Idle Wives is a 1916 American silent drama film co-directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley.[1] The film was released by Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Surviving reels of the film are preserved at the Library of Congress. The film was released on DVD/Blu-ray in 2018.[2]

Idle Wives
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Directed byLois Weber
Phillips Smalley
Written byLois Weber
StarringLois Weber
Phillips Smalley
Mary MacLaren
Maude George
CinematographyAllen G. Siegler
Distributed byUniversal Film Manufacturing Company
Release date
  • September 15, 1916 (1916-09-15)
Running time
7 reels
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Plot

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The first two reels of Idle Wives

Characters go to the movies to watch Life's Mirror, a film where they see their own lives turned into dramas. A shop girl dating a young man against her parents' wishes watches her onscreen counterpart become pregnant; an impoverished family watches as a family onscreen lives beyond their means; and an unfaithful husband watches as his onscreen wife leaves him and returns to social work. After the film characters have learned their lessons: the shop girl apologizes to her parents; the family decides to live within its means; and the wealthy man leaves his mistress and returns to his wife.

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ "American Film Institute Catalog".
  2. ^ "Kino Lorber Home Video".

Further reading

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