Bachelor Brides

{{short description|1926 film}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = Bachelor Brides | image = | caption = | director = William K. Howard | producer = | writer = {{ubl|C. Gardner Sullivan|Garrett Fort}} | based_on = {{basedon|''Bachelor Brides''|Charles Horace Malcolm}} | starring = {{ubl|Rod La Rocque|Elinor Fair|Eulalie Jensen}} | music = | editing = | cinematography = Lucien N. Andriot | studio = DeMille Pictures Corporation | distributor = Producers Distributing Corporation | released = {{film date|1926|5|10}} | runtime = 72 minutes | country = United States | language = Silent (English intertitles) | budget = | gross = }} '''''Bachelor Brides''''' is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by William K. Howard and starring Rod La Rocque, Elinor Fair, and Eulalie Jensen.<ref>Munden p. 32</ref> It is based on a 1925 British-set stage play of the same name by Charles Horace Malcolm.<ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/B/BachelorBrides1926.html Progressive Silent Film List: ''Bachelor Brides''] at silentera.com</ref><ref>Goble [https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&pg=PA303 p. 303]</ref>

The film's sets were designed by the art director Max Parker.

==Plot== As described in a film magazine,<ref>{{cite journal|title=New Pictures: ''Bachelor Brides''|journal=Exhibitors Herald|volume=25|issue=9|pages=136|publisher=Exhibitors Herald Company|location=Chicago, Illinois|date=15 May 1926|url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald25unse/page/n1423/mode/1up|access-date=21 May 2024}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> Percy Ashfield is on the verge of marrying Mary Bowman, but her father strongly opposes the union because of Percy's peerage. As they gather at Ashfield's castle to celebrate, an unexpected turn of events unfolds: a young woman holding a baby bursts in, claiming that Percy is the father of her child through a secret marriage. A doctor corroborates her story, alleging that she is mentally unstable due to Percy's supposed infidelity. This revelation shocks everyone present, especially Percy, who has no recollection of the woman. A man arrives stating that he is a detective from Scotland Yard hired to guard the wedding gifts. Amidst the ensuing confusion, Percy realizes that both the woman and Mary's pearls have mysteriously vanished, leaving him perplexed. He later finds the supposed detective stealing the gifts, so Percy gets in touch with the real detective, and discovers that the three strangers are crooks in league with each other. The police capture the thieves and Henry Bowing gives his consent to the marriage between his daughter Mary and Percy.

==Cast== *Rod La Rocque as Percy Ashfield, Earl of Duncraggan *Elinor Fair as Mary Bowing *Eulalie Jensen as Lady Ashfield Duncraggan *George Nichols as Henry Bowing *Lucien Littlefield as Egbert Beamish *Eddie Gribbon as Glasgow Willie alias Limehouse Herbert *Julia Faye as Pansy Short *Paul Nicholson as Jim Short alias Dr. Raymond Strang, M.D. *Sally Rand as Maid

==Preservation== Prints of ''Bachelor Brides'' are in the collections of the UCLA Film & Television Archive and Cinémathèque française.<ref>{{cite web|date=|others=|title=The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Bachelor Brides|url=https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.3241/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521175149/https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.3241/|archive-date=2024-05-21|access-date=2026-04-05|website=memory.loc.gov}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== *Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. {{ISBN|978-3-11-095194-3}} *Munden, Kenneth White. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=s1k1RsGvFwwC The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1]''. University of California Press, 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-520-20970-1}}.

==External links== *{{IMDb title|0016617}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachelor Brides}} Category:1926 films Category:1926 American films Category:1926 comedy films Category:1926 English-language films Category:American black-and-white films Category:American films based on plays Category:American silent comedy films Category:American silent feature films Category:English-language comedy films Category:Films directed by William K. Howard Category:Films set in England Category:Films with screenplays by Garrett Fort Category:Producers Distributing Corporation films Category:Surviving American silent films