Vies privées

If "Private Lives" was submitted for approval after the Production Code, it would violate it in about ten different ways. It's an astonishingly daring comedy, with a nasty edge. It features intense physical contact between a man and a woman who are married to other people, and by contact I mean both violent and erotic (and for those two, violence - physical and verbal - is a form of foreplay). Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery have an electric chemistry (no wonder they were paired so often on the screen). They play two very unlikable people: they treat their current spouses in a mean, inconsiderate, condescending way - and that's just on their first honeymoon night! But because they are Shearer and Montgomery, you do keep watching them. The first half of the film is little more than a filmed stage play, but the second half is a bit more cinematic. **1/2 out of 4.

Probably not for everyone. It's stylised but stylish. It thinks it's so frightfully amusing but actually is genuinely funny. The acting is terribly theatrical but completely engaging. It's affected and pretentious but nevertheless sophisticated and intelligent.

I watched this immediately after watching Russel Brand in the rather different GET HIM TO THE GREEK - which is hilarious. Maybe that put me in a chilled, receptive mood but I watched this smiling from beginning to end. Yes, this is obviously very different to Brand's film, it's definitely not a laugh out loud movie but I enjoyed it just as much. It exemplifies everything you expect from Noël Coward. It's witty, biting and sarcastic but also cleverly endearing.

Unlike his DESIGN FOR LIVING, which was completely changed from a stage play into a fantastic film by the great Ben Hecht, this is pure Noël Coward. Having watched a few films however actually starring Mr Coward, I'm glad he wasn't in this. He may have been watchable on the West End/Broadway in the thirties but his presence on film for a modern audience can be quite grating. Instead of him, the much more personable Robert Montgomery dons the silk dressing gown and is amusing without being irritating. It's gives us the best of both worlds - a perfect blend of theatre and cinema.

Then there's Norma Shearer. Again, she's not to everyone's taste. Her silent film gestures, her stagey delivery can sometimes feel old fashioned but in this, she displays a brilliant sense of comedy. She's a natural comedian. Some 'proper actors' seemed to forget how to act if they were in a 1930s comedy but she handles this professionally creating a likeable character you can believe is absolutely a real and authentic person. She also displays that inexplicable skill she had of making you think that despite her not being particularly beautiful, she's the sexiest most alluring woman you've ever seen in your life!

Noel Coward wrote and acted in this stage play in 1930 and this movie preserves the behaviour and colloquialisms of the original play in a contemporary manner - a fact we may overlook with our 20-21st century liberal mind-set. I believe there is film somewhere in the UK TV archives of Coward in the part but it is either just clips or not available on general release.

I really liked this well-paced production - even with the alterations for the North American audience (typical of studios in those days) - both Shearer and Montgomery take their parts well. I am familiar with the play but have never seen it on the stage. I thought the physical humour by Shearer very funny and could not imagine Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence as the protagonists (while wonderful with their period lethargic mannerisms) doing anything similar.

This film brings the characters brightly to life in a very warm way and it's a shame not to be able to get it on DVD.

I just saw this movie this morning on TCM. I absolutely loved it! So funny! Norma was great and so was Robert Montgomery. I enjoyed their bickering, and after a bit, could TELL when it was coming just by a remark made. It was actually very modern in it's depiction of a marriage, as that really doesn't change. I found this movie to be very delightful, and full of wit. Their fight scene is the best! When Amanda shrieks and screams and cries, it is priceless! I recommend it highly. I have recently discovered Norma Shearers' movies, and she is so good it is a joy to watch her. I saw "The Women" and "Marie Antionette" as a child, but it is wonderful to be able to watch movies like "Private Lives" now. It is hard to believe it was made in '31, it is not dated at all.

I had the pleasure several years ago of seeing Lindsay Duncan and Alan Rickman on Broadway in Noel Coward's durable comedy, "Private Lives," and they were magnificent. I admit I had low expectations for a film version. I was pleasantly surprised that, though scenes were added and changed, the film keeps the tone of the play.

I actually saw part of this movie when I was about nine years old. James Card of the George Eastman House introduced it on a weekly old film program. To a nine-year-old, it seemed very foreign, given its age. Strangely, I have always remembered the line, "We're married in the eyes of heaven" - from that TV showing! And sure enough, my memory was correct - that either says something about Montgomery's line reading, or that I had no understanding of what the line meant, or I have a weird memory. Not sure.

I thought the two stars, Robert Montgomery and Norma Shearer, portrayed the couple excellently. Shearer is so often criticized for her acting, but I'm sorry, I've seen her in some very good performances, although I grant you, she was a movie star first and foremost. The couple also has great chemistry.

I understand the apartment in Paris was changed to attract the German market, which eliminated the great part of the maid.

In the end, the film is very enjoyable and the play, of course, set the stage for many ripoffs. I agree with another of the comments, it would have been fabulous to have Coward and Lawrence preserved on film.