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The Divorcee

Production: not available;
Premiere: not available;
Release Date: April 19, 1930;
Production/Distribution Companies: Metro Goldwyn Mayer/Metro Goldwyn Mayer;
Runtime: 80 min
Country: USA;
Language: English;
Color: Black and White;
Sound Mix: Mono (Western Electric Sound System);
Available on VHS;

Cast: Norma Shearer as Jerry, Chester Morris as Ted, Conrad Nagel as Paul, Robert Montgomery as Don, Florence Eldridge as Helen, Helene Millard as Mary, Robert Elliott as Bill, Mary Doran as Janice, Tyler Brooke as Hank, Zelda Sears as Hannah, George Irving as Dr. Bernard, Helen Johnson as Dorothy.

Awards and Nominations:
Academy Award for Best Actress: Norma Shearer(won);
Academy Award Nomination for Best Director: Robert Z. Leonard;
Academy Award Nomination Best Picture of 1930;
Academy Award Nomination for Best Writing: John Meehan;

Production Credits:
Produced by: Irving Thalberg (offscreen);
Directed by: Robert Z. Leonard;
Writers: John Meehan, Nick Grinde, Zelda Sears, John Meehan, Ursula Parrott(original novel);
Cinematography: Norbert Brodine;
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons;
Gowns by: Adrian;
Editing: Hugh Wynn, Truman K. Wood(uncredited);

Reviews:

Douglas Fox in the Exhibitor's Herald World, April 12, 1930: "MGM has taken Ursula Parrot's Ex-Wife and made an intelligent, gripping dramatic picture out of it. From the dialogue which, for the greater part is crisp, trenchant and pointed, to the photography which is good throughout, the producers have achieved a first rate reproduction of some of the aspects of modern life, as it is for a few of us and some as it is for almost all of us."

Kate Cameron in Liberty Magazine, May 24, 1930: "The acting throughout is fine, and although Norma Shearer is not so beautiful here as she usually is, she gives more to the part of Jerry than she has ever given to a characterization before. Chester Morris is superb as Jerry's husband and Robert Montgomery as the husband's best friend, is his most attractive care-free self. Conrad Nagel, as the rejected suitor, does a splendid bit of acting in the scene of the motor accident, and that scene, by the way, is one of the most realistic I have ever seen in a picture. It is a breathtaking incident."

Photoplay, June 1930: "They banned the book Ex-Wife from the screen. But it was quite all right to film The Divorcee and the strange thing is that whereas the book, although sold hugely, was not what you might call a classic, the picture is.

This has turned out to be a problem piece, as neat an essay on marital unfaithfulness as has been made in Hollywood. It sets Norma Shearer at the very top of the acting class. It gives Chester Morris a chance for another swell performance. The direction is as subtle as the scent of orchids and the clothes are gorgeous. You wont forget this picture and you'll undoubtedly go home and have a good long talk with your spouse. But more important, you'll be amused and held spellbound until the last reel. Don't miss it."

Notes/Trivia:
-Norma discovered she was pregnat during the filming of Divorcee.
-Joan Crawford was originally set to star, until Norma read the script, posed for some sexy portraits, and won the role of "Jerry," and an Oscar, and new legion of male admirers as well.