Claudette Colbert has long been, for me, the actress that could do no wrong. I never saw her in a film that I didn't like. Until tonight.
It's not that the acting here is bad. It's fine. It's the plot that smells to high heaven. We have Colbert's character -- the wife -- who is so disgusted with her husband's selfish focus on his career that she urges him to quit, even though that will leave them with no income to support their relatively wealthy life style. We have Ray Milland's character -- the husband -- who will tell any lie and commit any decent to get his wife back. And then, he stalks her even after the divorce. Ironically, the one fairly nice character in the film is Brian Aherne -- the other man. And in the end, Colbert goes back to her lying, deceitful husband.
This movie could have been saved by simply rewriting about 5 scenes and turning it into a drama, rather than a misguided comedy.
As mentioned, the acting here is fine. Claudette Colbert is fine as the wife, although I would hardly see this as one of her finer films. It's hard to root for her because her character is such a sap.
Ray Milland is fine as the lying, deceitful husband. But no way you can root for him. I rather liked Brian Aherne here, and usually he is not one of my favorites. Walter Abel is along as the best friend, and plays that role well...as he always did.
Sorry Claudette, I give this film a big thumbs down. How sad that you allowed yourself to be put in a film that is so demeaning toward women.
It's not that the acting here is bad. It's fine. It's the plot that smells to high heaven. We have Colbert's character -- the wife -- who is so disgusted with her husband's selfish focus on his career that she urges him to quit, even though that will leave them with no income to support their relatively wealthy life style. We have Ray Milland's character -- the husband -- who will tell any lie and commit any decent to get his wife back. And then, he stalks her even after the divorce. Ironically, the one fairly nice character in the film is Brian Aherne -- the other man. And in the end, Colbert goes back to her lying, deceitful husband.
This movie could have been saved by simply rewriting about 5 scenes and turning it into a drama, rather than a misguided comedy.
As mentioned, the acting here is fine. Claudette Colbert is fine as the wife, although I would hardly see this as one of her finer films. It's hard to root for her because her character is such a sap.
Ray Milland is fine as the lying, deceitful husband. But no way you can root for him. I rather liked Brian Aherne here, and usually he is not one of my favorites. Walter Abel is along as the best friend, and plays that role well...as he always did.
Sorry Claudette, I give this film a big thumbs down. How sad that you allowed yourself to be put in a film that is so demeaning toward women.