Half Marriage (1929)

• Director
  • William J. Cowen
• Writers
  • Jane Murfin
  • George Kibbe Turner
• Stars
  • Olive Borden
  • Morgan Farley
  • Ken Murray

  This loosely-constructed romantic melodrama stars Olive Borden as society girl Judy Paige, who defies her parents by eloping with Dick (Morgan Farley), a handsome young architect. To the rest of the world, it appears as though Judy and Dick are living together without benefit of clergy, and soon the two young lovers find themselves ostracized by their friends and loved ones. Only after the suicide of Judy's jilted suitor (Anderson Lawler) does the truth come out: Judy and Dick have been secretly married all along. A hodgepodge of illogical scripting and poorly developed characterizations, Half-Marriage holds some interest to modern-day viewers by virtue of two of its supporting players: vaudeville monologist and "home-movie" buff Ken Murray, and future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. Also worth noting are the film's two songs, both co-written by Oscar Levant.