A rich boy marries poor, gets bored, then has his wife JAILED. 1926 drama hits different.
"Mismates" is the story of a wealthy youth who, against his mother's wishes, marries a poor girl and is disowned. At first determined to support himself and his wife, he soon craves the accustomed luxury and deserts his wife and child. On false information provided by the boy's mother and substantiated by himself the wife is sent to jail and the child kidnapped by the husband. This is where the drama kicks in.
Acting
Doris Kenyon's face acting carries entire emotional arcs without title cards.
Direction
Brabin crams scandalous plot twists most modern films stretch to three hours.
Director
Charles Brabin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This pre-Code melodrama reflects 1920s anxieties about cross-class marriage and the 'fallen woman' trope that Hays Code would soon sanitize into oblivion.
Warner Baxter later won an Oscar for In Old Arizona (1929), making his performance here as cinema's worst husband a fascinating career bookend.
US
