The last time I saw Norma Shearer in a movie she was surrounded by three men who were desperately in love with her. And in "Let Us Be Gay" she was again surrounded by several men who, at least, thought they loved her.
Norma played Katherine 'Kitty' Brown, a very loving, doting, too-good-of-a-wife of Robert 'Bob' Brown (Rod La Rocque). Bob had a mistress, as many of the men did in 1930's romances. His mistress, Helen Hibbard (Helene Millard), was so bold that she came to Bob's house and actively broke up his happy home. It was such a breach of mistress protocol. I don't think that I'd ever seen a mistress do that before in the hundreds of movies I've watched from that era.
Kitty demanded that Bob leave. Bob, after pleading with Kitty, said that if he left he was never coming back. He made the threat as though he was somehow being wronged in the situation. Kitty stuck to her guns and told him to go.
Three years later the venue shifted to Mrs. Bouccicault's estate. Mrs. Bouccicault aka Boosie (Marie Dressler) had a problem she needed Kitty for.
Boosie met Kitty in France and saw how she operated. Kitty had men draped on her like clothes and she treated them just like garments-no doubt a result of her heartbreak. Boosie wanted Kitty to woo a man away from her granddaughter Diane (Sally Eilers). What Kitty didn't know was that the man was none other than Bob, Kitty's ex-husband. Boosie knew the man was Bob Brown, but she had no idea he'd been married to Kitty Brown.
Kitty was to arrive at Boosie's estate and then turn on her charm. When Kitty got to Boosie's and found out who the man was, she played it smooth and coy as though she had never met Bob before. Bob, having seen this new Kitty who was a blossomed flower as opposed to the very modest and homely looking woman he used to be married to, was in love with her all over again. For Kitty's part, she smoothly and casually brushed off Bob time and time again when he would approach her with pronouncements of love and fealty. Kitty was holding all of the cards and she was playing them like a boss. Not only did she have every man there waiting on her hand and foot, she had Bob twisted up in knots about her.
Everything about the movie and everything about Kitty was great up until the absolute very end. Like I said, Kitty was like a marionette, and she had every man on a string, including Bob.
When the relationship between Bob and Diane (Boosie's granddaughter) went south once Diane found out that Bob and Kitty used to be married, Bob was once again at Kitty's feet begging her to take him back. At first Kitty blithely and casually dismissed him which I'm sure drove him even more mad. She told him she was not done with her frivolity that he had enjoyed for so many years. It was such a satisfying joy to watch Bob twist in the wind and go crazy for her while she seemed to not care the least bit about him anymore. Then at the very last moment she broke and proclaimed her deep love for Bob and how she wanted him back.
That was the happily ever after moment, and it was rather weak. It wasn't weak because Kitty took back her cheating husband after three years, that would not have been a problem. It was weak because Bob, just before that, was engaged to Diane (Boosie's granddaughter). And had not Diane broken off their marriage due to her newfound knowledge of Bob's past, he was going to go through with marrying her. It was only Diane's action, not Bob's, that made him once again grovel for his ex-wife, Kitty.
It made Kitty look desperate and pitiful that she would take back this man who was actively pursuing another woman only moments before. I thought Kitty was a character who had learned, become wise, and could see through the BS of men like Bob. She even boasted of her "intelligence" which meant that she was too smart to fall for his or any other man's games. The new Kitty wouldn't fall victim to her heart. She knew what Bob was about, and by all accounts, he had not changed. But like they made women back then - so given to their hearts that they could never stop loving a man regardless of what he was - she took back this man who she probably knew was going to mistreat her yet again.
Movies of that era could hardly dispense with having a woman fall in love with a man regardless of what the potential consequences to her could be. Happily-ever-after meant having woman and man be together, no matter what occurred before, which didn't make those endings romantic to me, they made them absurd.
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Norma played Katherine 'Kitty' Brown, a very loving, doting, too-good-of-a-wife of Robert 'Bob' Brown (Rod La Rocque). Bob had a mistress, as many of the men did in 1930's romances. His mistress, Helen Hibbard (Helene Millard), was so bold that she came to Bob's house and actively broke up his happy home. It was such a breach of mistress protocol. I don't think that I'd ever seen a mistress do that before in the hundreds of movies I've watched from that era.
Kitty demanded that Bob leave. Bob, after pleading with Kitty, said that if he left he was never coming back. He made the threat as though he was somehow being wronged in the situation. Kitty stuck to her guns and told him to go.
Three years later the venue shifted to Mrs. Bouccicault's estate. Mrs. Bouccicault aka Boosie (Marie Dressler) had a problem she needed Kitty for.
Boosie met Kitty in France and saw how she operated. Kitty had men draped on her like clothes and she treated them just like garments-no doubt a result of her heartbreak. Boosie wanted Kitty to woo a man away from her granddaughter Diane (Sally Eilers). What Kitty didn't know was that the man was none other than Bob, Kitty's ex-husband. Boosie knew the man was Bob Brown, but she had no idea he'd been married to Kitty Brown.
Kitty was to arrive at Boosie's estate and then turn on her charm. When Kitty got to Boosie's and found out who the man was, she played it smooth and coy as though she had never met Bob before. Bob, having seen this new Kitty who was a blossomed flower as opposed to the very modest and homely looking woman he used to be married to, was in love with her all over again. For Kitty's part, she smoothly and casually brushed off Bob time and time again when he would approach her with pronouncements of love and fealty. Kitty was holding all of the cards and she was playing them like a boss. Not only did she have every man there waiting on her hand and foot, she had Bob twisted up in knots about her.
Everything about the movie and everything about Kitty was great up until the absolute very end. Like I said, Kitty was like a marionette, and she had every man on a string, including Bob.
When the relationship between Bob and Diane (Boosie's granddaughter) went south once Diane found out that Bob and Kitty used to be married, Bob was once again at Kitty's feet begging her to take him back. At first Kitty blithely and casually dismissed him which I'm sure drove him even more mad. She told him she was not done with her frivolity that he had enjoyed for so many years. It was such a satisfying joy to watch Bob twist in the wind and go crazy for her while she seemed to not care the least bit about him anymore. Then at the very last moment she broke and proclaimed her deep love for Bob and how she wanted him back.
That was the happily ever after moment, and it was rather weak. It wasn't weak because Kitty took back her cheating husband after three years, that would not have been a problem. It was weak because Bob, just before that, was engaged to Diane (Boosie's granddaughter). And had not Diane broken off their marriage due to her newfound knowledge of Bob's past, he was going to go through with marrying her. It was only Diane's action, not Bob's, that made him once again grovel for his ex-wife, Kitty.
It made Kitty look desperate and pitiful that she would take back this man who was actively pursuing another woman only moments before. I thought Kitty was a character who had learned, become wise, and could see through the BS of men like Bob. She even boasted of her "intelligence" which meant that she was too smart to fall for his or any other man's games. The new Kitty wouldn't fall victim to her heart. She knew what Bob was about, and by all accounts, he had not changed. But like they made women back then - so given to their hearts that they could never stop loving a man regardless of what he was - she took back this man who she probably knew was going to mistreat her yet again.
Movies of that era could hardly dispense with having a woman fall in love with a man regardless of what the potential consequences to her could be. Happily-ever-after meant having woman and man be together, no matter what occurred before, which didn't make those endings romantic to me, they made them absurd.
Free on Odnoklassniki.