Week-end Marriage (1932)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Thornton Freeland

Writers:

Faith Baldwin (novel)
Sheridan Gibney (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 June 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

St. Louis Missouri | Marriage Proposal | Illness | Skyscraper | Sister In Law

Cast

Loretta Young	...	Lola Davis Hayes
Norman Foster	...	Ken Hayes
Aline MacMahon	...	Agnes Davis
George Brent	...	Peter Acton
Grant Mitchell	...	Doctor
Vivienne Osborne	...	Shirley
Sheila Terry	...	Connie
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Mr. Davis
Louise Carter	...	Mrs. Davis
Roscoe Karns	...	Jim Davis

Also Known As:

Weekend Lives
Working Wives (UK)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

Harry Holman is in studio records/casting call lists for the role of "The Judge," but he did not appear in the movie.

Quotes:

Doctor: Haven't you brought enough unhappiness to your husband without jeopardizing his life?
Lola Davis: I...?!?
Doctor: Let me give you a little advice. One way or another, a man will find a woman to look out for him not only when he's sick but when he's well. That's something you so-called "modern girls" never seem to count on. You talk about freedom, because you think it's something men have and cherish...
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Blessed Event (1932)

A little more balance needed

I'm no radical feminist, but Week-End Marriage did seem to push its point a little too severely that married women should never work outside the home.

I couldn't help but wonder what audiences in 1932 thought of this film, most particularly, married women. Would they have nodded in silent agreement that Loretta Young made the right decision in the end, or would they have been outraged that she was pigeon-holed in a certain domestic mold? I think the truth would be somewhere in the middle. Women are never as inflexible and stereotypical as presented in any film, modern or vintage. Every woman is an individual and makes her own decisions which are best for her.

Women in 1932, as today in 2006, know that not one decision is best for everyone. There are benefits to being a homemaker, a wife, and mother, and there are benefits to being a career girl. Women can combine both, but just in time factor alone certain things might very well be sacrificed, even inadvertently, and unfortunately one of the things that can be sacrificed is a marriage.

Quantity time is important, along with quality time. If a husband is feeling neglected because his wife seems to prefer a career over him then the marriage is in trouble. If she makes him know clearly and firmly that she values him more than any job or a paycheck then that marriage will most likely survive. It's all in the balance of what you wish to achieve, your priorities. In that respect Week-end Marriage's ending isn't necessarily a cop-out, but simply a decision by the wife to save what she values more than anything else, her man. Sometimes that does take some - horrors! - SACRIFICE.

Performances here are all excellent. I agree that Aline simply steals this movie away from Loretta. Aline was in so many films with Loretta, yet always managed to steal the limelight away from Loretta, despite Aline's lack of physical beauty. Just goes to show that acting talent is separate and apart from physical looks. There is a much more substantial and profound foundation behind real acting talent, as opposed to just relying on a pretty face and figure.