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The Divorcee

Play trailer Poster for The Divorcee Released Apr 19, 1930 1h 23m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 62% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
After three years of marriage, Ted (Chester Morris) has an affair that threatens to destroy his happiness with wife Jerry (Norma Shearer), as she returns the favor by pursuing Don (Robert Montgomery), Ted's close friend. The couple divorces, and Jerry tries to find happiness with a new man while Ted struggles with alcoholism and depression. After a series of flings, Jerry reunites with Paul (Conrad Nagel), who was in love with Jerry before she married Ted -- only to find Paul is now married.
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The Divorcee

Critics Reviews

View All (9) Critics Reviews
Eileen Jones The Jacobin Famous for its raciness and bluntly realistic honesty... Aug 26, 2023 Full Review John Beifuss Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) A movie about, essentially, the perils of revenge sex (for women, at least). Rated: 3.5/4 Jun 23, 2014 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Hysterical early talkie melodrama. Rated: C Mar 3, 2008 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com It's doubtful that this melodrama, in which Norma Shearer challenges society's double standards about sexual mores by flirting with several men, could have been made after 1934 due to strictures of the Production Code. Rated: B- Feb 16, 2008 Full Review Pablo Villaça Cinema em Cena Mesmo que supostamente denuncie o machismo da poca, o prprio filme machista, moralista e repleto de personagens desprezveis, sendo verdadeiramente repugnante. Rated: 1/5 Sep 20, 2005 Full Review Nick Davis Nick's Flick Picks Refreshingly excited about female sexuality for a Hollywood movie, though pretty tame stuff all in all. Rated: 3/5 Jun 20, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Louisa E I thought the plot was very thought-provoking and highlighted the double standard of the time when it came to infidelity. There was a slow patch three-quarters of the way through, but the ending was great, and as a whole, the movie felt relatively modern. Any film with bridge in it makes me happy as it's one of my favourite hobbies. I would have had a lot of fun hanging out with this group at their guest house. My first impression of Norma Shearer is that I was underwhelmed, considering she got the Oscar for best actress for this movie. The constant giggling of the first half an hour was very annoying. By the movie's end, I could see the character progression through the acting, but her performance felt a bit flat to me. Moments of brilliance but moments of cringe too. According to trivia, Joan Crawford wanted the role; I think that would have been fascinating (and maybe a better fit?) I think Conrad Nagel did a great job, as did Robert Montgomery, and I think they were the stars of this movie acting-wise for me. I wasn't overly taken with Chester Morris in this role. I prefer him as a gangster. The special effects of the fast driving scenes are almost comical today but might have been good for the time. I kept wondering if Norma had a "good side" because we kept just seeing the side of her face, usually her left side. In the trivia I read afterwards, it said Norma was cross-eyed, and I guess maybe that is why there were so many side shots. The sets and costumes in this movie were divine. My favourites were the wedding bouquet and dress and Jerry's pants! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/08/23 Full Review brad h Overrated. Interesting subject matter but not much more. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Norma Shearer won the Best Actress Oscar. The topic was rather risque at the time and shows a sort of love triangle for the first time in film. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Tom M Norma Shearer is wonderful and deserved the Oscar. It's probably the era, but all three male leads are written as cads. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/05/20 Full Review william d Fair to middling melodrama. The most interesting thing is the subject matter. Not many movies from the '30s deal with adultery, and since The Divorcee is Pre-Code it talks about adultery pretty extensively, albeit somewhat obliquely. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Jared D A very dated tale of the sexual double standard where the double standard wins in the end. Shearer had some memorable scenes as a more "liberated woman" once she is divorced. Despite bring a somewhat risque pre-code film, the filmmakers couldn't bring themselves to close the film with anything but a thrown together sop to the wounded husband's vanity. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/02/20 Full Review Read all reviews
The Divorcee

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Movie Info

Synopsis After three years of marriage, Ted (Chester Morris) has an affair that threatens to destroy his happiness with wife Jerry (Norma Shearer), as she returns the favor by pursuing Don (Robert Montgomery), Ted's close friend. The couple divorces, and Jerry tries to find happiness with a new man while Ted struggles with alcoholism and depression. After a series of flings, Jerry reunites with Paul (Conrad Nagel), who was in love with Jerry before she married Ted -- only to find Paul is now married.
Director
Robert Z. Leonard
Producer
Robert Z. Leonard
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 19, 1930, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 21, 2016
Runtime
1h 23m
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