Mary’s Duke (1915)

movie

Country: USA
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Short
Release: 1915-03-22
Director: Lucius Henderson
Writers: Elaine S. Carrington
Language: None | English
Stars: Mary Fuller , Matt Moore , Mrs. Charles Craig , Etienne Girardot
Runtime: 30 min
Awards: N/A
AKA: Mary's Duke , Mary's Duke (United States of America)
Plot: With all her millions and her education at a finishing school, Mame McGuire cannot forget that she is the Soap King's daughter, and that her mother is ordinary and ambitious. When Mame finds a card to the exclusive Van Duysen mask ball, she cannot resist the temptation to go. She goes as Pierette and it chances that young Teddy Van Duysen dresses as Pierrot, and thinking, of course, that the shy little Pierrette is someone he knows, dances with her the entire evening. But she refuses to tell him her name and he is so charmed with her that he proposes they exchange rings, so that when they next meet they may recognize each other. After a minute's hesitation, she agrees, and the exchange is made. The maskers are to unmask at midnight and Mame, knowing that her golden hour is over, slips away and home before the unmasking. Teddy searches the rest of the evening for his little Pierrette, but is unable to locate her. Her mother has been negotiating with the International Matrimonial Bureau in order that Her Mamie shall marry a title, and she receives word that a Duke has been secured and will be forwarded if desired. Mame agrees listlessly to any of her mother's plans and the Duke sets out to arrive on the night of the dinner. Mrs. McGuire sends her invitations to a dinner given in honor of the Duke broadcast. She even includes the Van Duysens, who are furious when they discover an invitation to the "upstart soap people's dinner." Enough accept to satisfy Mrs. McGuire, however, and the Duke telephones that he has arrived and will be there at eight-thirty. She finds she will have one empty place at the table. Desperately she asks her secretary, Miss Swift, what to do, and Swift suggests her telephoning to the fashionable clubs in town in hopes of securing some man to fill in. Mrs. McGuire acts at once and gets the ultra-exclusive Colossus Club on the wire. As she is telephoning, Teddy Van Duysen and two of his chums chance to enter, and overhearing the attendant struggling to understand her, take the wire. They are overcome with amusement at the idea of one of their number appearing at the McGuire dinner, but Teddy, always ready for a prank, decides it would be a lark to go, and tells his friend to say that he has a poor friend named Jones who will fill in for, as Teddy remarks, "It will be fun to see how they do it. I bet they pass soap around with the desert." Mrs. McGuire has told her footman that the Duke is distinguished looking and to bring him in at once, so when Teddy arrives and the footman asks his name, he hesitates, laughingly, and they conclude he is the Duke and before he can correct the error, have sweepingly announced him to the assemblage as "His Grace," the "Duke D'Enfetti." The bonafide Duke meanwhile arrives and is unceremoniously refused admission. Sputtering with indignation, he encounters a policeman, who drags him to the police court, where, after much humiliation, the magistrate sends for an interpreter and learns the little man's true identity. Followed by the policeman, the Duke returns to the McGuire's to have the impostor arrested. The dinner meanwhile has concluded, and Teddy is hoping to get a word with Mame, but he is so surrounded by fawning women that he cannot escape. It is then than the police and the much disheveled Duke D'Enfetti arrive. He is denounced and gracefully admits he is the "poor young man named Jones." Mrs. McGuire demands his arrest, but Mame intercedes. She lays her hand on Teddy's sleeve and at that moment Teddy sees his ring on her hand and she sees hers on his. He is rescued by his friends and confesses to his father, who tells him he should marry and settle down. It is just the advice he wants with the memory of Mame's face in his heart, but he determines to win her as a poor young man, rather than as a Van Duysen and sends her a humble bunch of flowers and a note, asking her to meet him in the park. She wears the flowers, discarding the Duke's roses, and slips out of the house, despite the engagement to drive with the Duke and her mother, and meets Teddy. It is then that all is explained, and he asks her to marry him. "Will you?" he asks, "knowing I have nothing but myself to offer." "Try me and see," she whispers. Her mother and the Duke, driving through the park in search of her, see them, but they escape in a taxi and elope. When Mrs. McGuire learns that her daughter has married Teddy Van Duysen she collapses with joy, but the Van Duysen household is buried in gloom. However, Teddy brings Mame home and wins them over one by one. All ends well save for the Duke, who resignedly searches for a job as chauffeur, not daring to return to Sunny "It."
IMDB:tt0005720