The Reckless Age

{{short description|1924 film by Harry A. Pollard}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{infobox film | name = The Reckless Age | image = The Reckless Age (1924) - 1.jpg | caption = Advertisement | director = Harry A. Pollard | producer = Carl Laemmle | writer = Rex Taylor | based_on = {{basedon|''Love Insurance''|Earl Derr Biggers}} | cinematography = William Fildew | editing = | distributor = Universal Pictures | released = {{Film date|1924|08|17}} | runtime = 7 reels | country = United States | language = Silent (English intertitles) }} thumb|''The Reckless Age'' (1924) by Harry A. Pollard '''''The Reckless Age''''' is a 1924 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Reginald Denny. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is based on the novel ''Love Insurance'' by Earl Derr Biggers and is a remake of an earlier Paramount film ''Love Insurance'' (1919), which is now lost.<ref>[http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=11574 The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: ''The Reckless Age'']</ref>

==Plot== As described in a film magazine,<ref name="ETR">{{cite journal |title=''The Reckless Age'' |journal=Universal Weekly |volume=18 |issue=23 |page=[https://archive.org/details/universal1820univ/page/n975/mode/1up 40] |publisher=Moving Picture Weekly Pub. Co. |location=New York City, New York |date=May 31, 1924 |url=https://archive.org/details/universal1820univ/mode/2up |access-date=29 July 2021}}</ref> Dick Minot (Denny), crack "trouble-shooter" of Lloyd's International Insurance Company, is assigned to guard Lord Harrowby (Austin) from disaster in connection with his coming marriage to Cynthia Meyrick (Dwyer), an heiress, as the nobleman having taken out an insurance policy against his failure to marry her. Minot proceeds to the Florida resort where Cynthia is and where the marriage is to take place. On the way he meets the heiress, who is beautiful. He promptly falls in love with her, but his duty stares him in the face. He must leave no stone unturned to see that her romance with the nobleman does not fall through. She, in the meantime, has fallen in love with the insurance man. Trouble develops when a man, claiming to be the real Lord Harrowby appears, and Minot promptly has him kidnaped and put aboard a yacht. Then a London chorus girl appears and threatens to sue His Lordship for breach of promise, which of course would wreck the romance. Minot discovers that chorus girl is already married and gets rid of her. In the meantime, the heiress practically proposes to Minot, and his duty stands between them until — but that's telling! It's a big surprise — and a big laugh!

==Cast== {{Cast listing| *Reginald Denny as Dick Minot *Ruth Dwyer as Cynthia Meyrick *John Steppling as Spencer Meyrick *May Wallace as Auntie Meyrick *William Austin as Lord Harrowby *Tom McGuire as Martin Wall *Fred Malatesta as Manuel Gonzales *Henry A. Barrows as John Thacker *Frederick Vroom as Owen Johnson *William E. Lawrence as John Paddock *Hayden Stevenson as Henry Trimmer *Frank Leigh as George Jenkins *Fay Tincher as The Duchess of Lismore }}

==Preservation== A copy of ''The Reckless Age'' is preserved at EYE Film Institute Netherlands in Amsterdam.<ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.1001/default.html The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Reckless Age'']</ref><ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RecklessAge1924.html Progressive Silent Film List: ''The Reckless Age''] at silentera.com</ref>

==Home media== ''The Reckless Age'' was restored and remastered in 4K and released on 1080p Blu-ray disc in 2020 by Kino Lorber as part of the boxed set ''The Reginald Denny Collection''.<ref>[https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/85538/reginalddennycollection.html High-Def Digest ''Reginald Denny Collection'']</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|The Reckless Age}} *{{IMDb title|0015263}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reckless Age, The}} Category:1924 films Category:American silent feature films Category:Universal Pictures films Category:Films directed by Harry A. Pollard Category:Films based on American novels Category:American black-and-white films Category:1924 English-language films Category:Films based on works by Earl Derr Biggers Category:1924 comedy-drama films Category:1924 American films Category:American silent comedy-drama films Category:English-language comedy-drama films