Consolation Marriage

Shopkeeper Irene Dunne (as Mary Brown) is in love with pianist Lester Vail (as Aubrey). Sports writer Pat O'Brien (as Steve Porter) expects to marry his high school "Juliet" Myrna Loy (as Elaine). Alas, Ms. Dunne and Mr. O'Brien lose their lovers to more well-heeled partners. Then, Dunne and O'Brien meet, get drunk, and bond in friendship as a cut-rate "Bonnie and Clyde" during a wild evening. Thinking any reconciliation with their true loves is impossible, Dunne and O'Brien decide to get married. Their "Consolation Marriage" is agreed to be an "open" one, but a child keeps O'Brien home and sober more often. Then, the marriages of Mr. Vail and Ms. Loy end - and, they want Dunne and O'Brien back... Predictable and unattractive, with some emphasis on the latter.

**** Consolation Marriage (10/13/31) Paul Sloane ~ Irene Dunne, Pat O'Brien, John Halliday, Myrna Loy

This is a touching comedy/drama for 1931 when they all were feeling the ropes of this new medium.

Pat O'Brien and Irene Dunne seem distinctly not made for each other in this odd romance, where she, a coffee shop proprietress, and he, a sports writer, are jilted by their respective fiances, meet cute, get a nice friendship going, and decide to get married. The open-marriage conceit feels daringly modern for 1931, but the dialog's pat and the plot coincidences are hard to swallow. Their respective true loves, Myrna Loy and Lester Vail, each come back from failed marriages at about the same time, and Dunne and O'Brien each leaves his/her spouse to pick up the pieces. It's hard to see why, when Loy is playing such a vain bore, and Vail such a needy weakling, and Dunne has an uncomfortable speech where she says goodbye to her baby daughter--her baby daughter!--to run off with an old lover. We all know the leads are going to discover they really love each other, but it's done so perfunctorily, with O'Brien just remarking to Loy, "Wouldn't it be funny if we turned out to be just friends?" and bolting upstairs to Dunne just in time for the happy fadeout. That's another thing--she can't make a great deal of money running a coffee shop, and he's unemployed more often than not, yet they have a gorgeous New York townhouse. Dunne's skill is somewhat evident, and O'Brien's fast talk is always entertaining, but he's not an ideal romantic lead, and this is not a credible romance.

This mawkish stilted chick flic from the 30s is concrete proof that they made them as bad back then as they do today (for a lot more money and with a longer shooting schedule). On the face of it Consolation Marriage is about a pair of progressive adults burned by love in the past who enter into an open marriage to protect themselves but find it hard to extricate themselves from it when both ex-beaus come a calling again.

Consolation Marriage might have had a chance to resonate with its controversial theme if its bohemian protagonists didn't project such middle class personas. Irene Dunne's Mary makes a sorry attempt at being care free especially when she's deciding to jettison her 18 month old. Pat O'Brien in the meantime comes across cold and unemotional as if listening to confessions. A blond Myrna Loy looks alluring enough but not when she's reduced to fluttering her eyes and mouthing sappy lines like "Oh darling look at this glorious night, it was made for us" to a champion of the Catholic guilt complex.

Director John Sloane does little to inspire his actors who morosely deliver their lines in two shot filled with pregnant pauses and embarrassed looks. Sloane manages to zap the energy out of nearly every shot while his clumsy cuts from scene to scene plays havoc with time and place.

If there is any consolation to Consolation Marriage it is that Ms. Dunne at times rises above the material and Pat's anemic passion to project an effective and ideal portrait of a modern woman in turmoil. Thing is she does it just as well in better pictures.

I had never heard of this film. The plot is very different and modern for the time.

Irene Dunne and Pat O'Brien have both been dumped by the loves of their lives. They are both sure they could never love anyone else. After meeting and realizing how much they have in common, they joke about getting married to each other. And then they do! It is all with the agreement that if someone else comes along, they will part ways, wish each other luck, and have no hard feelings. It sounds like an odd setup but as the movie plays out, it all seems to make sense and be a very natural and modern way of viewing their marriage.

They enjoy the relaxed relationship and each others companionship. However, neither one of them can completely forgot their first loves. They even talk about them openly. No secrets. They even have a child and it is all taken in stride.

The real plot comes along when, almost at the same time, the old loves come back into their lives. Each one is unsure what to do and unsure of what the other one is going to do. It sounds like the story for a comedy or farce, but this is not played for laughs. It is acted out as a real believable story and it actually works.

Irene Dunne is perfect in her part and Pat O'Brien is boyish and charming. Myrna Loy plays O'Brien's first love. Her part is moderate (only really seen in the beginning and then the end of the film), but I have never seen Myrna Loy looking more stunning!!

The ending is satisfying and, overall, it is a good film worth watching. It is not too heavy nor too tedious. It is just the right film to watch when you are not sure what you are in the mood for. This will be a perfect choice.

Check out this classy classic.