Nurse Marjorie

Although essentially a light romantic comedy, this William Desmond Taylor feature starring Mary Miles Minter is also a commentary on the class system in the UK, and the discrimination that results from such a system.

Mary plays her role as the aristocratic daughter of a Duke (Marjorie) with charm and a comedic flair. Against her parents wishes, she decides to be a recovery nurse in a nursing home where wealthy clients recuperate. It's perfectly commendable for the daughters of aristocracy to nurse the poor, but not "stockbrokers" as the Duchess of Donegal notes.

One of Mary's patients is a Labor Leader in Parliament whose had eye surgery to correct a squint, and he thinks that Marjorie is the homely nurse that he last saw before going under the gas. Before the bandages are removed, he can't bear to have Marjorie touch him. Marjorie decides to teach him a lesson about discriminating about looks and class, and in the majority of the movie uses subterfuge to test John's feelings for her and see if he's the kind of man she can grow to love.

There are many charming aspects to this movie, not the least of which is the clever dialog and the way Taylor lovingly photographs Mary. There's not the slightest doubt that he liked her and their collaboration was an enjoyable one for both of them. This is the only movie that they made together that still survives and more than exemplifies what was a happy working relationship before tragedy overcame them both in real life.

Is love blind? Well occasionally, but in this case, it just may have a "moral squint" as well! See this charming movie if you can.

The basic story elements are very familiar to Hollywood films of the time. They have a sweet young thing whose golden heart has her donate her time and efforts toward helping those less well or well off than her. In this case, she's a rich man's daughter who dons a hospital sister's uniform to nurse unfortunate inmates.

One of these patients is self- important, too sure of himself, and also tall and handsome. He has an eye operation, and is convinced his nurse is a rather awful hag (with a moustache!) he saw before his eyes had to be covered. But it's Marjorie, and lots of fun is derived from fooling him.

Eventually, sighted again, he wants to marry her, but her parents want her to marry a central casting oily lounge lizard, that she can't stand, and the lovesmitten patient's Ma and Da won't let their precious progeny hitch up with who they believe to be a grimy working class kitchen slavey. (That she's let them believe she lives at a filthy ptomaine trap restaurant sort of gave them the idea, but it was all part of Marjorie's idea to test lover boy's devotion.

All of this seems almost like other light comedy/ comedy drama movies.... Didn't Bebe Daniels do something like this? Maybe Doug MacLean? Anyway it was directed by the once highly respected William Desmond Taylor. He isn't as well regarded now, not so much for being in a murder-scandal in 1922, but for the paucity of his films we can can still evaluate. My opinion is that he was able to make this move along well, avoiding soft segues and fade outs in favor of instant cuts to different action, and not lingering longer than needed on a scene.

The story also had several layers of conflict, including an Irish and a British component of Marjorie's titled family. (The Brits are stuffy prunes and the Irish are jolly and earthy) Another conflict is that the eye patient is in fact a Lord, apparently a dependable Tory, and a great whopping super important vote to block Labour is to be taken in the house of Lords and only he can do it, but he just doesn't have enough interest to toddle down to Whitehall when he's on the outs with Marjorie. Will he get there in time?

The final conflict is that of class. He's been concealing the fact that he, though a lord, has garnered a reputation as the poor working stiff's friend, and couldn't be seen marrying "Lady Marjorie Killonen", and She pulled the slavey gag earlier. But it all works out, surprising no one, but it isn't a disappointment or anything, it's a light film.

Mary Miles Minter plays a beautiful, aristocratic Irish nurse, whose stuffy relatives disapprove of her career choice. When not taking care of patients at the local hospital she is romping around on her parents' estate on her horse, and lecturing her maid on the pitfalls of falling in love with the butler.

Young Nurse Marjorie is chosen to be the recovery nurse for a popular Labor Leader in the British Parliament, played by Clyde Fillmore. Clyde's character John has an eye operation to correct a squint. Before being anesthetized he sees a hideous nurse who looks like a transvestite staring down at him. He asks his doctor: "Is that my nurse?" and when the answer is affirmative John shudders and turns away.

After the operation John's eyes are bandaged for several days, and he can't see that the hospital has switched nurses on him: the transvestite nurse has been replaced with beautiful Nurse Marjorie. She quickly realizes his misunderstanding, and with her Irish sense of humor intact, teases John and intentionally does not reveal her identity. When the bandages are removed John sees this lovely vision in the mirror and decides immediately that his recuperation time should be prolonged, so he fakes more illness to be able to stay in the hospital to be near Marjorie.

All ends happily, despite an attack on John's life by a mad gunman, and the film proceeds with comic and romantic touches which are very entertaining. The class system in the UK is also depicted in this film, but the moral of the story is that true love can transcend pre-conceived notions about someone's rank and status in society. "I've been cured of my moral squint," says the happy politician at the conclusion of the film. (Lots of politicians around today with the same squint!)

Director William Desmond Taylor portrayed Mary Miles Minter in this film as a pure vision of loveliness. It was obvious he must have had strong feelings for her at the time.

'Nurse Marjorie' was adapted by director William Desmond Taylor's regular scenarist Julia Crawford Ivers from a 1906 play by Israel Zangwill, and no attempt appears to have been made to update the material to reflect the seismic social changes that the intervening fourteen years had wrought in Britain.

Britain by 1920 was in a state of immense social unrest. Many feared (while others were hoping) that a revolution like the one that had recently seen the Tsar of Russia violently overthrown was imminent here. There was also violence convulsing Ireland, the country of origin of Taylor himself and of his lead character Lady Marjorie Killonan, daughter of the Duke of Donegal (her dialogue throughout is written in brogue). Her ghastly English mother is eager to marry her off to a Tory politician, Lord Douglas Fitztrevor; but Lady Marjorie isn't having any. Instead she does her bit by working incognito at a nursing home in Middlesex, where Fitztrevor's political opposite number, the crusading Labour MP for Westhampton, John Danbury, is recuperating after cosmetic surgery on his eyes.

Considering the guy is supposed to be a socialist, his quite extraordinary boorishness towards Marjorie simply because he thinks she's the plain-looking nurse he saw before his bandages went on is particularly egregious; and Marjorie - at least at first - has no illusions about the shallowness of his attraction towards her when they eventually come off. We are told that the country is on the brink of major industrial unrest, yet "the People's John" (played appropriately charmlessly by Clyde Fillmore) is instead more interested in getting into the petticoats of his pretty nurse than back to work; and he proceeds to neglect both his parliamentary duties and the wellbeing of his country while wasting the staff's valuable time for most of the film's duration. (Nearly a hundred years later, alas, some things plainly still haven't changed much at Westminster.)

Danbury is shown reading 'The Daily Telegraph' rather than 'The Manchester Guardian', and is soon revealed to be a snob to boot, although he eventually declares himself prepared to wed a daughter of the people, provided she's hot enough. On learning that she's actually Lady Killonan his thoughts at long last return to the political vocation he's being so cavalierly disregarding for most of the film; and the means by which they are eventually reconciled is so melodramatic it smacks of desperation on someone's part.

'Nurse Marjorie' is sadly the only surviving film of William Desmond Taylor's starring his charming young protégé, Mary Miles Minter, whose career ended abruptly in scandal when Taylor was murdered two years later, probably by Minter's mother. (A still of Minter from this film is used to illustrate the scandal on page 180 of Griffith & Mayer's 'The Movies'.) The English setting is convincingly evoked and the film is as graceful, good looking, good humoured and as well acted as Taylor's other surviving films from this period.

Would that the same could be said of its hero.

A great film - You'll see why so many people fell in love with her and why so many still love her today. The film is in good shape for its age. William Desmond Taylor obviously loved her.... Makes you want to meet and talk with anyone who ever had the pleasure of knowing Mary.