A House Divided

I watched this short as part of the TCM Women Film Pioneers series, and I was enchanted with its sprightliness, comedy, and the naturalness of the actors. While there were slapstick elements, the actors heeded Guy's credo "Be Natural!", and the arm-flailing and mugging is kept to a minimum. Lots of fun!

Daft comedy in which a couple who each mistakenly believe the other is having an affair agree to 'live separately together.' Much writing of notes follows. Leading man Fraunie "Who?" Fraunholz clearly believes that pulling faces and ruffling his hair is the height of humour.

Gerald and Diana Hutton are a young married couple who become very angry at each other when, based on the flimsiest evidence, they think the other is stepping out on them. Instead of their getting a divorce, their lawyer has them sign an agreement that they will "live separately together." They are not to talk to each other and communicate by writing notes. This is a difficult charade to keep up and they soon reconcile through shared amusement over the antics of their maid. They not only laugh at her but at the situation they got themselves into. The film is important to film history for being directed by Alice Guy who is now generally recognized as being the first woman film director. The lead actors are very engaging and the film moves along at a good pace.

This early film is difficult to assess. On the one hand, it's a wonderful historical document as it's one of the first sit-com or rom-coms ever made. It introduces situations which would become more familiar in subsequent decades. But, on the other, the style of the film is crude and antiquated--even when it debuted.

The Huttons are a stupid couple. And, through a series of misunderstandings they come to suspect (incorrectly) that their spouse is being unfaithful. When they go to their lawyer, he suggests they 'live together separately'. In other words, stay together in the same home but have nothing to do with each other! This brilliant plan seems plausible at first but naturally by the end the couple realizes their lawyer is a complete idiot and they reconcile.

The film has a great plot. The problem is that instead of playing as a fluid narrative, it's shown in vignette form--with intertitle cards over-explaining what is going to happen. As a result, it comes off as preachy and forced, not at all natural. This really blunts the comedic value in the film.

A House Divided (1913)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A young husband and wife thinks the other is cheating on them so their lawyer makes them agree to live in the same house, appear to be "together" but in reality they are separated. The only way the two of them can communicate is by writing letters and soon they start to see something in each other that they never noticed. A HOUSE DIVIDED has a pretty simple and at times stupid story but director Alice Guy-Blache makes it worth. I'm really not sure how because it's unclear why a lawyer would recommend this considering he would make more money off of them getting a divorce but I guess that's putting too much thought into it. For the most part this is a pretty simple tale and it kept me entertained throughout thanks in large part to the director. Guy-Blache manages to make the film move at a very good pace and it never got boring, which is always a good thing. Both Fraunie Fraunholz and Marian Swayne are good in their roles as the husband and wife. The two manage to work quite well together and come across as a real couple.