User reviews

British wit Noel Coward (1899-1973) is best remembered for his wickedly funny comedies. Many, myself included, consider PRIVATE LIVES his single finest work. Opening in 1930 London co-starring Coward and the legendary Gertrude Lawrence, the play not only received tremendous critical acclaim, it also ran more than one hundred performances--something largely unheard of at the time. Moving quickly, MGM snapped up the film rights long before the original run ended and released a film version in 1931.

In the "Pre-Code" era censorship was not a significant issue, and the story follows the original stage play to the letter. After divorcing each other, Elyot and Amanda find themselves honeymooning with new spouses in adjoining hotel suites--and suddenly dessert their new spouses to resume their torrid love. Unfortunately, they both remain as eccentrically combative as ever, and it isn't long before the fur begins to fly.

The great failure of the film, however, is in the dialogue. As noted, censorship was not really an issue--but MGM advisers felt the script was too British for the American market and fiddled with the lines to make them "less English" in tone. But where a Noel Coward play is concerned, it isn't so much what you say as exactly how you say it, and in altering bits of wording the screenwriters significantly blunted the razor-like quality that made the original such a great success.

Even so, the 1931 film version of PRIVATE LIVES does a credible job of capturing the Noel Coward theatrical fire in a bottle, and the thing that makes the film work is Norma Shearer. One of the few silent stars to make a full transition to sound stardom, Shearer was among the most critically acclaimed and popular stars of her era. Although most widely acclaimed as a dramatic actress, modern viewers usually find her dramatic performances highly mannered--but what now seems mannered in drama works very, very well in comedy, and PRIVATE LIVES may be her single most accessible film for modern audiences. She is excellent throughout.

The remaining cast is a mixed bag. Robert Montgomery has the look but is essentially miscast as Elyot; still, he acquits himself well by avoiding the obvious missteps, and when he and Shearer click the whole thing goes off with a bang. Reginald Denny is quite expert as the stuffy Victor, and while Una Merkle seems as miscast as Robert Young she too renders a solid performance. Like most MGM films of the 1930s, the production values are top of the line from start to finish, slick, glossy, and attractive, and director Sidney Franklin (noted for his skill with actresses) keeps the film moving at a smart pace.

PRIVATE LIVES has had numerous revivals on stage with stars that range from Tallulah Bankhead to a memorable teaming of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and it remains a staple of world theatre; perhaps in the future there will be yet another film version that bests this one. But even so, this 1931 film will more than do until that wished-for-one comes along. Presently available to the home market via VHS only. Recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, GFT, Amazon Reviewer

In MGM's rendering or Noel Coward's classic "comedy of bad manners," PRIVATE LIVES, about a couple who can't live without each other but can't live WITH each other either, the best of Coward's famous lines are preserved by a generally superior cast and the film is close to brilliant for it.

It's our loss however, that Noel Coward didn't have the clout or the concern that Bernard Shaw had in the 30's to demand that he himself provide his own screenplays when his stage plays were translated to the screen. When Hans Kraly, Richard Shayer and (the uncredited) Claudine West insist on earning their "scenario by" credit, the leaden insertions stick out like proverbial sore thumbs.

Only the charming, brief coda on a train added to the film after the play script ends is a satisfying addition, but it is a nice way to finish a delightful 84 minutes.

SOME of the ham handed alterations are not the fault of the Screenwriter's Guild contract or the Studio's concern that the film "not be TOO British." The time wasting substitution of a hiker's hostel (and, later, a private chalet) in the alps and a German speaking guide (played with a twinkle but no actual laughs by Jean Hersholt) for Coward's borrowed Paris flat and hilarious French speaking maid was clearly a bid for the then thriving pre-war German film market. It doesn't seriously hurt the film, but it doesn't help it an iota either.

Top billed Norma Shearer is quite fine as Amanda (Chase) Prynne who runs away from her honeymoon with Victor with her first husband, Elyot. She even sounds remarkably like the original stage Gertrude Lawrence, when she sings. Reginald Denny is everything one could wish in the role of the dimly proper Victor Prynne that gave Laurence Olivier his start on the stage, and Una Merkel is equally fine as the air headed Sybil Chase (famously asked not to "quibble"), the new wife abandoned by Robert Montgomery's Elyot Chase.

If there is a weakness in the film's acting, it is in the merely solid performance from Robert Montgomery - playing totally American and closer to Robert Young than Noel Coward (who wrote the part for himself and originated it in the London and Broadway stages). Nevertheless, to date, PRIVATE LIVES has been on Broadway at least seven times, and with the exception of Coward's original and Brian Bedford's dazzling work opposite the Tony winning Tammy Grimes in David Merrick's 1969-70 production, Montgomery may be the best of the major Elyots. The role's insecure flippancy makes it a close to impossible one to pull off as well as it is written, and Montgomery comes very close indeed.

Coward's other immortal comedy, BLITHE SPIRIT, which kept audiences on both sides of the Atlantic laughing through most of World War II, was filmed in England (and in color) just after the war, with a cast and script even closer to the spirit of the original, but the cinematic style has not aged nearly as well as this generally excellent PRIVATE LIVES. Still, BOTH of them should be near the top of the "must see" list for any lover of classic literate comedy.

I had the pleasure several years ago of seeing Lindsay Duncan and Alan Rickman on Broadway in Noel Coward's durable comedy, "Private Lives," and they were magnificent. I admit I had low expectations for a film version. I was pleasantly surprised that, though scenes were added and changed, the film keeps the tone of the play.

I actually saw part of this movie when I was about nine years old. James Card of the George Eastman House introduced it on a weekly old film program. To a nine-year-old, it seemed very foreign, given its age. Strangely, I have always remembered the line, "We're married in the eyes of heaven" - from that TV showing! And sure enough, my memory was correct - that either says something about Montgomery's line reading, or that I had no understanding of what the line meant, or I have a weird memory. Not sure.

I thought the two stars, Robert Montgomery and Norma Shearer, portrayed the couple excellently. Shearer is so often criticized for her acting, but I'm sorry, I've seen her in some very good performances, although I grant you, she was a movie star first and foremost. The couple also has great chemistry.

I understand the apartment in Paris was changed to attract the German market, which eliminated the great part of the maid.

In the end, the film is very enjoyable and the play, of course, set the stage for many ripoffs. I agree with another of the comments, it would have been fabulous to have Coward and Lawrence preserved on film.

I happen to adore this movie; it's my favorite classic comedy. Surely Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence did a better job than Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery, but Norma is my favorite actress, and Robert is my favorite of her many co-stars. The dialog is marvelous, and the plot is fun. I like the idea of the two exes who spend their honeymoons in adjacent suites. The fight between Norma and Robert could very well be one of the best ever filmed. This is such a fun movie, but is sadly a little forgotten. I hear that the MGM video release isn't being made anymore, so if you don't want to watch this gem on a grainy, used video, hurry to your local store and watch the clerk look at you funny when you sigh with relief over having gotten the last copy.

If "Private Lives" was submitted for approval after the Production Code, it would violate it in about ten different ways. It's an astonishingly daring comedy, with a nasty edge. It features intense physical contact between a man and a woman who are married to other people, and by contact I mean both violent and erotic (and for those two, violence - physical and verbal - is a form of foreplay). Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery have an electric chemistry (no wonder they were paired so often on the screen). They play two very unlikable people: they treat their current spouses in a mean, inconsiderate, condescending way - and that's just on their first honeymoon night! But because they are Shearer and Montgomery, you do keep watching them. The first half of the film is little more than a filmed stage play, but the second half is a bit more cinematic. **1/2 out of 4.

This filmed version of Noel Coward's play isn't too bad to watch.Anyone who's experienced a love-hate relationship will find the story very amusing.Shearer and Montgomery are good in their roles.Quite surprising to find a story like this in a thirties Hollywood film.

I've lost count of the number of times I have seen this first-rate movie, and it makes me laugh every time. The plot and dialog are outstanding, and Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery are excellent. Reginald Denny and Una Merkel are a delight as well. In one of the film's many excellent scenes, Shearer shows off the acting skills she honed during her silent screen days -- hearing the musical strains of a song once dear to her and her ex-husband in happier days, her expression goes from recognition to fond remembrance to regret to resignation, all in the span of a few seconds. Although she is best known for her dramatic gifts, Norma is top-notch throughout this film, displaying an excellent flair for comedy. I've often read her performance being unfavorably compared to that of Gertrude Lawrence, but I thought Shearer was a wonder. It's hard for me to conceive that this movie was released 80 years ago -- it is still fresh, funny, and worth every moment of your time.

I'm sure if Noel Coward had been at MGM he might have done things differently like bring in the people he directed and starred with on stage in Private Lives for this version. It would really have been something to see the Broadway version which starred Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Jill Esmond. In fact Olivier and Esmond who were married to each other at the time were both in Hollywood in abortive bids for movie stardom.

But this was MGM where Norma Shearer was queen because her husband Irving Thalberg was head of the studio. Except if Greta Garbo wanted something, the pick of roles always went to Shearer. So Private Lives after a successful run on Broadway and before that in London was earmarked for Norma.

It's a shame that the Broadway cast could not have been used for this film, what a priceless artifact that would be now. But probably MGM did use the best cast available from players at their studio and Robert Montgomery certainly has the gift for light comedy for this exquisite comedy of manners. Shearer is way too Canadian in her speech patterns

It's a simple plot that Coward uses. Two people Montgomery and Shearer who were married to each other at one time are on their respective honeymoons on the French Riviera with new spouses. Reginald Denny the only English person in the cast is now with Shearer and he can best be described as a future Colonel Blimp, maybe we can call him subaltern Blimp. Montgomery is now married to Una Merkel a very talented and funny actress, but also way too American here. To use a phrase that an English friend of mine uses, Merkel's character has the IQ of a fern.

With adjoining rooms and terraces it was inevitable that Montgomery and Shearer meet and the old zing is there. On impulse the two of them run off to a Swiss chalet that holds memories and leave an understandably sexually frustrated Denny and Merkel.

Integral to the plot and feel of the play is the one song that Noel Coward wrote for Private Lives, one of his best Someday I'll Find You. Gertrude Lawrence introduced it on stage and Norma mouthes the words to what is obviously someone else's voice. It expresses the longing that Montgomery and Shearer still feel for each other, with them it's a question of can't live with the other, can't live without the other.

Coward hated what American studios did with his work and wasn't fond of this film. I'm sure he could have done it better, but this is a decent enough version of this classic. And it probably won't be revived on screen anytime soon because there isn't anyone like Noel and Gertie to sing Someday I'll Find You.

Noel Coward wrote and acted in this stage play in 1930 and this movie preserves the behaviour and colloquialisms of the original play in a contemporary manner - a fact we may overlook with our 20-21st century liberal mind-set. I believe there is film somewhere in the UK TV archives of Coward in the part but it is either just clips or not available on general release.

I really liked this well-paced production - even with the alterations for the North American audience (typical of studios in those days) - both Shearer and Montgomery take their parts well. I am familiar with the play but have never seen it on the stage. I thought the physical humour by Shearer very funny and could not imagine Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence as the protagonists (while wonderful with their period lethargic mannerisms) doing anything similar.

This film brings the characters brightly to life in a very warm way and it's a shame not to be able to get it on DVD.

'Private Lives' starts simply enough, with Norma Shearer together with her new husband after having been divorced from Robert Montgomery, and him together with his new wife. As fate (or playwright Noel Coward) would have it, they happen to end up spending their honeymoons in adjoining suites. I suppose you can imagine what comes next as their love is rekindled, but what happens beyond that is a little bit of a surprise. It feels like a 1931 version of 'Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?', though without the same weight.

Shearer is natural and plays 'exasperated' well, but she overacts at others times, and Montgomery is similarly uneven. They do have some level of chemistry, and the best scene that has them worked up to near violence (her hitting him over the head with a record, him slapping her, her running to the couch to bury her head and kicking her legs) is probably the best of the movie, but even that has an air or ridiculousness about it, meaning it hasn't aged terribly well. Their co-stars, Reginald Denny and Una Merkel are bland and unappealing.

The theme is timeless, the difficulty of staying happy in relationships, and the danger of thinking the grass is always greener. There are some nice moments, such as when Shearer is expounding on the wonders of travel, saying she loves "arriving at strange places, meeting strange people, and eating strange food", and then Montgomery quips, "yes, and making strange noises afterwards". It is also risqué in some parts, such as this exchange early on:

Denny: He struck you once, didn't he? Shearer (smiling): Oh, more than once. Denny (concerned): where? Shearer (smiling and raising an eyebrow): Several places…

For every element I found I liked, there was an equally unappealing element, and in this case I suppose Montgomery's line that "certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs" later in the movie is that. It's not awful, but the movie gets tedious with all of the bickering, and I found myself happy when it was over.

The film begins with Elyot (Robert Montgomery) and Sybil (Una Merkel) getting married in a church. Then, Amanda (Norma Shearer) and Victor (Reginald Denny) get married in a civil ceremony. Next both newlywed couples arrive at a hotel. Soon you learn the pairs are in adjoining rooms--and you learn that Elyot and Amanda were once married to each other! Because this is very awkward, both plan on immediately leaving the hotel--but, of course, their new spouses will hear nothing of this. And, not surprisingly, their new spouses are also furious as they refuse to give up on having a honeymoon. While at first Amanda and Elyot seem to really hate each other, over time their old love starts to be rekindled. But what of poor Victor and Amanda?!

The play version of this story by Noel Coward has been played and played and played on stage. And, nearly all the IMDb reviews I read were from folks who really liked the film. In light of this, then, I was surprised that I did NOT like the movie. It didn't work for me because of two main problems. First, I didn't like Amanda nor Elyot. They were selfish jerks and all they did was squabble. They were shrill jerks and their 'funny' fight near the end of the film was awful and nasty. Second, this film just went on and on and on after Amanda and Elyot got back together. Overall, I found watching the film to be difficult and I really had to fight the urge to turn it off. Unpleasant and the film COULD have worked better with a bit of a re- write.

By the way, this plot was 'borrowed' by the TV show "Frasier" when the title character takes a girlfriend to a faraway resort and finds that his ex-wife, Lillith, is in the adjoining bungalow.

Divorced and re-married, sexily-attired Norma Shearer (as Amanda Prynne) and English-accented Robert Montgomery (as Elyot Chase) find themselves sharing their honeymoons on the French Rivera. New spouses Reginald Denny (as Victor Prynne) and Una Merkel (as Sybil Chase) are put on the back-burner as Ms. Shearer and Mr. Montgomery get um… let's call it "reacquainted". Soon, we get to see the kind of behavior that broke up the combative couple in the first place…

"Certain women should be struck regularly," declares Montgomery after he and Shearer come to blows - but, the line doesn't seem abusive when delivered by the delicately-featured Montgomery. In fact, Shearer seems the stronger of the two, while maintaining a sexy femininity. You may want to see original playwright Noel Coward and co-star Gertrude Lawrence in their successful stage roles, but will have to admit Shearer and Montgomery are fine stand-ins for the sophisticated duo...

TCM (Turner Classic Movies) host Bob Osborne recalled during an August 2010 showing of MGM's "Private Lives" that Shearer and producer-husband Irving Thalberg arranged with Mr. Coward to have his play filmed; she, Montgomery and director Sidney Franklin used it to guide their work. This does appear to have enhanced the co-starring performances; and, while nobody made such comments back then, Shearer's affections and Montgomery 's cushiness fit the roles well.

******* Private Lives (12/12/31) Sidney Franklin ~ Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Reginald Denny, Una Merkel

Noel Coward's very witty and often revived play is a mixed bag. On the one hand you have one of the master wits of the century, on par, say, with George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde, and on the other you have characters which I place near the top of my list of people I don't want to meet. Amanda and Elyot are those people. In a very clever premise, they play an ex-married couple, each newly married to another the very same day, each accidentally spending their honeymoon in the same French city, in the same hotel, on the same floor, and in fact in adjoining rooms. They meet on the adjoining terraces, reminisce over old times and decide it was a mistake to divorce. Leaving notes to their spouses (Reginald Denny and Una Merkel) they run off to a St. Moritz, Switzerland chalet, with their mystified spouses swiftly following to find them. My problem with the film is their persistent and maddening bickering - verbal violence - which they recognize they're guily of, and which each try to stem by using the expression "Solomon Isaacs" to remind the other to stop. It doesn't always work, and it sometimes results in physical violence too.

The acting is uniformly good, even by the supporting players, who also get in their share of shouting. The script of the film was changed somewhat, introducing the character of Oscar (Jean Hersholt, in a small role), but omitting what I thought was the funniest line in the play when I saw it two years ago. Amanda says "Darling, do you realize that we're living in sin?" In the film, Elyot responds "We were married in the eyes of heaven and we still are." In the play he says "Not according to the Catholics." The scriptwriters must have felt that might offend too many people.

I just saw this movie this morning on TCM. I absolutely loved it! So funny! Norma was great and so was Robert Montgomery. I enjoyed their bickering, and after a bit, could TELL when it was coming just by a remark made. It was actually very modern in it's depiction of a marriage, as that really doesn't change. I found this movie to be very delightful, and full of wit. Their fight scene is the best! When Amanda shrieks and screams and cries, it is priceless! I recommend it highly. I have recently discovered Norma Shearers' movies, and she is so good it is a joy to watch her. I saw "The Women" and "Marie Antionette" as a child, but it is wonderful to be able to watch movies like "Private Lives" now. It is hard to believe it was made in '31, it is not dated at all.

Have for a while held Noel Coward in high regard, even if his style may take time to warm to or may not be for all tastes. Personally like Norma Shearer and think she had a good deal of charm as an actress, although she will never be one of my favourite actresses. Film adaptations of stage origins source material have varied quite widely in quality over time in all genres and decades, though there has never been any intended bias (if of any kind at all).

It is not always easy adapting stage plays to film, with a good deal of opening up being needed and making it accessible for a wider audience likewise. This 1931 version of 'Private Lives' does decently in this regard, though one may feel that they need to see the play on stage in unabridged form to see it being given full justice. It doesn't completely work, but a lot of things worked in its favour. 'Private Lives', and Coward in general in fact, is not an easy play to open up or make accessible for film. It has a very confined setting that increases even further the strong risk of it being stage-bound. And it also has a very tight structure that doesn't leave much room for playing around.

The cast are a big plus. Shearer is nothing short of perfection, and Reginald Denny and Una Merkel give excellent support. Robert Montgomery is not quite as great, but he does hold his own definitely and the chemistry between the two absolutely sparkles. As does the dialogue in the best moments, even with so many changes one does recognise Coward's style, with the usual wit and polish.

'Private Lives' combative dialogue often hits hilarious peaks and the physical comedy is perfectly pitched, both very funny and full of fire. The big fight between the leads is one of the best and funniest fights of any film from this period in my view. The story has a good deal of energy and the film doesn't look cheap.

Not perfect though. The early portion of 'Private Lives' is a bit too stagy, where the energy isn't quite there and the atmosphere is too confined.

As said, there are a lot of changes with a lot of cuts, additions and truncations and there are times where this stops Coward's razor-sharpness from shining even more than it does due to it not being blunt enough and being almost slightly too polite.

Concluding, interesting, and best seen if primarily a Shearer or Coward fan/completest, if not an essential. 7/10

Noel Coward dialogue. What can be bad? Norma Shearer does a star turn and is *very* funny. Her clothes are wonderful. She is obviously "meant for" Robert Montgomery, and they leave the partners they are engaged to and escape with each other on an around-the-world trip. Their physical fights are hilarious.

I stumbled on this movie on TCM. I love Robert Montgomery and although I am not very familiar with Norma Shearer, I enjoyed her in The Women. I saw this on the TCM schedule, I took a chance and recorded it, and it paid off!! They were such a great comedic pair!! Loved the story, but it could have been a really weak movie without the casting of these two!!!!

I didn't feel it was dated, too much. But I just love the old movies that can take you back.

And to see a young Una Merkel!

What a shame this has not been restored. I hope someone somewhere will be working on that soon!!

I'm definitely keeping this one in my recorded library.

Keep running this one, TCM!!!

Noel Coward created at least four comic plays that have staying power: "Private Lives", "Design For Living", "Hay Fever", and "Blythe Spirit". Three of them were turned into films, but the results are mixed. "Design For Living" was seriously bowdlerized by Hollywood, with a "bi-sexual" element eliminated. "Blythe Spirit" (which has a funny twist on how marriages always seem to sour as individuality is smashed) was done better, but it lacks a resolution that showed how the "so-called" tragedy of the plot actually benefits the hero, Charles Condimine. And "Private Lives", while having a degree of elegance from it's stars, is not brittle enough.

Coward was a master of developing attitude through his dialog. He seems to have modeled his handling of his characters on William S. Gilbert (of Gilbert & Sullivan fame). Gilbert had always insisted when directing his own plays that the characters retained the seriousness of their own characters and points of view. This worked in the Savoy Operas quite well, and Coward (who wrote musicals as well as comedies) picked up on it. When Elyot and Amanda flow from their sexual cosiness into their inane arguments, both of them are firmly sure that they are in the right. But being in the right is not enough: they have to be above it all by their social snobbery in the same dialog. If you don't insist on this in producing "Private Lives" the play may remain amusing but it's snap is lost.

Example:

Amanda: "I heard you went to Asia"

Elyot: "Yes"

Amanda: "How was China?"

Elyot: "Very large."

Amanda: "How was Japan?"

Elyot: "Very small."

Brittle and short and to the point - and it does give an impression of what Elyot noticed (very little really) of two major Asiatic cultures. It is also quite dismissive - the teaming millions of Asia are reduced to four meaningless words. This dialog appears in the film version of PRIVATE LIVES, but the sharpness required for "Very large" and "Very small" is not quite there. So the effect of the dialog is diminished.

Robert Montgomery usually played in MGM films at this time as weaklings (like in "The Big House") or as upper crust cads (like in "The Divorcée"). He demonstrated an agreeably sophisticated cynicism in his films, and was slowly building up an acting ability that would turn into strong dramatic performances in "Night Must Fall" and films like "They Were Espendable" later on.

Montgomery came from a wealthy family, so his polished elegance was real. But he was an American, and Elyot's brittle snobbery is more likely to be found in English acting. The role of Elyot was played by Noel Coward originally. MGM either never thought of asking him to play the role, or could not get him for some reason.

Norma Shearer was a better than average actress, and she had played upper class Americans (like her betrayed wife in "The Women"), but she too is not English (she was Canadian). She too can't quite match the flash of snobbishness in Amanda's role that was brought to it by the original player, Gertrude Lawrence. As Lawrence and Coward were close friends in real life, they brought even more to the roles than Montgomery and Shearer could have brought.

The result is that the film is very amusing - otherwise I would not give it an "8". But it could not reach the divine heights that Coward and Lawrence brought to it.

As for the supporting couple, Reginald Denny and Una Merkle, they are adequate for their hapless roles as the newlywed partners of Elyot and Amanda. But Una Merkle as Sybil is too middle American a personality, and only is able to hint at Sybil's "fade - in - the - shade" fate when compared to spitfire Amanda. Denny was a workmanlike Victor, and (as the only English person in the cast's leads) a touch of reality to the film. But Victor's smoldering anger is barely touched on in his performance (he's too much of a gentleman). Oddly enough, MGM never thought of using the actor who originated Victor's character on stage - another friend of Noel. His name was Laurence Olivier.

Noel Coward was a extraordinarily witty man. Perhaps this thing played well onstage with better actors but this version is exasperating. Shrill, arch & irritating is the best I can say. Talking talking talking with tears screeching & arguing in between. I forgive Una Merkel because I adore her but the other 3! Shearer is sheer torture. The whole thing doesn't work because the actors can't get the necessary rhythm going to sell the comedy & the wit. The Noel Coward lines are dead as the actors shriek, squawk & bleat them. Call the mortician because this thing was dead on arrival. Read the play but avoid this unbearable movie.

Two newly married couples have their honeymoon at the same hotel. That normally wouldn't be a problem, but the husband (Elyot) of one couple (Robert Montgomery and Una Merkel) and the wife (Amanda) of the other (Norma Shearer and Reginald Denny) were once married. That normally wouldn't be a problem, but maybe Amanda and Elyot still love each other. Complications ensue.

Based on a play by Noel Coward and originally starring Coward and Gertrude Lawrence as Elyot and Amanda, respectively, perhaps the stage play was better, but this movie is more than good enough. The film never quite loses its stagey feel, but that adds to the charm. It's allowed to have a little bit of staginess anyway, seeing as it's an early talkie. The film doesn't overstay its welcome, clocking in at an hour and a half, and moving at a very fast pace. It could be considered an early screwball comedy- Norma and Robert do a lot of shouting, and sometimes over each other.

Norma Shearer is very good in her role as Amanda, demonstrating comedic chops that we didn't know she had (in The Women, she was the straight man, while Roz Russell- and to some extent Joan Crawford- were the clowns). This film is from the era where she did all her "sexually liberated, spunky bad good girls", so she's allowed to be flirty and a bit slutty instead of straight-laced, sweet-as-honey and a bit pathetic like she was in her roles after the production code came into effect.

Robert Montgomery is also quite good, as Elyot but here he's cast as another one of his playboy cads. It's been debated over whether Amanda and Elyot in this film really capture the stage play in that despite all their bickering and fighting, they can't live without each other. In my opinion, Norma Shearer was Bob's best partner, and they have very good chemistry together, so I definitely believe them as a couple, even a sort of toxic one like Amanda and Elyot. Maybe Robert did go further on his looks versus his acting ability, but he's very handsome.

Una Merkel is unfortunately underused as Montgomery's second wife Sybil, and Reginald Denny is your standard stuffy and slightly boring English guy. There aren't really any other principal cast members, as most of the film revolves around Amanda and Elyot kindling and rekindling their love, as well as arguing. There is A LOT of arguing. A lot for a screwball comedy, even- you thought they argued a lot in The Philadelphia Story? Watch this.

Best scene in the film is when during an especially heated argument, Amanda breaks a phonograph record over Elyot's head. This results in some of the funniest domestic violence ever captured on celluloid (I see you feminists shuddering over there, but Amanda started it). There are some good lines as well, some slightly raunchy for their time, as this film as made in the Pre-Code era.

Will Amanda and Elyot ultimately make up, and remarry again? Watch the film for the answer- although if you've seen ANY screwball comedy in this vein, you know how it's going to end just by reading the plot summary. That doesn't make the journey any less fun, however. 😀

Overall, highly recommended, but it helps if you're a fan of either star. If you're not, this is probably not the best starting point- even though I love Norma, she's an acquired taste if ever there was one 😜.

Note: I rewrote my pervious review because it wasn't very good. I hope this one is more helpful 😃.

No need to recap the marital mix-up plot. I guess the intent was all very sophisticated, 1930's style. The way the movie's mounted, however, is plain annoying. Lines are shouted in rapid-fire succession as if someone's standing by with a timer. The trouble is we then have little chance to savor the reputed Noel Coward wit, however much there may be. Then there's the constant bickering that other reviewers note. That too gets tiresome, and since there's little chemistry between the two leads or motivation from the script, there's no underlying glue between them. To me the results are disjointed and theatrical in a negative sense. I expect the mountain climbing interlude was seen as a needed change from all the talk and drawing rooms. Ironically, it's probably the movie's best part. Also, it looks to me—as to others—that MGM wunderkind Thalberg indulged his ladylove by getting her the feminine lead. Too bad he didn't augment that with a more comedy-effective director. I don't know what audiences of the time thought, but now the results are about as subtle as a politician announcing his patriotism. I'm just glad both leads went on to better things, particularly Montgomery.