KH Film #1: A Bill of Divorcement (1932)

Director: George Cukor
Screenplay: Howard Estabrook & Harry Wagstaff Gribble, based on the play by Clemence Dane
Producer: David O. Selznick
Studio: RKO
Cinematographer: Sidney Hickox
Costume Designer: Josette de Lima

Cast: John Barrymore (solo billing above title), Billie Burke, Katharine Hepburn, David Manners

US Premiere: September 30, 1932

KH Firsts:

• First film
• First film at RKO
• First film directed by George Cukor
• First film produced by David O. Selznick film

A Bill of Divorcement (Sydney Fairfield)

It's Christmas Eve, the Fairfields are giving a party and love is in the air. Mother Billie Burke has just obtained [film title] from father John Barrymore, who has spent the past 15-odd years in an insane asylum. She is planning to marry Paul Cavanagh, the lawyer who *ahem* helped her get her divorce, in January. And before night's end, daughter Katharine Hepburn will be engaged to David Manners. Come Christmas Day and everyone is thrown for a loop when Barrymore is released from the hospital (he is billed above the title after all) and returns home to try and pick up the pieces of his life. Hepburn is in for the biggest shock of them all, as she has been led to believe that her father's mental illness is entirely the result of shell shock from the Great War, when in fact, it is a hereditary condition. Or, in her words, "So... in our family there's insanity."

Really, the biggest obstacle in enjoying the film is its treatment of mental illness. The words "mental illness" aren't ever even used. Whatever is wrong with Barrymore, it's simply referred to as "insanity." Either they didn't know any better or they assumed the audience didn't know any better - it doesn't really matter, as the film's treatment of the issue was handled with sensitivity for its time.

What does matter is that both Barrymore and Hepburn give strong performances. Nowadays, a popular actor playing a mentally ill character may as well be costumed in a "Nominate Me for an Oscar" sandwich board. It's clear that in this case, Barrymore is only concerned with giving a sensitive and genuinely moving performance. Which he does.

But this is a Katharine Hepburn blog, isn't it? in Me: Stories of My Life, KH describes her entrance in the film:

"The first shot was at a party my mother [Burke] was giving. In a long white dress, I floated down the stairs into the arms of David Manners." (p.141)

"Floated" is the exact right word to describe the moment. George Cukor was the perfect director for KH's first film - and just because we now know how well their films always turned out (they made ten in all, spanning five decades.) Cukor was a marvelous director (check out his filmography) with a keen eye for presenting an actress to her best advantage. From Me:

He was primarily an actor's director. He was primarily interested in making the actor shine. He saw the story through the eyes of the leading characters.

When I made A Bill of Divorcement, he set out to sell me to the audience: running down the stairs into the arms of David Manners - throwing myself on the floor - in Barrymore's arms. A sort of isn't-she-fascinating approach.

I'm sure it helped that she was as fascinating as he made her seem. She's good, especially for the first time out. What's remarkable is seeing a young actress with so much promise, already knowing that her career would exceed all imaginable expectations. Everything she had that made her a great actress and a great star is apparent, even if she hasn't quite learned how to use it all just yet.

This next part covers a major spoiler and I just hate it when a reviewer tells you a movie is worth seeing and then tells you how it ends. Highlight the big blank part to read it.

Burke goes off to marry Cavanagh as originally planned. Barrymore accepts that her life has moved on without him and he loves her enough to not deny her her happiness. He is content to live with his daughter and finally enjoy the company of the child he never knew. She hasn't told him that she's engaged and she forbids anyone else from revealing same, ultimately giving up her fiancee for her father, the man who needs her more. All of this is beautifully depicted in one gesture. Hepburn and Barrymore are sitting together after Burke and Cavanagh have gone and she hears Manners calling to her (they whistle to each other, it's cute) from outside. She gets up, walks to the window, closes the drapes and goes back to her father. No tears. No speeches. It's heartbreaking and devastating.

End spoiler.

Rating: 7/10

Availability: VHS is out of print, but used copies are readily available and reasonably priced; shows up on Turner Classic Movies from time to time.