[5] Second, Thalberg believed that adding the complications and expense of such a new technology to Keaton's film would significantly increase overall production costs, especially for a performer like Buster whose methods usually involved "time-consuming improvisations" and a high degree of flexibility while shooting.

[5] Third, and perhaps most significantly, the finished film would be more valuable to the studio in silent form: it could be shown to advantage in the many theaters, in America and abroad, that had not yet converted to sound.

"[7][8] A week later, The Distributor, a paper published by MGM's sales department, confirmed that the studio had assigned Leila Hyams a "big part" in "the forthcoming Buster Keaton vehicle" in part due to her "distinct success" as a lead in the studio's recent crime drama Alias Jimmy Valentine, which had been released just two weeks earlier.

[9] The studio publication in the same news item also confirmed that Sydney Jarvis and Hank Mann had joined the cast, although their roles would be uncredited on the screen.

The feature was generally very well received by critics in leading newspapers, by reviewers in the film industry's major trade journals and papers, as well as by moviegoers.

He noted that Keaton created "a state of high glee" in the Capitol Theatre in Manhattan, where Hall attended the comedy's premiere on March 25, adding that "there were waves of laughter from top to bottom of the house.

"[10]Abel Green, the editor and reviewer for Variety, characterized Keaton's production as "replete with belly laffs" and also described the Capitol's audience being in "hysterics" and "mirthful" while watching it.

[11] While Green did express some reservations about what he viewed as several of the film's implausible situations and its "mechanized" structure, he predicted nothing but financial success for the "enjoyable low comedy glorified slapsticker.

"[12] In its March 31 review, the paper praised the film and drew special attention to Sebastian's performance:Buster Keaton puts over one of the best he has ever done and has 'em fairly rocking in their seats.

Dorothy Sebastian springs a big surprise as a comedienne who can only be compared to Marion Davies ...[The film] is a natural for real laughs that keep coming with practically no let-up right through the footage.

"[13] Comparing Spite Marriage to Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925), Greene, in his review, stated: "The picture is packed with laughs" and reports that the sequence in which Keaton puts his intoxicated wife to bed evoked from the audience "a continual roar for over half a reel.