"Strictly Unconventional" is a heavily abbreviated version of a W. Sommerset Maugham play. I say heavily abbreviated because the film was originally 72 minutes but after its debut, MGM hacked 17 minutes off the movie. This truncated version is the only one now available and because it was hacked to pieces, I much prefer the 1925 silent version.
When the story begins, you see that Elizabeth is married to an incredibly dull man, Arnold. But she has a surprise for him...she's invited Arnold's mother and her husband to stay with them. This is a huge surprise because Arnold's mother left him and her husband many years ago....and they've had no interaction since! Now the wife didn't invite the mother just to help her husband patch things up with her....this wife is also contemplating leaving Arnold and thinks his mother's adultery is somehow romantic! TO make things worse, it turns out that it won't just be the four of them....Arnold's father just arrived! What's next? See the film.
The problems with this film are all in the final act. The story seems abbreviated and loses its way...probably because of the excised footage. Because of that, much of the cleverness of the original film is missing and the story just okay and no better.
When the story begins, you see that Elizabeth is married to an incredibly dull man, Arnold. But she has a surprise for him...she's invited Arnold's mother and her husband to stay with them. This is a huge surprise because Arnold's mother left him and her husband many years ago....and they've had no interaction since! Now the wife didn't invite the mother just to help her husband patch things up with her....this wife is also contemplating leaving Arnold and thinks his mother's adultery is somehow romantic! TO make things worse, it turns out that it won't just be the four of them....Arnold's father just arrived! What's next? See the film.
The problems with this film are all in the final act. The story seems abbreviated and loses its way...probably because of the excised footage. Because of that, much of the cleverness of the original film is missing and the story just okay and no better.