Don't Change Your Husband

Don't Change Your Husband (1919)

** (out of 4)

Second in a semi-trilogy following Old Wives for New, this film tells the story of a husband (Elliott Dexter) who eats onions (?!?!?), neglects his wife (Gloria Swanson) and takes her for granted. The wife gets fed up after he forgets their anniversary so she divorces him for a better looking man (Lew Cody) who she thinks will treat her right but we all know he's going to turn out to be a jerk. This is a rather strange mix of light comedy and melodrama but the two don't mix well together. Whereas Old Wives for New was a pretty strong comment on society, this film just comes off as a tamed down version with the sexes switched. Perhaps my sense of humor just isn't where it should be but the constant running joke of the husband eating onions and then trying to kiss his wife just got boring to me. Perhaps a female would find these jokes funnier but I doubt it. Another problem I had was that the wife really wasn't that sympathetic. I honestly can't say that I cared for her in any way, shape or form and the strange thing is that the husband actually gets the sympathy. With that in mind, it's rather hard for us to want to see the husband take her back after the way she's treated him. This was apparently the film that finally launched Swanson as a star but I really didn't see anything here too special. Her performance here certainly wasn't in the same league as a Gish or Pickford but even if we don't put her up to those standards I still found the performance rather lacking. I wasn't impressed with Cody either as the playboy as he too come off rather stiff and wooden. Dexter on the other hand delivered a fine performance and he's the main reason to watch this film. I wouldn't say his comic timing was overly impressive but he did a fine job in the more dramatic moments. There are a couple interesting sequences here with a couple appearing as fantasy sequences where the wife dreams of what her life will be like with the playboy. The feeding of grapes is something to see but there are very few moments like this one.

Gloria Swanson (as Leila Porter) is an understandably bored wife. Workaholic husband Elliott Dexter (as James Denby Porter) has "lost his romance" along with his waistline; he also smokes cigars in bed, eats onions, and snores. He can barely remember his own anniversary - which is attended by caddish Lew Cody (as Schuyler Van Sutphen); the younger man eyes Ms. Swanson's voluptuous figure, and flirts unabashedly. Soon, Swanson is drawn to Mr. Cody. Then, Mr. Dexter decides to try and get her back. Who will win?

The three principals are fine, with Swanson most impressive in the pivotal role as the woman torn. Julia Faye grabs supporting honors as Cody's other interest, "Toodles"; off-screen, she tempted director Cecil B. DeMille. The DeMille touch is evident; especially in an imaginary sequence wherein Cody promises Swanson... "Pleasure… Wealth… Love…"

******* Don't Change Your Husband (1/26/19) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Gloria Swanson, Elliott Dexter, Lew Cody

No more corned beef and cabbage for her!

This little romantic comedy clips along from scene to scene with a few exotic twists (some imaginary scenes and a costume party). All of this is centered around the wife of the husband(s) who is looking to break out of the doldrums, played by Gloria Swanson (she is twenty here!). Both the leading men have a natural air that is convincing and of course Swanson is perfect in all kinds of moods, from frivolous to worried to hopeful.

Behind all the games and apparent lightheartedness is that old serious problem of staying in love and not straying in love. There's a little corniness, but director DeMille is on top of keeping it snappy and believable in all. As with many films from this period, the subtitles do not just tell what they are saying (or thinking) but often give a kind of philosophical insight, as if to justify the tragedy (or raciness). And there is that higher purpose here, probably better without the instructional text, but it's part of the narrative style, and it's kind of quaint.

If you are looking for visual or formal amazement, you won't find it here. But as a story, well acted, and filmed with precision and economy, it's really a great example. The events might not come as a total surprise, but it's such a modern love story, set almost a hundred years ago, it's a gas. And did I saw Swanson was perfect?

I find early De Mille films to be wildly inconsistent ranging from astonishing (The Cheat) to terrible (The Squaw Man). Thus I wasn't expecting much, but ending up really enjoying this one. I hadn't seen many early Gloria Swanson silents, so it was interesting to see her in the picture that really made her. It's easy to see the appeal even if she doesn't get much to do, De Mille just loads her up in fancy clothes and films her. Fortunately she has the charisma to make her stand out.

Here she plays Leila Porter, the wife of successful but disinterested banker and onion-eater James Denby Porter (Elliott Dexter). Feeling neglected by her husband, Leila leaves him for the charming Schuyler Van Sutphen (Lew Cody), only to discover that her former husband's onion breath is far less of a problem than having an unfaithful and incompetent roustabout for a husband. James undergoes a transformation, including giving up his beloved onions, and is determined to win Leila back. It all makes for a fun and occasionally astute exploration of marital woes. Its strength is that it maintains its light touch rather than endeavoring towards heavy-handedness, and at 80 minutes it breezes by.

The film "Don't Change Your Husband" Starring Gloria Swanson and Directed by award winning director Cecil Demille was overall a pretty fun film with twists thrown in there to keep things interesting. The film revolves around Leila Porter (Gloria Swanson's character) and how she basically got sick of her husband James resulting in divorce, she thought that once she was a away from him she would be much happier with another man but thing's didn't turn out the way she would have liked them to. She moves on to marry another man and sure enough things didn't go as exactly planned when she realizes that he's much worse than her original husband - hence the title "Don't Change Your Husband." It's just a fun film with a somewhat shallow plot but fun nonetheless, the story line keeps you interested and although it is a silent film it's still worth seeing at least once, not that there's anything wrong with a good silent film. Great Actors and Great Story line.