The Mating Call

This article is about the 1928 silent film. For other uses, seeMating call (disambiguation).

The Mating Call
Cover of sheet music for the film
Directed by	James Cruze
Written by	Walter Woods(adaptation) Herman J. Mankiewicz(titles)
Based on	The Mating Call(novel) byRex Beach
Produced by	Howard Hughes(uncredited)
Starring	Thomas Meighan Evelyn Brent Renée Adorée Alan Roscoe
Cinematography	Ira H. Morgan
Edited by	Walter Woods (uncredited)
Music by	Frances Ring Martin Roones Robert Israel (2004)
Production company	The Caddo Company
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	July 21, 1928(1928-07-21)
Running time	72 minutes (restored version)
Country	United States
Languages	Silent Version Sound Version (Synchronized) Englishintertitles
Budget	$400,000

The Mating Callis a 1928 Americansilentdrama filmabout a soldier who returns home fromWorld War Ito find his marriage has beenannulledand his wife has remarried. Due to the public apathy towards silent films, a sound version was also prepared. While the sound version has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both thesound-on-discandsound-on-filmprocess. The film was produced byHoward Hughesfor his Caddo Corporation, and was originally released byParamount Pictures.It is based on the novel of the same name byRex Beach.Renée Adoréehas a briefnude scenein the film.

Plot

Leslie Hatton, a poor farmer, becomes a captain and a war hero in World War I. While on a leave, he secretly marries Rose, the "village belle", but he only has time for a few kisses and a hug before he has to return to the fighting. After the Armistice, Major Hatton comes home, only to be told by Marvin Swallow that his wife's parents have had their marriageannulled,as she was not of age. Rose married wealthy Lon Henderson and the couple went abroad. Les returns to farming.

One day, the Hendersons return. Rose, disillusioned by Lon's repeated infidelity, throws herself at Les. He weakens and embraces her, but then Lon shows up. The two men struggle when Lon pulls out a gun. No one is hurt, and Les invents a French wife on her way to the farm so he will be left alone.

He goes toEllis Islandin search of a real wife. An official directs him to Catherine and her parents, poor would-be immigrants who are facing deportation. He offers to marry her in exchange for the family being allowed to settle in America. Her parents strongly oppose the bargain, but she accepts. That night, Catherine is prepared to share her bed with her husband, but sensing her resigned attitude, Les decides at the last minute to sleep alone in another room. They gradually fall in love.

Meanwhile, Lon decides to break off his affair with young Jessie Peebles. When Marvin asks her to marry him, she asks for a little time to consider. Les later finds her lifeless body in a pond on his farm. Lon, a member of the localKu Klux Klan-like Order, insinuates that Les must have had something to do with Jessie's suicide. Les is taken at gunpoint to face vigilante justice. The head of the Order sends for Lon, but decides in his absence that the evidence is overwhelming, and Les is tied up and whipped. The men sent to fetch Lon find him dead in his office and Marvin hiding with a gun. They take him back to the Order meeting. He denies having killed Lon and produces Lon's love letters to Jessie, exonerating Les. The head of the Order rules that, even if Marvin did not kill Lon, he would have been justified to do so. One of his men stages it to look like suicide. (Judge Peebles, Jessie's father, is shown at home, unloading and cleaning his gun. One cartridge has been discharged.)

Cast

• Thomas Meighanas Leslie Hatton
• Evelyn Brentas Rose Henderson
• Renée Adoréeas Catherine
• Alan Roscoeas Lon Henderson
• Gardner Jamesas Marvin Swallow
• Helen Fosteras Jessie
• Luke Cosgrove as Judge Peebles
• Cyril Chadwickas Anderson
• Will Walling
• Delmer Daves
• Frederic Richard Sullivan

Music

The sound version of the film featured a theme song entitled “The Mating Call” which was composed by Frances Ring and Martin Roones.

Notes

Although the story takes place immediately after World War I (1918-1919), all of Evelyn Brent's and Helen Foster's clothes are strictly in the 1928 short skirt mode, completely out of place in the time frame of the story. The film does reflect, however, some of the societal issues following the war. During the war, women had greater freedom regarding employment and their role in society, and there was pressure after the end of the war for them to return to their pre-war status.

Principal photographytook place inHollywood,San DiegoandFallbrook, California.

Reception

Adorée received positive reviews for her performance inThe Mating Call,even though it differed little from the wide-eyed "Euro-damsels" that were her trademark.

Censorship

AfterOntario censorscut almost 1,000 feet from the film, the draw at thePantages Theatrein Toronto fell to under $10,000, a drop of $9,000 from the prior week. Canadian distributors, when serious cuts were required by censors such thatplot continuitywas damaged, had adopted a policy to decline to show "butchered" films and instead returned the film to the United States to save the import duty.

Preservation

A print ofThe Mating Call,long thought to belost,was discovered in the archives ofHoward Hughesat theUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas.The Mating Callwas preserved by theAcademy Film Archive,in conjunction with UNLV, in 2016.

External links

• The Mating Callat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Mating CallatIMDb
• The Mating Callat theTCM Movie Database
• The Mating Callat Virtual History