The Teaser

The Teaser is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy/drama film written by Lewis Milestone, Edward T. Lowe Jr. and Jack Wagner based upon the play of the same name by Adelaide Matthews and Martha M. Stanley. The film was directed by William A. Seiter for Universal Pictures, and stars Laura La Plante, Pat O'Malley, Hedda Hopper, and Walter McGrail.[1][2][3][4][5] It is unknown whether any copies of this film exist,[6] and it is considered a lost film.[7]

The Teaser
1925 window card
Directed byWilliam A. Seiter
Produced byCarl Laemmle
Written byEdward T. Lowe Jr.
Jack Wagner
Lewis Milestone (adaptation)
Based onThe Teaser
by Adelaide Matthews and Martha M. Stanley
StarringLaura La Plante
Pat O'Malley
Hedda Hopper
Walter McGrail
CinematographyGeorge Barnes
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • May 24, 1925 (1925-05-24)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent
English intertitles

Plot

Ann Barton (Laura La Plante), a girl from a once-wealthy family, must make a living by clerking in a cigar store. There she meets and falls in love with James McDonald (Pat O'Malley), a cigar salesman. She is then adopted by Margaret Wyndham (Hedda Hopper), her rich and aristocratic aunt, who disapproves of James due to his crude manners. Wishing to break up the two, Aunt Margaret sends Ann away to finishing school. In response, Ann acts out publicly and embarrasses her aunt. In the meantime, James learns how to be a proper gentleman and wins her back through having learned good manners and a more dignified bearing.

Cast

Reception

The New York Times felt there was no need to be overly enthusiastic about the films's plot or character portrayals: "it contains a silly, soulless lot of characters and a weird idea of drama." When they expanded on Pat O'Malley's character of the cigar salesman, they granted that while it would be reasonable for a salesman to be willing to push his wares, they questioned the script having his character be so naive as to press the issue when he is at the home of his girlfriend's benefactors attempting to impress them and win her heart, by writing "one does not expect James MacDonald to be such an utter fool as to stick cigars under the noses of guests in a pretentious mansion at a time he hoped to wage war on the heart of the pretty Ann Barton." And in speaking toward Laura La Plante's character, who is scripted as being "a sly little minx, who believes in uttering untruths when they help her out of a difficulty, even if they do reflect on other persons,", they offerered that "Miss La Plante is not particularly effective in this picture." They concluded "The story is a pathetic little thing which is not apt to interest many persons."[1] Time Magazine offered that "The extraordinarily blonde Laura La Plante occupies herself genially enough in the title part."[8]

References
  1. Mordaunt Hall (June 15, 1925). "The Screen: The Manicure Girl & The Teaser". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  2. Clive Hirschhorn (1983). The Universal story. Crown. p. 50. ISBN 9780517550014.
  3. The Saturday Evening Post. Volume 198. Curtis Pub. Co. 1925. p. 52.
  4. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures (1980). Films in review. Volume 31. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. p. 463.
  5. American Film Institute (1997). Kenneth White Munden (ed.). The American Film Institute catalog of motion pictures produced in the United States, Part 1. The Teaser' (Universal-Jewel): University of California Press. pp. 787–788. ISBN 0-520-20969-9.
  6. "The Teaser (1925)". silentera.com. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  7. Arne Andresen. "The Lost Films of Universal Pictures, 1925". silentsaregolden.com. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  8. Cinema: The New Pictures Jun. 22, 1925. Time. June 22, 1925.
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