Child of Divorce

I didn't know of the "Hays Code" re divorce until coming here today after viewing this movie. TCM ran several divorce theme films last week & I couldn't help but notice that this movie is a remake of the 1934 movie "Wednesday's Child". "Child of Divorce" has a 7 year-old girl as the main character, while Wednesday's Child's is a 10 year-old boy. Interesting twist. having seen the movies back-to-back!

One gaffe that stood out was when "Bobby" tells the judge that's she's "7, almost 8" and in grade "4A". Unless I heard it wrong, a 7 year-old would be in 2nd grade, not 4th! No big deal, but I wonder how that got by the editors. (I think Bobby added that she "skipped a grade", but even so, that would put her in 3rd, not 4th grade)!

Poignant film.

CHILD OF DIVORCE (RKO Radio, 1946), directed by Richard Fleischer, in his directorial debut, is a well made and heartfelt drama dealing with a touchy subject about a sensitive little eight-year-old girl who has trouble adjusting to her parents' divorce. Themes such as this have been done before. OUR LITTLE GIRL (Fox, 1935), starring Shirley Temple comes to mind. However, CHILD OF DIVORCE is actually a remake to an earlier RKO Radio drama, WEDNESDAY'S CHILD (1934) starring Karen Morley and Edward Arnold as the parents, with young Frankie Thomas playing the pre-teen son whose life changes dramatically due to his parents' divorce. Then there is a more modern version in child of divorce theme titled KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979), starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, which earned an Academy Award as the year's Best Picture, becoming a contemporary movie classic. While both earlier films mentioned have positive conclusions, CHILD OF DIVORCE comes off as the most realistic of the two.

The storyline begins on a happy note in which Roberta Carter, better known as "Bobby" (Sharyn Moffett), bids goodbye to her father, Ray (Regis Toomey), before leaving on another four week business trip. All goes well between between mother (Madge Meredith) and daughter until Bobby, along with and the other children, stumble upon a couple kissing in the park at a distance. Much to Bobby's surprise the woman happens to be her mother. Because the kids know that the man, later revealed as Michael Benton (Walter Reed), not be her father, Bobby gets teased about it. When Bobby's father returns home a little earlier than expected, Joan, of course is surprised. She makes every attempt to phone Michael canceling their secret meeting without being overheard by Ray on the extension. Joan soon takes notice , that Bobby is becoming distant towards her. Suspecting his wife's infidelity, the couple come to harsh words climaxed by facial slaps, as witnessed by Bobby. Joan leaves the house, going to Michael, never to return. After the divorce is finalized, the judge (Harry Cheshire) grants Joan full custody of her daughter, with Bobby to spend the other time with her father from June until September. While staying with her mother, who's now married to Michael, Bobby is miserable and resentful, longing for her father. When summer finally arrives, Bobby moves in with her father for the next few months, only to find he has a new girlfriend, Louise Norman (Doris Merrick), whom he intends to marry. Because both parents will be unable to spend quality time with their daughter, with Ray resuming his long term business trips, it is suggested by Doctor Sterling (Selmer Jackson) that the only logical choice for the depressed child is having her placed in a boarding school. While there, Bobby becomes more depressed when the only time she'll get to see her parents, individually, never together, would be on visitor's day.

After stumbling upon this rarely shown presentation of CHILD OF DIVORCE November 22, 2002, on Turner Classic Movies, the thing that immediately came to mind was, "Where has this movie been?" I have never seen this one before in all my years watching movies on television. Yet never missing out on an old movie, whether being famous or obscure, this one certainly escaped me. No doubt its lack of marquee names is the sole reason for program directors not showing this one. Even movies without star names are good, even better, for that unknowns usually come across as real people than actors. Thank goodness for TCM for showing this because, after viewing CHILD OF DIVORCE, I couldn't get it out of my mind. For being a modest budget 62 minute programmer, it does include a realistic message, the message being on how important it is for a child to have a happy home-life under the love and care of both parents, and that divorce among parents, through no fault of their own, ruins the life or lives of children.

Sharyn Moffatt, a modest little actress who had a brief career for RKO Radio in the 1940s, is excellent, giving a right-on-target performance. Her acting is so real that it's like watching an actual child going through the trauma of shifting from one home to another following the divorce of her parents. Her co-stars, not household names then and now, do commendable jobs as well. Regis Toomey, a veteran movie actor since 1929, is a familiar face, while Madge Meredith, with her Joan Fontaine-ish face, is virtually unknown. Then there's Una O'Connor, a regular featured performer seen in several Sharyn Moffett films during that period, once more giving her all as Nora, the Carter housekeeper. And let's not forget Ann Carter, the little girl who will be immortalized with her sensitive performance in Val Lewton's THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (RKO, 1944), playing Peggy, Bobby's boarding school roommate, who can's stand the sound of the chimes ringing out musically "Home Sweet Home". Billed last in the closing casting credits, her role, which comes during the final ten minutes, is quite memorable and important, particularly when she tells Bobby the harsh realities of being a child of divorce.

In spite of the movie having such 1940s catch phrases as "That's keen," for example, CHILD OF DIVORCE comes off as one being timely and realistically done. It should be seen and studied not only for its good story and fine direction, but also for the moral message it delivers and the outlook of divorce taken from a child's perspective, more so with divorce now being at a higher rate than it was back in 1946. (**1/2)

From 1934 to 1968, the Hays Code and the Production Code Administration imposed a rigid system of self-censorship on the movie industry. The Code banned treatment of certain subjects, one of which was divorce. Thus for the middle third of the century, American film basically ignored the subject of divorce--while millions of people were getting divorced and the divorce rate was rising steadily. Mostly the subject is treated in romantic comedies such as "The Awful Truth" in which a couple gets divorced at the beginning of the film and remarries at the end. The couples are usually quite wealthy and they almost never have children. Obviously, this sort of movie divorce is nothing like the real thing.

"Child of Divorce" is one of the very few serious treatments of divorce during the Hays Code era. Because it treats the subject in a very negative light, it was not censored. The Herrick Library of the Motion Picture Academy in Beverly Hills preserves all the files of the Production Code Administration. The file on "Child of Divorce" indicates that the script was passed without any objections.

Bobbi is a sensitive and loving 8 year old girl, very devoted to her parents Ray and Joan. Ray is on the road a lot and Joan starts an affair with Michael. Bobbi and her friends spot Joan making out with Michael in the park. Soon the inevitable occurs and Ray and Joan split up. The divorce court must decide which spouse is the more guilty (this was necessary in the era of fault divorce when the spouses did not enter into a collusive agreement). Bobbi is required to testify that she saw her father strike her mother (of course, the mother struck the first blow). Since Joan obviously was committing adultery, which was always considered much more serious than mere spousal abuse, this hearing is a bit puzzling. But it is a miserable experience for all concerned and it is very tough on the kid.

The judge awards custody to Joan (evidently because Ray was the guilty party); Ray is allowed to have Bobbi during the summers. However, Bobbi is miserable. She can't stand Michael. And when she finally goes to see Ray, she finds out that he is involved with Lucille. The child collapses.

The solution, recommended by a kindly family doctor: boarding school. And there Bobbi learns to make the best of it. Here's where you'll go for your hankies.

Although the picture is mediocre in execution and the acting basically quite wooden (except for Sharyn Moffett who plays Bobbi), the picture is quite worthwhile and genuinely touching. It was far ahead of its time and stands out as one of the very few candid explorations of the realities of divorce that appeared during the Hays era. The couple gets divorced over Joan's love affair; quite realistic. They don't get back together. Both spouses remarry--and hopefully are happier with their new spouses than the old ones. Even more realistic. The legal aspects of the divorce are quite miserable. Still more realistic. And the divorce is devastating for the child--very realistic indeed. Divorce is almost always a traumatic event in the lives of children--and sometimes it's as catastrophic as it was for Bobbi in this film. Parents have extremely difficulty with both custodial and non-custodial arrangements and the kids detest their new step parents. Right on target. Not until the pictures of the late 1970's and early 1980's do we find comparable exploration of what divorce is really all about. Think of "Kramer vs. Kramer," "An Unmarried Woman," or "Shoot the Moon" as modern-day versions of the themes explored in "Child of Divorce" way back in 1946. Too bad the film is commercially unavailable and lacks even a Maltin summary in IMDB.

When watching this film, I was appalled at the lack of emotional maturity and sense of responsibility on the part of the parents. They behaved as if their relationships were on the level of junior high school romances and intrigues, and they did not hesitate to bail out of a marriage when they "didn't love each other any more." Any marriage has its ups and downs, but emotionally mature people have enough sense to know they have a responsibility to their children and to "ride out the storm" for the sake of the children and the home or family unit.

Throughout the film the parents brought the little girl luxurious gifts as if something material was all the child needed. This practice showed how shallow and uncaring they were, and perhaps they were, in fact, incapable of love. When the parents realized how the child took a toll on their lives, they resorted to sending her to boarding school, as if she were a toy they could place on a shelf and forget.

In the end, the child was shown to be much more in touch with reality and responsibility than the parents when she resolved someday to be a better parent than her parents had been. The child's own goal of responsible, loving motherhood was the one glimmer of hope at the conclusion of the plot.

Another reviewer called lynnlav wondered about the child's age and grade in school as mentioned in the film. As a baby-boomer, I can remember children who started first grade at age five after they had passed an entrance exam. As a result, the child in the film very well could be eight years old and in fourth grade, having skipped a grade.

Movie director Richard Fleischer made some good movies in his career, but also made his share of stinkers. Happily, "Child of Divorce" - the first feature film he directed - is one of his good movies. Although it only runs about 60 minutes long, its brief length seems appropriate for this particular story, and manages to pack a good amount of punch along the way. There seem to be two main themes in the movie, the first obviously being that divorce is a bad experience for anyone directly or indirectly involved. The second is that all people, whether adults or children, can be cruel at times. Obviously the child's parents are cruel to each other, but there are also some incidents of the parents being cruel to their child, and the child being cruel towards her parents. Related to this is the message that life itself can be cruel, but the ending does suggests that there can be hope for the future. The acting by the main players is very good, including Sharyn Moffett as the title child. If there is any real problem with this overall very good movie, it is that there is some below average acting by some supporting child actors, though fortunately they aren't given that much to do.