Trial Marriage
Directed by	Erle C. Kenton
Written by	Sonya Levien
Produced by	Harry Cohn
Cinematography	Joseph Walker
Edited by	Pandro S. Berman William Hamilton
Production company	Columbia Pictures Corporation
Release date	10 March 1929
Running time	70 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Languages	Sound (Synchronized) English

Trial Marriage is a 1929 American Synchronized sound pre-Code drama film directed by Erle C. Kenton from a story by Sonya Levien. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. Produced by Harry Cohn for Columbia Pictures Corporation, the film was released on March 10, 1929.^[2][3] Charles C. Coleman was assistant director. As was the case for the majority of films during the early sound era, a silent version was prepared for theatres who had not yet converted to sound.

Premise

Constance Bannister (Sally Eilers) enters into a trial marriage contract with Dr. Thorvald Ware (Jason Robards) and finds happiness with him. She defies his wishes by dancing at a charity ball in a revealing costume, however, and he dissolves the contract, not knowing that she is with a child.

Cast

• Norman Kerry as Oliver Mowbray
• Sally Eilers as Constance Bannister
• Jason Robards as Dr. Thorvald Ware
• Thelma Todd as Grace
• Charles Clary as George Bannister
• Naomi Childers as Mrs. George Bannister, 1st
• Rosemary Theby as Mrs. George Bannister, 4th
• Gertrude Short as Prudence

Music

The film featured a theme song entitled "I'll Never Forget" by Gus Kahn and Spike Hamilton. The song entitled "Dear Little Boy of Mine," composed by Ernest Ball and J. Keirn Brennan, was also featured on the soundtrack

Production

The June 29, 1928 issue of The Film Daily announced that Millard Webb was originally supposed to direct,^[4] however he was ultimately not involved in the final film.

Reception

A negative review from Variety on April 17, 1929 wrote: "An uninteresting story given a trite, long-winded, complicated treatment, with no redeeming features in the picturization."^[1]