This largely forgotten Maugham adaptation proves to be an emotionally scaled down first version of THE WIND, minus the evil seducer and the dust storm. It is surprisingly accomplished.
Impoverished Easterner Palma finds herself shunted to family in the wheat belt and her fancy ways don't go down well, particularly with her relative's wife Fuller, familiar from her Von Strohiem movies and giving the film's most telling performance. To avoid further humiliation, our heroine marries farmer Meighan. He doesn't get what he expected and finds himself held off at rifle point when he tries to assert his rights as husband.
The ending is quite sunny and the film is no competitor for the Seastrom masterpiece but it is still rewarding.
You can see that this one is the work of someone used to doing lightweights but director Beaudinehe manages the shift of tone. He was someone who spent his life turning out routine entertainments generally with more professionalism than his competitors and, as with the Roddy McDowell KIDNAPPED decades later, he could rise to an opportunity.
The film survives in a good black and white copy and got effective presentation at the Pordenone Silent Movie Week.
