How Could You, Jean?

How Could You, Jean?
How Could You, Jean?
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	William Desmond Taylor
Written by	Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd (novel); Frances Marion;
Produced by	Mary Pickford
Starring	Mary Pickford
Cinematography	Charles Rosher
Production; company	Famous Players-Lasky/Artcraft
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	June 20, 1918;
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

How Could You, Jean? is a 1918 American silent comedy-drama film, starring Mary Pickford, directed by William Desmond Taylor, and based on a novel by Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd. Casson Ferguson was the male lead; Spottiswoode Aitken and a young ZaSu Pitts had supporting roles.

This is a lost film, with no known surviving prints.^[1]

Plot[]

July 5, 1918 advertisement for How Could You, Jean?.

The plot involves a young socialite pretending to be a cook, who falls in love with a man she thinks is a hired hand, but he is actually a millionaire. The film was not well received by critics, who generally found it pleasant but dull,^[2] although The New York Times called it "a funny, extremely well-produced comedy".^[3]

Cast[]

Mary Pickford as Jean Mackaye
Casson Ferguson as Ted Burton Jr.
Spottiswoode Aitken as Rufus Bonner
Herbert Standing as Burton Sr.
Fanny Midgley as Mrs. Bonner
Lawrence Peyton as Oscar (credited as Larry Peyton)
ZaSu Pitts as Oscar's Sweetheart
Maie B. Havey as Susan Cooper (credited as Mabelle Harvey)
Lucille Ward as Mrs. Kate Morley
Emily Gerdes as Morley Child (credited as Emma Gerdes)
Wesley Barry as Morley Child
Burwell Hamrick as Morley Child
Althea Worthley as Morley Child
Joan Marsh as Morley Child (credited as Dorothy Rosher)
Jack Herbert as Morley Child

Film with similar plot[]

A novel by Norwegian writer Sigrid Boo, Vi som går kjøkkenveien (We Who Enter Through the Kitchen) has an almost identical plot to Brainerd's original book. Boo's novel was adapted for the American film Servants' Entrance (1934) starring Janet Gaynor, which had an identical plot to the 1918 film. As The New York Times commented, "apparently, the old Pickford comedy was already forgotten, and no copyright infringement suit was filed."^[3]