A Bill of Divorcement, 1932.
Directed by George Cukor.
Starring John Barrymore, Katherine Hepburn, and Billie Burke.
SYNOPSIS:
After regaining his sanity and escaping an asylum to be with her, Hilary returns home Christmas day to learn that his wife has divorced him.
It’s Christmas Eve at the Fairfield home and love is in the air. Margaret Fairfield (Billie Burke, seven years before Glinda the Good Witch) has divorced her husband. Her new beau, Gray (Paul Cavanagh), wants to get married. Her daughter, Sydney (Katherine Hepburn), is sneaking off with her boyfriend, Kit (David Manners), and getting engaged. If it weren’t for Aunt Hester (Elizabeth Patterson) they might not think about Margaret’s first husband, Hilary (John Barrymore), at all, but Hester doesn’t recognize the divorce as final and when Hilary shows up on Christmas Day, having run away from the asylum, it falls on Margaret to bring him up to speed on what’s changed.
Originally released in 1932, A Bill of Divorcement has an extraordinary plot but in the same breath, you go into it knowing that the 1930’s had different ideas about mental health. That doesn’t mean you should avoid this movie but it’s important to keep in mind that when Sydney talks about shellshock, PTSD wasn’t a term. She praises the asylum where her father was sent, when they’re the ones who lost him, and when she discovers her father’s side of the family has a history of mental illness, it makes her think twice about starting a family with Kit.
One important detail that the film could’ve leaned on more is Margaret didn’t love Hilary when they got married. That doesn’t mean her decision to stop visiting and seek a divorce behind his back were just. She didn’t have to marry him, but it does provide context. While Margaret laments about how unfair this turn of events is for her (the appropriate response to the news her husband’s recovered his sanity overnight), Hilary comes home and attempts to assert patriarchal authority.
Neither is sympathetic, but Hilary’s been blindsided and while the right things are said about him not being to blame for his illness, blame is cast anyway in how Margaret is treated as needing protection. There’s a childlike quality to both Burke and Barrymore’s performances but with Margaret it’s about waiting for others to give her permission, so she can do what she wants. Hilary thought his homecoming would be a joyous occasion. Instead everyone seems to have travel plans that require immediate response. It’s a shame Aunt Hester disappears, because Patterson is excellent and could’ve been a voice in his corner but, as it is, Hilary wasn’t aware there would be any upheaval and once there is, doesn’t have a chance to process anything.
Whatever feelings the plot evokes, George Cukor’s direction lets you be a fly on the wall, observing the family drama play out. The director of such classics as My Fair Lady and The Philadelphia Story, the opening sequence uses a high angle shot to watch Kit as he searches through the crowd. When he finds what he’s been looking for the camera follows his gaze and then follows Sydney until they meet at the bottom of the stairs. Later the camera follows Sydney again but has to move on when she shuts the door. In this way the camera is given limitations and, like an observer, must work with the access it’s given.
Cukor encouraged the casting of Katherine Hepburn and A Bill of Divorcement marks her film debut. You wouldn’t know it, as there’s nothing timid about her Sydney, but if you’re interested in seeing where her Hollywood career began, A Bill of Divorcement provides no small role from which to start.
A Bill of Divorcement will be available July 10th on Blu-Ray and DVD from Kino Lorber in the US.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Rachel Bellwoar
