Child of Divorce

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)

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.

Sharyn Moffet does a fine job with her role as a child torn emotionally apart when her parents divorce. This young lady was a good child actress, who did not exude a sickening sweet persona in her roles. One of the best natural female child performers of her day. Her role in this movie shows it. She also did nice jobs in the films Banjo and My Pal Wolf. Miss Moffet can also be seen in The Judge Steps Out. This film also features a nice cameo of sorts at the end of the film by Ann Carter-another RKO child performer who did a nice job with the lead child role in The Curse of the Cat People. Hats off to RKO to do subjects like divorce in a time period when such topics were avoided by most studios.

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.

An 8 year old girl (Sharyn Moffett) has to deal with her parents divorcing and finding other partners.

A great little B picture. It's well-acted (Moffett was incredible) and realistic without getting too sentimental. Things are presented in a very matter of fact way. What's refreshing is that none of the parents are demonized. They both love their little girl completely and try to get her to accept their new partners. One scene where her mother tries to get the girl to accept that she loves her is almost too painful to watch. It all leads to a painful but realistic ending. Highly recommended.