 |
|
A Bill of Divorcement
1932 Drama
Review
The only reason for watching this soppy, overrated and hopelessly dated
melodrama is to see Katharine Hepburn make her much-vaunted film
début (and even that is not as great as some people claim it is). The second
of three screen adaptations of a
mediocre play by Clemence Dane, A
Bill of Divorcement is painful to watch on account of its
excruciating theatricality and dated attitudes towards mental
illness. The film was directed by George Cukor, with very
little in the way of flair, and the performances are (almost without
exception) of the kind you would expect to see performed by an amateur
theatre company in a draughty church hall. Even the great
John Barrymore is not immune to bouts of irksome histrionic excess, although he
at least manages to redeem himself in the final, rather poignant scene
with Hepburn. The film’s one saving grace is its
brevity. Another minute of Billie Burke would be enough to drive
most spectators to rush out and commit hara-kiri.
© CinemaForever.com 2009 Write a review for this film...User Comments
How do you rate this film?
|
Director:
George Cukor
Starring: John Barrymore, Billie Burke, David Manners, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Cavanagh Synopsis
With her husband Hilary committed to an asylum for the insane, Meg
Fairfield decides to divorce him so that she can marry another man,
Gray Meredith. But on the day Meg intends to begin her new life
with Gray, Hilary manages to escape from the asylum and returns to his
home. He first meets his grown-up daughter, Sydney, who is
herself about to get married, to Kit Humphreys. Sydney’s
resemblance to her mother revives in Hilary happy memories of his early
married life with Meg and he realises how much his wife still means to
him. As Hilary and Meg confront one another, Sydney realises that
she may have inherited her father’s insanity and wonders whether it is
right for her to marry...
Credits
 More American Drama |
  |
© CinemaForever.com 2009