The Beautiful and Damned (1922)

The Beautiful and Damned is one of the earliest cinemazations of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Kenneth Harlan and Marie Prevost play a jazz-age married couple who go through money like water. The least responsible of the two is Prevost, but Harlan isn’t far behind. Things are okay so long as Harlan’s wealthy grandfather Tully Marshall is around to foot the bills. But when Marshall dies, the profligate duo are forced to (horrors!) look for work. Once they’ve fattened their bank account, the couple goes back to their old hedonistic lifestyle, but a close brush with death brings them to their senses. Harry Myers and Louise Fazenda provide expert comedy relief to this cautionary fable.