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The Worst Film Ever

Lack of good storyline.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Oscar Wilde's LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN assigns the characters of the London social scene oddball names representing very rural places far from London near the Scottish border to place them in much the same situations as the principal characters in this 1930 single camera technique black and white movie. Although the characters the Oscar Wilde are all rich party types, by the closing scene they have found happiness outside London. It seems clear the Principal characters in the Divorcée, for example the great Norma Shearer and Conrad Nagel who made many hit movies in that era, each feel safer and more comfortable leaving the party scene of New York for happiness. It is in fact Shearer and her husband who unite outside New York but the similarity of this movie to the Oscar Wilde play carries over quite strongly/. The realistic dialogue of familiar life situations, the wealthy and privileged of a closed group needing to go outside the group milieu to breathe, the luxurious setting and wardrobe changes a great play into, for all its old fashion technical drawbacks of early talkies, a great movie.

101: The Divorcée (1930) - released 4/19/1930, viewed 6/20/08.DOUG: Only a film of the Pre-Code era could tackle a divorce in such detail, and have the wife be the protagonist in the story. It's hard to appreciate the edginess of this film today, but back then, a movie about an ex-wife getting back at her former cheating husband by matching his every infidelity was quite the coup. Even today, showing a woman taking matters into her own hands is a tricky business. Norma Shearer (a fine actress mostly forgotten today) took her career in a different direction with this movie; after several years of playing clean-cut women, she wanted something a little more provocative, and went to great lengths to prove to her producer/husband Irving Thalberg that this was the role for her. Shearer plays Jerry as strong-willed and independent, a woman who conforms to the system until it betrays her, then fights against it. Chester Morris plays her fiancée-turned-husband-turned-ex Ted, and Robert Montgomery (who would star opposite Shearer in many more films after this) plays Jerry's old friend Don who catches her on the rebound. Overall, this is a nice little look at Pre-Code and early sound, and a nice showcase for Oscar-winner Shearer.KEVIN: I was surprised by The Divorceé, not just because it's one of the tamer and less cynical pre-Code movies, but also because it holds up as a compelling drama. At no point was I able to guess which man Jerry (Norma Shearer) would be with at the end. Paul (Conrad Nagel) probably had the worst chances since he was already married (although in a fine twist, he thinks he has the best chance). The scene where Jerry convinces him otherwise was my favorite scene and really showed Jerry to be not just the protagonist but the hero of the story. I liked that the story didn't seem to take sides with Jerry or Ted (Chester Morris), and treated their plights very fairly, even though the focus was primarily on Jerry. I was a little annoyed that we don't really see what leads Ted to his affair (sure Janice is smokin', but so is Jerry), but we see every heartbreaking step in Jerry's path to infidelity (except the actual getting naked, of course). Although it is in all ways Jerry's story, I think more could've been done with Ted. Still, Chester Morris' performance does an excellent job of making Ted sympathetic, even when he's done wrong. Norma Shearer's Oscar-winning performance has aged well. Most of the awards in those days went to performances that today would be considered hammy, but Shearer brings just the right amount of weight to the character and shows her disillusionment from love found to lost to found to lost to found again.Last film viewed: The Love Parade (1929). Last film chronologically: The Blue Angel (1930). Next film viewed: Monte Carlo (1930). Next film chronologically: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).

Undaunted by the new technology of sound, Norma Shearer acts up a storm in this pre-code "women's film" about a society woman whose husband goes philandering, and decides to retaliate by doing some philandering of her own.The philandering husband is played by Chester Morris, while Robert Montgomery plays his best friend and Shearer's fling. The movie points to the hypocrisy in marital expectations that expects wives to look the other way when their boys are being boys, but entitles husbands to toss their wives aside when they do the same. Everything of course ties up nicely and happily for the couple, and in a way that would never happen in real life. But it's a lot more frank and honest than countless films on the same topic that would be released over the succeeding decade, when the production code wouldn't let filmmakers even acknowledge the existence of things like affairs and divorce.Shearer won her Academy Award for this film, and just try to take your eyes off of her whenever she's on screen.Grade: A-

Norma Shearer (as Jerry Martin) tests the freedom acceptable for men, but not permissible for women - the sexual "Double Standard". As the film opens, Ms. Shearer is an happily married woman. However, husband Chester Morris (as Ted Martin) gets "plastered", and succumbs to the advances of a sexually aggressive woman… at least, that's what is discernible from the after-the-fact behavior of the adulterous duo, as Shearer catches them in a light embrace. Disillusioned, Shearer turns the tables by having a "one night stand" of her own - with one of the soon-to-be divorced couple's pals.In a film themed like Greta Garbo's recent "The Single Standard" (1929), MGM takes another shot at the sexual "Double Standard". The results are similar, but not the same. Shearer's winning performance is bold, fascinating, and fun to watch; she elevates the character far above the material. The film's problem is that it pulls its punches with a disappointing ending, extinguishing a truly interesting story. Yet, somehow, Shearer makes the character ring true. It's a strong performance, which manages to rise above the film's abandonment of its thesis.Director Robert Z. Leonard, writer John Meehan, and a fine supporting cast are a great help. Robert Montgomery's performance (as Don) is a standout. And, Conrad Nagel (as Paul) is another Shearer castoff, who has a potable problem; he has a harrowing car crash near the film's opening. A lot of alcohol is consumed in this movie! "The Divorcée" is a flawed, but worthwhile film. ******* The Divorcée (4/19/30) Robert Z. Leonard ~ Norma Shearer, Chester Morris, Robert Montgomery, Conrad Nagel