The Divorcee: Difference between revisions
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{{short description|1930 film}} | {{short description|1930 film by Robert Z. Leonard}} | ||
{{about|the 1930 film|the 1919 silent film|The Divorcee (1919 film)}} | {{about|the 1930 film|the 1919 silent film|The Divorcee (1919 film)}} | ||
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} | {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} | ||
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| screenplay = | | screenplay = | ||
| story = | | story = | ||
| based_on = {{based on|''[[Ex-Wife (Ursula Parrott)|Ex-Wife]]''<br> | | based_on = {{based on|''[[Ex-Wife (Ursula Parrott)|Ex-Wife]]''<br>1929 novel|[[Ursula Parrott]]}} | ||
| narrator = | | narrator = | ||
| starring = [[Norma Shearer]]<br>[[Chester Morris]]<br>[[Conrad Nagel]]<br>[[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] | | starring = [[Norma Shearer]]<br>[[Chester Morris]]<br>[[Conrad Nagel]]<br>[[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] | ||
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}} | }} | ||
'''''The Divorcee''''' is a 1930 American [[Pre-Code Hollywood|pre-Code]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] directed by [[Robert Z. Leonard]]. It was written by [[Nick Grindé]], [[Zelda Sears]], and [[John Meehan (screenwriter)|John Meehan]], based on the 1929 novel ''[[Ex-Wife (Ursula Parrott)|Ex-Wife]]'' by [[Ursula Parrott]]. At the [[3rd Academy Awards]], ''The Divorcee'' received nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], and [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Writing]] (Meehan), and [[Norma Shearer]] won the award for [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] for her work on the film.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thise|first=Mark|title=Hollywood Winners & Losers A to Z|year=2008|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-879-10351-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/hollywoodwinners0000this/page/197 197]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodwinners0000this/page/197}}</ref> | '''''The Divorcee''''' is a 1930 American [[Pre-Code Hollywood|pre-Code]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] directed by [[Robert Z. Leonard]]. It was written by [[Nick Grindé]], [[Zelda Sears]], and [[John Meehan (screenwriter)|John Meehan]], based on the 1929 novel ''[[Ex-Wife (Ursula Parrott)|Ex-Wife]]'' by [[Ursula Parrott]]. At the [[3rd Academy Awards]], ''The Divorcee'' received nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], and [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Writing]] (Meehan), and [[Norma Shearer]] won the award for [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] for her work on the film.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thise|first=Mark|title=Hollywood Winners & Losers A to Z|year=2008|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-879-10351-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/hollywoodwinners0000this/page/197 197]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodwinners0000this/page/197}}</ref> As a film published in 1930, it [[2026 in public domain|entered the public domain]] on January 1, 2026. | ||
==Plot== | ==Plot== | ||
[[File:The Divorcee (1930).webm|thumb|thumbtime=20|''The Divorcee'' (1930)]] | |||
Ted, Jerry, Paul, and Dorothy are part of the New York in-crowd. Jerry's decision to marry Ted crushes Paul. He gets drunk and drives, causing an accident that leaves Dorothy's face disfigured. Out of guilt, Paul marries Dorothy. | Ted, Jerry, Paul, and Dorothy are part of the New York in-crowd. Jerry's decision to marry Ted crushes Paul. He gets drunk and drives, causing an accident that leaves Dorothy's face disfigured. Out of guilt, Paul marries Dorothy. | ||
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==Cast== | ==Cast== | ||
[[File:Chester Morris and Norma Shearer in The Divorcee (1930).jpg|thumb|[[Chester Morris]] and [[Norma Shearer]] as Ted Martin and Jerry Martin.]] | |||
* [[Norma Shearer]] as Jerry Martin, [[née]] Bernard | * [[Norma Shearer]] as Jerry Martin, [[née]] Bernard | ||
* [[Chester Morris]] as Ted Martin | * [[Chester Morris]] as Ted Martin | ||
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* [[George H. Reed]] as the second train porter (uncredited) | * [[George H. Reed]] as the second train porter (uncredited) | ||
* [[Lee Phelps]] as a party guest (uncredited) | * [[Lee Phelps]] as a party guest (uncredited) | ||
==Production== | ==Production== | ||
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[[Category:Films about divorce]] | [[Category:Films about divorce]] | ||
[[Category:Films based on works by Ursula Parrott]] | [[Category:Films based on works by Ursula Parrott]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:1930 American films]] | ||
[[Category:English-language drama films]] | |||
Latest revision as of 10:28, 1 January 2026
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The Divorcee is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It was written by Nick Grindé, Zelda Sears, and John Meehan, based on the 1929 novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. At the 3rd Academy Awards, The Divorcee received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing (Meehan), and Norma Shearer won the award for Best Actress for her work on the film.[1] As a film published in 1930, it entered the public domain on January 1, 2026.
Plot
Ted, Jerry, Paul, and Dorothy are part of the New York in-crowd. Jerry's decision to marry Ted crushes Paul. He gets drunk and drives, causing an accident that leaves Dorothy's face disfigured. Out of guilt, Paul marries Dorothy.
On the evening of Jerry and Ted's third anniversary, she discovers he has had a brief affair with another woman, though he tells Jerry it did not "mean a thing". Upset, and with Ted away on a business trip, Jerry spends the night with his best friend, Don. Upon Ted's return, she tells him that she "balanced our accounts", withholding Don's name. Ted is outraged, and they argue, which ends with Ted leaving her and the couple filing for divorce. While Jerry turns to partying to forget her sorrows, Ted becomes an alcoholic.
Sometime later, Paul and Jerry run into each other on a train. She discovers he still loves her and is willing to leave Dorothy, with whom he is in a loveless, resentful marriage, to be with her. They spend two weeks together and make plans for their future.
Dorothy comes to speak with Jerry at her home, but Paul is coincidentally meeting Jerry for dinner, and the three have an awkward exchange. Despite good arguments from Paul, Dorothy’s desperation not to lose him forces Jerry to reevaluate her decision to leave with Paul. Ultimately, Jerry admits she regrets giving up on her first marriage, and decides to see if Ted will reconcile, disappointing Paul bitterly a second time.
Weeks later, on her third attempt to locate Ted in Paris, Jerry finally finds him at a New Year's Eve party. After a polite exchange, Ted expresses his regret at how he reacted before the divorce. Jerry tells Ted her true feelings, and the two kiss at midnight to begin the new year, and their new lives, together.
Cast
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- Norma Shearer as Jerry Martin, née Bernard
- Chester Morris as Ted Martin
- Conrad Nagel as Paul
- Robert Montgomery as Don
- Florence Eldridge as Helen
- Helene Millard as Mary, Dorothy's sister
- Robert Elliott as Bill Baldwin, Helen's husband
- Mary Doran as Janice Meredith, a "floating grass widow"
- Tyler Brooke as Hank
- Zelda Sears as Hannah, the Baldwins' maid
- George Irving as Dr. Bernard, Jerry's father
- Judith Wood (credited as Helen Johnson) as Dorothy, Paul's wife
- Andy Shuford as the boy swimming in the lake (uncredited)
- Neal Dodd as Paul and Dorothy's wedding minister at the hospital (uncredited)
- Carl Stockdale as the divorce judge (uncredited)
- Theodore von Eltz as Ivan, Jerry's suitor on the train (uncredited)
- Charles R. Moore as the first train porter, who opens Jerry's window (uncredited)
- George H. Reed as the second train porter (uncredited)
- Lee Phelps as a party guest (uncredited)
Production
MGM production head Irving Thalberg bought the rights to Ex-Wife in the summer of 1929, his original choice for the lead role of Jerry being Joan Crawford.[2] Norma Shearer, Thalberg's wife, originally was not in the running to play Jerry because it was believed that she did not have enough sex appeal. Only after she arranged a special photo session with independent portrait photographer George Hurrell, and Thalberg saw the result, did he relent and give her the role.[3]
Reception
Norma Shearer won the award for Best Actress at the 3rd Academy Awards for her work on the film, which was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing.[4]
Home media
On March 4, 2008, Warner Home Video released The Divorcee (on the same disc as 1931's A Free Soul, also starring Shearer) as part of a DVD box set of five pre-Code films called "Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 2".[5][6]
References
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External links
- Template:Trim/ Template:Trim at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:WikidataCheck
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- Pages with script errors
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- Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award–winning performance
- 1930 films
- 1930 drama films
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
- American black-and-white films
- Films based on American novels
- Films set in New York City
- American drama films
- 1930s English-language films
- Films directed by Robert Z. Leonard
- Films about adultery in the United States
- Films about divorce
- Films based on works by Ursula Parrott
- 1930 American films
- English-language drama films