The Divorce of Lady X (1938)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Tim Whelan

Writers:

Gilbert Wakefield (story)
Lajos Biró (adaptation)

Release Date:

15 January 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Comedy

Plot:

Divorce lawyer Everard Logan thinks the woman who spent the night in his hotel room is the erring wife of his new client.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Divorce | Lawyer | Hotel Room | London England

Cast

Merle Oberon	...	Leslie Steele / Lady Claire Mere
Laurence Olivier	...	Everard Logan
Binnie Barnes	...	Lady Claire Mere
Ralph Richardson	...	Lord Mere
Morton Selten	...	Lord Steele
J.H. Roberts	...	Slade
Gertrude Musgrove	...	Saunders, the Maid
Gus McNaughton	...	Room Service Waiter
H.B. Hallam	...	Jefferies, the Butler
Eileen Peel	...	Mrs. Johnson

Runtime:

92 min | USA:91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Microphonic Noiseless System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

London Film Productions

Trivia:

This film is an adaptation of the same play as Counsel's Opinion (1933). Both films were produced by Alexander Korda, and Binnie Barnes appears in both of them, as Leslie in the earlier film and as Lady Mere in this one.

Goofs:

Continuity: When on the ship, Logan and Leslie move to the bulwark and Logan holds on to the pillar to his right. In the very next shot, he has both of his hands on the top rail and then holds on to the pillar to his right again.

Quotes:

Logan: We have ample opportunities in this court for learning what women mean, or what they mean they mean if in these days they mean anything at all.

Movie Connections:

Version of Counsel's Opinion (1933)

Slight comedy of manners badly needs color restoration...

This DIVORCE OF LADY X is the sort of film about misunderstandings among the upper crust of society that American audiences usually associate with someone like Norman Krasna, who wrote so many romantic comedies where someone assumed a different identity to keep the mistaken identity theme afloat for the duration of the plot. If I hadn't known better, I would have suspected he had a hand in this screenplay.

Here we have an early comedy from the U.K., courtesy of Alexander Korda, making use of three strip Technicolor--very low-key color apparently, at least judging from the rather poor Public Domain prints I've seen.

LAURENCE OLIVIER plays a barrister whose disdain for women is on a level with Professor Henry Higgins--he tolerates them until he falls in love with them. The joke here is that he is mistaken about the identity of MERLE OBERON, who gets even with him after finding out how rudely he treats women, by pretending to be the wife of RALPH RICHARDSON. He's hoodwinked by her until the very end when she realizes they share a mutual attraction.

It's amusing to watch Olivier and Oberon tackle these lightweight roles only a year before joining forces again for WUTHERING HEIGHTS. He has some very scathing comments to make about the opposite sex and plays his role with gusto. She's a bit more restrained in her role but together they show the kind of chemistry they would also get to display in the William Wyler film the following year.

This would have been more watchable if the color wasn't so badly in need of restoration.

Summing up: Amusing comedy of manners among British aristocracy.