett Cormack (adaptation), Arthur Richman (adaptation)
Stars:
Ruth Chatterton, Clive Brook, Dan Healy
At a Southampton beach resort, Mrs. Hector Lee, known as Marjorie, is rescued from drowning by Dugan, the lifeguard; meanwhile, her husband, Hector, is attending a business meeting at a New York bank headed by Daniel Farr, a brilliant corporation attorney. That evening Dugan, buoyed by his friends' remarks and intoxicated, enters Marjorie's room, clad in pajamas, and is seen by the housekeeper trying to make love to her. Marjorie is dismissed from the hotel without any explanation, and a newspaper story spreads the attendant scandal. Hector, reading of the incident, decides on an immediate divorce, turning the case over to Farr. In the divorce court, Farr presents her as a depraved woman, unfit to care for her child. Marjorie refuses to defend herself, and subsequently she is dropped by all her society friends. Marjorie seeks revenge on Farr, but he becomes sympathetic after learning that Hector had been seeing another woman secretly, and ultimately they find happiness together.