Private Lives

In MGM's rendering or Noel Coward's classic "comedy of bad manners," PRIVATE LIVES, about a couple who can't live without each other but can't live WITH each other either, the best of Coward's famous lines are preserved by a generally superior cast and the film is close to brilliant for it.

It's our loss however, that Noel Coward didn't have the clout or the concern that Bernard Shaw had in the 30's to demand that he himself provide his own screenplays when his stage plays were translated to the screen. When Hans Kraly, Richard Shayer and (the uncredited) Claudine West insist on earning their "scenario by" credit, the leaden insertions stick out like proverbial sore thumbs.

Only the charming, brief coda on a train added to the film after the play script ends is a satisfying addition, but it is a nice way to finish a delightful 84 minutes.

SOME of the ham handed alterations are not the fault of the Screenwriter's Guild contract or the Studio's concern that the film "not be TOO British." The time wasting substitution of a hiker's hostel (and, later, a private chalet) in the alps and a German speaking guide (played with a twinkle but no actual laughs by Jean Hersholt) for Coward's borrowed Paris flat and hilarious French speaking maid was clearly a bid for the then thriving pre-war German film market. It doesn't seriously hurt the film, but it doesn't help it an iota either.

Top billed Norma Shearer is quite fine as Amanda (Chase) Prynne who runs away from her honeymoon with Victor with her first husband, Elyot. She even sounds remarkably like the original stage Gertrude Lawrence, when she sings. Reginald Denny is everything one could wish in the role of the dimly proper Victor Prynne that gave Laurence Olivier his start on the stage, and Una Merkel is equally fine as the air headed Sybil Chase (famously asked not to "quibble"), the new wife abandoned by Robert Montgomery's Elyot Chase.

If there is a weakness in the film's acting, it is in the merely solid performance from Robert Montgomery - playing totally American and closer to Robert Young than Noel Coward (who wrote the part for himself and originated it in the London and Broadway stages). Nevertheless, to date, PRIVATE LIVES has been on Broadway at least seven times, and with the exception of Coward's original and Brian Bedford's dazzling work opposite the Tony winning Tammy Grimes in David Merrick's 1969-70 production, Montgomery may be the best of the major Elyots. The role's insecure flippancy makes it a close to impossible one to pull off as well as it is written, and Montgomery comes very close indeed.

Coward's other immortal comedy, BLITHE SPIRIT, which kept audiences on both sides of the Atlantic laughing through most of World War II, was filmed in England (and in color) just after the war, with a cast and script even closer to the spirit of the original, but the cinematic style has not aged nearly as well as this generally excellent PRIVATE LIVES. Still, BOTH of them should be near the top of the "must see" list for any lover of classic literate comedy.

I've lost count of the number of times I have seen this first-rate movie, and it makes me laugh every time. The plot and dialog are outstanding, and Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery are excellent. Reginald Denny and Una Merkel are a delight as well. In one of the film's many excellent scenes, Shearer shows off the acting skills she honed during her silent screen days -- hearing the musical strains of a song once dear to her and her ex-husband in happier days, her expression goes from recognition to fond remembrance to regret to resignation, all in the span of a few seconds. Although she is best known for her dramatic gifts, Norma is top-notch throughout this film, displaying an excellent flair for comedy. I've often read her performance being unfavorably compared to that of Gertrude Lawrence, but I thought Shearer was a wonder. It's hard for me to conceive that this movie was released 80 years ago -- it is still fresh, funny, and worth every moment of your time.

Noel Coward dialogue. What can be bad? Norma Shearer does a star turn and is *very* funny. Her clothes are wonderful. She is obviously "meant for" Robert Montgomery, and they leave the partners they are engaged to and escape with each other on an around-the-world trip. Their physical fights are hilarious.

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.

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.