The Divorcee (1930)
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The Divorcee Movie Review
The Divorcee is a 1930 drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Norma Shearer and Chester Morris. It’s a very good, albeit somewhat problematic film.
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“I’ve balanced our accounts“
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This is one of the earliest examples of a true feminist picture. The film follows a woman who, after learning that her husband has cheated on her, goes out and cheats on him too. Eventually, she comes to the realization that men are hypocritical and are more inclined to judge harshly cheating women then vice versa.
This is a very strong message film for its time. I would say that it’s still pretty strong after all these decades despite what many would say. Yes, the movie isn’t as immediately relevant and relatable as it must have been in 1930, but it’s still engaging and moving.
The ending remains the biggest problem that the film could not overcome unfortunately. It ends with the two reuniting and that was such a forced happy ending which basically diminished the impact of the film’s progress up to that point. I really disliked it and it ruined the film for me.
Norma Shearer won an Oscar for this role and she very much deserved it. She is theatrical at times, but she mostly excelled at playing this role, adding a lot of emotion and nuance into it. That’s why I’m quite happy with the Academy’s choice to honor her. As for Chester Morris, he’s also quite good, though he was better in ‘The Big House’ the same year. Robert Montgomery is also memorable and quite good.
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The Divorcee is solidly directed, though not well paced as it has its slow, unnecessary scenes, especially the slower, uneventful beginning. The dialogue is actually terrific and I liked that it was talkative and the stagey approach here worked well because the dialogue-heavy approach is fitting for this marital drama. The nominations for Best Picture and Best Director are not particularly earned, but are solid as the film is pretty good and above most other nominees from this time period in terms of quality.
The Divorcee is ruined by its terrible, forced happy ending that diminished the progress of the protagonist earned up to that point, but still it’s a respectable early feminist film with a great message, very good dialogue and a strong, Oscar-winning performance from Norma Shearer.
