Apparently Nevada had divorce laws just as lax as the marriage ones for which it is famous (google legwork courtesy of ben f). I had never considered the relative restrictiveness of such state laws, but in most places it must have been a lot harder for a woman to be granted a divorce back then. However if one were to establish Nevada residency, which took a mere 6 weeks, the state would sever one’s marital ties with no questions asked. Which is why the beleaguered wife played by Norma Shearer ends up on a Divorce Ranch in Reno during the second act of The Women, along with assorted other broads with similar intentions. Cue catfight with Rosalind Russell!
There must have been a real moral panic surrounding the Divorce Ranch, because the last three old movies I’ve seen have a common theme of Re-Marry Your Ex-Husband, No Matter What He Did To You.
All three films present divorce as the woman’s (irrational, impulsive) choice. In The Women, the unseen husband had an affair with Joan Crawford. In The Philadelphia Story (1940), Cary Grant was an alcoholic. In His Girl Friday (1940), Cary Grant…was a smartass? I forget Rosalind Russel’s reasoning for that particular trip to Reno -- oh right, too devoted to work. All three husbands accept their wives’ decisions to kick ‘em to the curb unhappily and then are ready to renew vows when the silly ladies come to their senses.
So, we’ve got 2 out of 3 that show or mention the fateful trip to the Ranch (in The Philadelphia Story all we see is Hepburn throwing Grant out of the house and breaking his golf club, and then him shoving her to the floor. Classy!). 2 out of 3 with Cary Grant smarming around as the ideal mate. 2 for 3 also feature this girl as the sassy-but-moral voice of reason (a little schmaltzier as the daughter in The Women, a little snappier as Katherine Hepburn’s kid sister in The Philadelphia Story).
Was she the only working child star that year or something? The Dakota Fanning of 1939?
The Women is the most interesting as a movie, I think. First there’s the whole all female cast thing, and also the insane, totally gratuitous Technicolor fashion show plonked down halfway through. Rosalind Russell exhibits a genius for physical comedy (whereas in HGF the laughs are more in the dialogue and the amazing speed with which she delivers it). And at the end of the day, I’ll usually take a melodrama over a romantic comedy, "screwball" though it be. But of the three, it has the most explicit and depressing message: “A woman in love can never have any pride!” cries Shearer as she walks towards the camera in a soft-focus haze, arms outstretched to receive her man. Fade to credits. I’m not really opposed to loveless marriages maintained for financial/social reasons -- whatever works, eh -- but let's call a spade a spade instead of "love and devotion."
His Girl Friday is the easiest to read as at least somewhat feminist -- Rosalind Russell’s character is actually rewarded rather than punished for her desire to have a career. She and Grant aren’t just a couple but a crack team of reporters, so their reunion actually makes sense. There’s also the whole exonerating the wrongfully accused guy on death row thing, which maybe makes the movie more engaging if you’re bored by the romantic plot. I have to admit though, this one’s supposedly filled with witty/sexy banter but they talk so damn fast I missed half of it.
I was really expecting to like The Philadelphia Story, but found it the most infuriating/befuddling of all. Part of it might be that I rented it in a fit of insta-nostalgia, thinking it would actually have something to do with the city of Philadelphia. But all the actions takes place in a mansion somewhere on the Main Line (Merion maybe?). Katherine Hepburn is awesome, true, because she’s basically awesome by definition, but Grant is not half as appealing as in HGF. He doesn’t really do much except hire Jimmy Stewart and his girlfriend (a tabloid reporter and photographer, respectively) to ruin Hepburn’s wedding, and sit back and laugh at her the whole time. Ok, so obviously she’s not going to marry her fiancé. But then she gets weirdly involved with Jimmy Stewart -- turns out he’s a novelist, she loves his book, they get drunk and kiss and “go swimming” the night before her wedding. I totally thought she would get with him, and his girlfriend and Cary Grant would run off together. But after Hepburn’s fiancé dumps her for being a lush-- and oh no there is a whole crowd of people there and "Here Comes the Bride" is playing, what to do? -- Stewart proposes and she is like, “Oh hell no, you are from the working class,” and trots down the aisle with Grant.
Stewart’s girlfriend, Ruth Hussey (who also has a bit part in...The Women!), has been standing aside, smoking cigarettes and looking kinda pissed this whole time. Presumably she takes him back.
Sucks to be you, lady.
Obviously the topic of Divorce Ranches On Film requires more research. I haven't even begun to explore Norma Shearer's pre-Code career of playing a more adventurous sort of divorced woman. (Hysterical trivia fact from Wikipedia: Joan Crawford used to bitchily call her "Miss Lotta Miles," referring to her stint as the spokesmodel for Springfield Tires.) If nothing else, hopefully putting all these older movies in my Netflix queue will make them stop listing "Erotic Foreign Films" as my preferred genre. I rent one Catherine Breillat movie and look what happens, jeez.
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