The Fast Set

The Fast Set
The Fast Set
	Adolphe Menjou and Betty Compson
Directed by	William C. deMille
Written by	Clara Beranger (scenario)
Based on	Spring Cleaning; by Frederick Lonsdale
Produced by	Adolph Zukor; Jesse Lasky
Starring	Betty Compson; Adolphe Menjou
Cinematography	L. Guy Wilky
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	October 20, 1924;
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Fast Set is a 1924 American silent comedy-drama film directed by William C. deMille and starring Betty Compson.^[1]^[2] The film is based on the 1923 Broadway play, Spring Cleaning, by Frederick Lonsdale.^[3]

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine,^[4] Richard Sones (Dexter), novelist, prefers the company of intellectuals, while his wife Margaret (Compson) prefers a fast set. Differences in tastes and a lack of understanding of each begin to alienate them, and Ernest Steele (Menjou), leader of the fast set, hastens the crisis by having sex with Margaret. As an object lesson to his wife, Richard brings Mona (Pitts), a woman of the streets, to his wife's dinner party and tells the guests that her presence should not be resented as she is a professional in the same game they play as amateurs. Margaret decides upon a divorce until she learns that Steele is not eager to marry her. Steele then takes a hand, convincing Richard that he has been too inattentive and showing him how to win back his wife, who really loves him.

Cast

Betty Compson as Margaret Sones
Adolphe Menjou as Ernest Steele
Elliott Dexter as Richard Sones
ZaSu Pitts as Mona
Dawn O'Day as Little Margaret Sones
Grace Carlyle as Jane Walton
Claire Adams as Fay Collen
Rosalind Byrne as Connie Gallies
Edgar Norton as Archie Wells
Louis Natheaux as Billy Sommers
Eugenio de Liguoro as Walters
Fred Walton as Simpson
Christina Montt (uncredited)

Preservation

The Fast Set is currently presumed lost.^[5] In February of 2021, the film was cited by the National Film Preservation Board on their Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films list.^[6]

References

↑ "The Fast Set". afi.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
↑ "Progressive Silent Film List: The Fast Set". silentera.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
↑ "Spring Cleaning as produced on Broadway, Eltinge Theatre, November 1923-June 1924; 251 performances; IBDb.com". Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
↑ Smith, Sumner (November 29, 1924). "The Fast Set; William DeMille Produces Striking, Highly Sophisticated Domestic Drama for Paramount". The Moving Picture World. 71 (5). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co.: 450. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
↑ "The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: The Fast Set". memory.loc.gov. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2026. Cite error: Unknown parameter "loc" in <ref> tag; supported parameters are dir, follow, group, name (see the help page).
↑ "7,200 Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films (1912-29)" (PDF). National Film Preservation Board. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 12, 2025. Retrieved April 19, 2026.

External links

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[1] "The Fast Set". afi.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.

[silentera-2] "Progressive Silent Film List: The Fast Set". silentera.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.

[3] "Spring Cleaning as produced on Broadway, Eltinge Theatre, November 1923-June 1924; 251 performances; IBDb.com". Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.

[4] Smith, Sumner (November 29, 1924). "The Fast Set; William DeMille Produces Striking, Highly Sophisticated Domestic Drama for Paramount". The Moving Picture World. 71 (5). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co.: 450. Retrieved June 22, 2021.

[5] "The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: The Fast Set". memory.loc.gov. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2026. Cite error: Unknown parameter "loc" in <ref> tag; supported parameters are dir, follow, group, name (see the help page).

[Lost_U.S._Silent_Feature_Films-6] "7,200 Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films (1912-29)" (PDF). National Film Preservation Board. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 12, 2025. Retrieved April 19, 2026.

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