The Divorcee (1930)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

"The Divorcée" might be seen as a rather formulaic drama about infidelity and marriage, but at the time of its filming, it was a racy representation of changing mores, especially regarding gender roles in society. It revolves around a wife's discovery that her husband was unfaithful.The role of the wife, Jerry, won the Best Actress Oscar for Norma Shearer. Her performance is very emotional and believable. She is the central character who must decide whether to stand up for her dignity or to be the "good wife" and swallow her pride. Her husband, Ted, is played convincingly by Chester Morris. Though the ending is rather predictable, still the film treats the male and female characters with equanimity.It was released during the first wave of talkies, but it displays an economy of exposition (at 90 minutes running time), blending the spoken word with action quite well. The director, Robert Z. Leonard is skilled in camera movement--as he shows in this and other films. Still, "The Divorcée" is, thematically, one dimensional.

Oscar Wilde's LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN assigns the characters of the London social scene oddball names representing very rural places far from London near the Scottish border to place them in much the same situations as the principal characters in this 1930 single camera technique black and white movie. Although the characters the Oscar Wilde are all rich party types, by the closing scene they have found happiness outside London. It seems clear the Principal characters in the Divorcée, for example the great Norma Shearer and Conrad Nagel who made many hit movies in that era, each feel safer and more comfortable leaving the party scene of New York for happiness. It is in fact Shearer and her husband who unite outside New York but the similarity of this movie to the Oscar Wilde play carries over quite strongly/. The realistic dialogue of familiar life situations, the wealthy and privileged of a closed group needing to go outside the group milieu to breathe, the luxurious setting and wardrobe changes a great play into, for all its old fashion technical drawbacks of early talkies, a great movie.

Norma Shearer is the title character, The Divorcée. She was happily married to Chester Morris, when an ex of his shows up to rock the boat. Not believing in the adage, two wrongs don't make a right. She promptly goes out and has an affair with Robert Montgomery, a supposed good friend of Chester's. But Bob always liked her anyway. When Chester finds out about her affair they split up and file for divorce. That's essentially the plot. Will they get back together? Will love, understanding, and common sense win out? I had seen this years ago and didn't like it then; maybe I didn't like the stupidity of the characters. But, upon seeing it again recently, I found it to be surprisingly well made, realistic, and very risqué in parts. Not that I like what each other were doing any better, but I think this time I saw beyond the actual plot and recognized good acting. What's so terrible! about the film is the double standard that is implied (or is it stated right out) - that Chester didn't like her affair and had to have a divorce, but wanted her to forgive and forget his. What makes his pride so important? Why couldn't she demand a divorce! The fact is she loved him. True, if she hadn't had her affair and just let things ride, things would have gone on the same. But the main point of her affair, I think, is that she couldn't be walked over and was taking charge of the situation by being in the driver's seat. I would think the sheer idea that he was affronted by her affair would be just too much for average woman watching the film. The Divorcée is one mature film that needs to be seen more often. Norma Shearer won an Oscar for it. What was that saying about the 1930s values? That they endorsed her affair? That they felt she changed and learned her lesson? Or that, Ms. Shearer simply turned in a good performance? They did tend to give out Oscars back then for more sentimental reasons. See the film and judge for yourself.

From Volume 2 of TCM Archive's Forbidden Hollywood Collection. Norma Shearer won the third Best Actress Oscar ever for her role as a young married woman who runs afoul of her husband (Chester Morris). The film does a shockingly good job exposing a nasty double standard. Morris cheats on Shearer. She's so angry that she ends up getting even with him by doing the same. But while he insists that his indiscretion means nothing, the moment he finds out about hers it's a "don't let the door hit you on the way out" type of situation. From there, Shearer vows to go on a sex binge. "From now on, the only man that my door is closed to is you!" she tells him. Best line ever. The first one I've ever submitted to IMDb (still unpublished as of this writing). Unfortunately, the film kind of pussies out at this point. Or at least Shearer does. She courts men, but she refuses to screw them. Turns out that open door was even more figurative than I thought. Of course, she eventually ends up back in Morris' arms, the butthole. Still, it's a very good movie, very well directed. And Shearer is outstanding.