Leslie Hatton returns from World War I to find that the parents of his bride have had their marriage annulled. The upper-crust parents instead influence Rose to marry someone more suitable to her social station, gadabout louse Lon Henderson. Since Lon spends his time and energy with mistresses, Rose is left to seek fulfilment elsewhere, and comes scratching at Leslie’s door, quickly discovering that the sexual magnetism between them is still strong. In a series of scenes that ripple with sexual tension the aching couple gradually prepare to violate Rose’s wedding vows. Just as they are ready to do so, the would-be lovers are interrupted by “The Order,” a vigilante gang of hooded moral crusaders. This is only a partial synopsis of a film that is bulging at the seams with sexual intrigue and surprise plot twists. Renée Adorée stunned viewers with a much-publicized scene in which Catherine takes a moonlight swim. Ever defiant of Hollywood’s standards of decency, Hughes costumed Adorée in a transparent nightgown in some shots and removed it altogether in others, permitting the camera to capture flashes of nudity that no studio would have ever allowed.

Bret Wood