Divorce à l'américaine

I'm 71 years old. I'll start there. That is either a disclaimer or, possibly a source of insight concerning the subject of the movie. I don't know which. Anyway, there are some moderately funny moments in the film. The best of them is probably when some families meet-up to gather and sorting through their many children for parental visitation. Most of the film is a satirical look at marriage, and divorce in suburban America. Of course it is a satirical look at suburban marriage and divorce as it was 50+ years ago, not so much today. That may be why I liked the movie when I saw it 20 years ago more than I did when I saw it yesterday. Although some of that might be just a matter of my taste in comedy has changed through the years.

Dick VanDyke is the husband. He does a surprising good job in the part. Debbie Reynolds is the wife. She too, is good. The film's producers went right to the cream of the crop in terms of secondary casting with Jason Robards Jr., Jean Simmons and Van Johnson all chipping in.

Finally, Divorce, American Style makes me want to throw in my opinion concerning marriage. I will spare anyone who happens to read this review the pain of that. I will say that the urge to give that opinion might actually say something positive about the movie. Or, maybe it says something negative. Once again, I don't know which.

Divorce-American Style, a surprisingly intelligent effort from writers Kaufman and Lear and TV power-house director Bud Yorkin, was first in series of witty, satirical releases that included "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" and "Lovers and Other Strangers". This way-paving comedy featured the delightfully flustered pairing of Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds as a successful 'Married With Children' duo who, after years of supporting each another, simply tire. despite it's (minor) shortcomings, the sharp dialogue certainly justifies the screenplay oscar nod. Nice work. ***1/2 out of ****

It seems that not everybody remembers the world in 1967.

To begin with, there was no such thing as no-fault divorce. A divorce had to involve one "guilty" party, and one "innocent" party. Two "guilty" parties would just be blown off with "You two deserve each other." And it was regarded as standard good manners for the man to offer himself up as "guilty", unless the woman was a complete slut or psycho. (See "The Gay Divorcée" for an example of a man who /doesn't/ follow this social rule, because he's a pig.)

Now, also during this period, the usual rule was that the wife got the kids, and the wife and kids were entitled to be just as well off as they had been before the divorce. (Remember, as far as the Law was concerned, she and they were officially innocent victims of the Big Bad Man.) So alimony could be very high indeed.

As to her getting a job....

There was no such thing as professional daycare. If a divorced woman were poor, she could probably leave the kids with a neighbor, because poor folks have been doing that for thousands of years, but for a middle-class divorced woman to do that would have been regarded as shameless freeloading.

There were relatively few jobs for women, and even fewer that paid decently. A woman could be a secretary, but shorthand and typing take years of practice. (There were no personal computers then; few people could type except for writers and secretaries.) And secretaries didn't make much more than minimum wage, anyway. The same for stitchers in clothing factories (America had clothing factories back then). Beautician? Cleaning woman? Hotel maid? Nurse? None of them paid all that well. There were a handful of woman doctors, lawyers, and the like, but the closest pointer to the future was that there have always been quite a few women in computer programming. But you couldn't just walk in and ask for a programming job if you'd never done it before.

In short, this movie makes the usual exaggerations you expect in a comedy, but it is nowhere near "preposterous" or "ridiculously unrealistic". It's pretty solidly grounded in 1967 reality.

Now, on the other hand, I can't say I like the movie all that much. I guess I'm too romantic to take divorce as a joke. But the performances are sound, and I have to say that Van Dyke and Reynolds both had guts to tackle this script at all. Both of them have always been typecast as "lovable".

DIVORCE American STYLE was an offbeat and surprisingly adult (for 1967) that starred Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds as Richard and Barbara Harmon, a wealthy California couple who divorce after 17 years of marriage and the adjustments both try to make being single once more. Smartly directed by Bud Yorkin and co-written by future TV icon Norman Lear, this biting satire died at the box office at the time of release, but is really a well-made and quite revealing comedy about the ins and outs of marriage, divorce, and all the little banalities that these subjects bring about. Yorkin directs with a master hand here...I love the scene right after Richard and Barbara's dinner party where they undress for bed in total silence, getting in each other's way but not saying a word to each other, just "Bury you in six feet under" looks. Or when Richard and his best friend (Joe Flynn)and Barbara and her best friend (Emmaline Henry) arrive at the bank at the same time to clean out their bank accounts and safety deposit box...another scene done with no dialogue but so smartly staged, dialogue is not needed. The supporting cast is first rate...Jason Robards is surprisingly funny as Nelson Downs, a divorce victim who tries to set Richard up with his ex (the lovely Jean Simmons) so that he doesn't have to pay alimony anymore. Lee Grant, Tom Bosley, Van Johnson, Eileen Brennan, Shelley Berman, and Dick Gautier also contribute funny bits. A very young Tim Matheson also appears as Richard and Barbara's eldest son. This delicious and slightly twisted comic confection from the mind of Norman Lear is a delight from beginning to end and if you've never seen it, it's worth a look.

The marriage of Richard and Barbara Harmon (Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds) is falling apart. They're always fighting and are extremely unhappy. They decide to divorce and go their separate ways. They're helped by friends and co-workers played by Jason Robards, beautiful Jean Simmons, Van Johnson, Joe Flynn and Lee Grant.

I never even knew this movie existed until it popped up on TCM. It seems to be a forgotten movie which is too bad because its lots of fun. The script is excellent--most of it is a comedy but they also bring up interesting and serious insights into love, sex and relationships. The entire cast is great throwing off one-liners left and right. Also this is a fascinating social documents of the late 1960s to see how couples lived, the things they talked about, the fashions they wore and the houses they had. Sure it's dated but I was never bored. Also it's fun to see 20 year old Tim Matheson in his first film (playing a teenager!). Worth catching.