Le Divorce de Lady X

I loved the dialogue above all - the sharp and witty banter between British 'icons' Olivier and Oberon, and even the playful back and forth between Morton Selten as Lord Steele and H.B. Hallam as his long-suffering butler, Jeffries. Binnie Barnes was also superb as Lady Mere; her accent might have slipped, but she definitely had the right attitude for her character! The use of colour was also a plus, particularly with the wonderful outfits. I think Merle Oberon would have done better without the continuous close-ups - though she did have a certain magnetism, she doesn't quite hold up to such inspection - and Olivier was definitely better suited to the stage: indeed, that is probably where he thought he was, judging by the delivery of some of his character's lines. The improbability of the story aside, 'The Divorce of Lady X' is a wry 'snapshot' of its era: gender, class, morality - even weather (it's very hard to believe that London had smog so bad that people were unable to travel, but it did happen).

This short, unique and original screen-play proved no short of brilliant. It has a simple and entertaining plot of charming but mischevious young Leslie (known at first as Lady X) imposing herself on a foggy night on irritable young masoganistic barrister Everard Logan. Logan declares that he is not in the least bit stirred by her charms, however she finally ends up enjoying his bed, pyjamas and breakfast whilst he has the mattress next door. Ofcourse, being the eligible handsome typical thing that he is, he falls in love with her and vows to arrange her divorce for her, (despite the fact she has no husband!) Ralph Richardson as Lord Mere (Leslie's supposed husband) and Binnie Barnes (the REAL Lady Mere)also help to put him in the light at last. Hurt and irritated, Logan throws his affections for Leslie back in her face and leaves. She goes after him, and naturally, they agree to the marriage finally that Logan had always wanted, and Leslie finalises in curing Logan of his haughtily sexist views.

Some say Laurence Olivier is out of his depth in this sort of a film, since in no way is this Hamlet or Harry V or any great feat of literature such as Wuthering Heights, and in no way is he a born comedian. But he gives it unmatched gusto and IS HE SARCASTIC!! His scenes with Merle Oberon, who plays the sweet little charmer of a Leslie are delightful. Oberon is adorable and could not have been better as Leslie.

It's been said before that Oberon and Olivier had a wonderful chemistry on screen, just as well as Leigh did in fact; however it could be argued so. They were just as contrastingly wonderful in Wuthering Heights, a classic film which I adore.

If you're in the mood of a short but sweet comedy, you couldn't ask for better than this. Fantastic!

I saw it for presence in cast of Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier. And , after final credits, it remains the good reason. Because it is one of many easy romantic comedies of time, with a small misunderstanding as knott, with a very forced- unrealistic end, with fair manner to create his grandfather by Morton Selten and a nice Magyar restaurant.

The reason to appreciate it is a mix of nostalgia and passion for old Hollywood. But, in essence, nothing more.

In short, just pleasant, charming, amusing and good opportunity to discover a couple on screen out of so familiar images of 1939 Wuthering Heights.

I had really only been exposed to Olivier's dramatic performances, and those were mostly much later films than *Divorce*. In this film, he is disarmed of his pomp and overconfidence by sassy Merle Oberon, and plays the flustered divorce attorney with great charm.

This DIVORCE OF LADY X is the sort of film about misunderstandings among the upper crust of society that American audiences usually associate with someone like Norman Krasna, who wrote so many romantic comedies where someone assumed a different identity to keep the mistaken identity theme afloat for the duration of the plot. If I hadn't known better, I would have suspected he had a hand in this screenplay.

Here we have an early comedy from the U.K., courtesy of Alexander Korda, making use of three strip Technicolor--very low-key color apparently, at least judging from the rather poor Public Domain prints I've seen.

LAURENCE OLIVIER plays a barrister whose disdain for women is on a level with Professor Henry Higgins--he tolerates them until he falls in love with them. The joke here is that he is mistaken about the identity of MERLE OBERON, who gets even with him after finding out how rudely he treats women, by pretending to be the wife of RALPH RICHARDSON. He's hoodwinked by her until the very end when she realizes they share a mutual attraction.

It's amusing to watch Olivier and Oberon tackle these lightweight roles only a year before joining forces again for WUTHERING HEIGHTS. He has some very scathing comments to make about the opposite sex and plays his role with gusto. She's a bit more restrained in her role but together they show the kind of chemistry they would also get to display in the William Wyler film the following year.

This would have been more watchable if the color wasn't so badly in need of restoration.

Summing up: Amusing comedy of manners among British aristocracy.

P.S. - This is an update on my review of the film. Saw it today in brightly restored Technicolor which at least adds to the film's entertainment value, though the script is the main trouble. But TCM featured it in pristine condition in color that was extremely washed out and primitive looking before. It's now seen to advantage and adds a great deal of interest to viewing it as it was originally intended.