Spite Marriage (1929)

About Spite Marriage (1929)

Spite Marriage is a 1929 American silent comedy film co-directed by Buster Keaton and Edward Sedgwick and starring Keaton and Dorothy Sebastian. It is the second film Keaton made for MGM and his last silent film, although he had wanted it to be a "talkie" or full sound film.

Elmer, always seen at the theater in imposing formal dress, is really a humble worker in a dry cleaning establishment. (Elmer's full name isn't mentioned in the narrative, but a newspaper story near the end identifies him as "Elmer Gantry.") He idolizes stage actress Trilby Drew and goes to see her performances all the time, pretending to be a wealthy admirer. Trilby is in love with fellow actor Lionel Benmore. When Lionel temporarily spurns her for the younger Ethyl Norcrosse, she impulsively asks Elmer to marry her.

Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article Spite Marriage (text available under CC BY-SA 4.0).