His Double Life 1933

Priam Farrel, Roland Young England’s most renowned painter, lives a reclusive life and hates fame. He has kept largely away from England’s social scene, with his longtime agent never even meeting him. When Lady Helen, Audrey Ridgewell mistakenly believes he has proposed to her, he hurries back to London with his valet Henry Leek, Philip Tonge. After Leek dies of pneumonia, the attending doctor mistakes the valet for Priam and informs the press that the famed painter is dead. The real Priam is relieved to be mistaken for his valet by everyone, including his cousin Duncan Farrel, Montagu Love, who has not seen him since he was twelve. After several efforts to clear up the misidentification fail, Priam resigns himself to the situation.

At a hotel, Priam meets Alice Chalice, Lillian Gish, who was put in touch with Leek through The Matrimonial Times and was slated to meet Leek for the first time there. Leek had sent her a photograph of him and Priam together, so she makes the same mistaken assumption. Priam finds her pleasant company, but he grapples with the dilemma that the supposed Henry Leek is to receive the great honor of being interred in Westminster Abbey, and he cannot convince anyone that he is the painter. He even contemplates the quiet life with Alice, but the path to honesty remains blocked by a web of mistaken identities.

He eventually agrees to marry Alice and live a tranquil country life. Yet trouble follows when Alice’s income from brewery shares disappears, along with the brewery itself, and Priam reassures her that he can provide by selling some of his paintings. She remains skeptical, though she proceeds to sell some works, mainly to cover the frames that showcase the artist’s style.

A painting passes through several hands and ends up with Oxford, Priam’s old agent, Lumsden Hare, who recognizes the artist’s technique. Oxford buys all of Priam’s new paintings and resells them, guaranteeing their authenticity as genuine Farrels. He later tracks Priam down and asks him to reveal that he is still alive. It emerges that one painting Oxford sold bore a date on the back, 1932—two years after Priam’s supposed death—and the buyer has taken Oxford to court. Priam refuses to reveal he is alive, so Oxford shifts tactics by placing an advertisement seeking information about Henry Leek.

Leek’s widow, Mrs. Leek, Lucy Beaumont, arrives accompanied by her clergymen sons John and Henry Leek, Oliver Smith and Philip Tonge. She identifies Priam as her long-lost husband, who deserted her about twenty-five years earlier after the birth of their twin sons. Priam tries to slip away, but Alice stands by him and counters the charges, portraying her Henry as violent and not entirely sane to avoid a scandal. The Leeks depart in a hurry, and in the courtroom, Duncan recalls that Priam bears two moles on his neck. Priam initially refuses to show them, but Alice persuades him to reveal the marks. With the truth finally emerging, Priam and Alice sail away to enjoy their privacy and life together.