Love, Honor and Behave

"Love, Honor and Behave" is a very flawed B-movie. While enjoyable, it's also a film that only seems to think in extremes! It's a shame, as with a better ending and a but more subtlety, it would have been a lot better.

The story begins with Ted as a child (Dickie Moore). He's stuck between extremes with his parents. His father wants the kid to be a he-man and a tough guy whereas his mother wants him to be passive and 'a good sport'. Well, his parents soon divorce and mother's influence wins out....and as Ted grows (Wayne Morris), the kid is now a wimpy man who won't stand up for himself. This is much worse because he also won't fight for his marriage and you can see that his wife (Priscilla Lane) is disappointed in him and doesn't think he's much of a man. Will Ted continue this or will he learn to be a man?

The film is entertaining...but also disturbing because the ending essentially says that when your wife is being a jerk, slap her around and show her who's boss. Couldn't there be something a little less extreme?! I do think standing up for right and wrong and fighting is good...but the film definitely crosses the line to spousal abuse. Overall, an interesting but seriously flawed story.

By the way, at the end, the couple being having a fist fight and both INSTANTLY have bruises on them...which is utterly ridiculous...and nasty.

Each of the performers in LOVE, HONOR & BEHAVE did better work -- some very decidedly so -- than what we see here, which is good, because otherwise there would be little reason for us to even know who any of them were. The script must have read better than it plays, otherwise I can't imagine why -- other than owing someone at Warner Bros. a BIG favor -- Thomas Mitchell (who knew his way around scripts as well as the stage) would have agreed to do this disastrous little romantic "dramedy." Others have described the plot, which concerns a young man (Wayne Morris) raised almost from the cradle to believe and act on fair-play and self-sacrifice by his well-meaning mother (Barbara O'Neil), to the point where he becomes a damaged adult, unable to assert himself in even the most basic manner on the essentials of life, including finishing college, competing in sports (tennis), and managing his love-life. He's taken advantage of, intentionally or otherwise, by a coterie of friends and acquaintances, and seems on his way to a life of unrealized potential and virtual penury by his exasperating mix of self-sacrifice and self-centeredness.

The conflict is resolved in an almost slapstick manner by the young marrieds (Morris, Priscilla Lane) that is steeped in just enough physical injury to make it unfunny and unromantic in the extreme. Given that none of the players from Mitchell on down seem to believe any of the lines they're spouting, and that the flat direction gives us nothing to appreciate in the acting or staging up to that point, it's almost a relief when this picture's final credits ("blame" might be more appropriate) unspool. (Even Dick Foran, who was accustomed to playing unsubtle lunkheads -- a role he later aspired to in real life -- looks uncomfortable here). And of course, the fact that it took four credited screenwriters to deliver the script for this 71-minute time-filler should be a warning to the unwary.

If you're looking for a good movie about marital conflict and resolution from this decade, see William Wyler's DODSWORTH. LOVE, HONOR AND BEHAVE is closer to Jiggs and Maggie, and painful to watch, especially given our awareness that everyone involved (including underlying author Stephen Vincent Benet, whose output included "The Devil And Daniel Webster") was capable of so much more than what we see here.

We begin with a flashback to the small Long Island town of "Meadowfield" in 1922, where romantic co-stars Wayne Morris (as Ted Painter) and Pricilla Lane (as Barbara Blake) are youngsters. You should note that parents Thomas Mitchell and Barbara O'Neil (as Dan and Sally Painter) worry about cute son Dickie Moore (Ted, as a child) because he is sportsmanlike and not rough like other boys his age. Also watch for the marital difficulties among the adults, the other set being John Litel and Mona Barrie (as Jim and Lisa Blake). Young Moore and Audrey Leonard (Barbara, as a child) are separated by school and divorce...

In the present, Mr. Morris and Ms. Lane meet each other as attractive young adults. Morris' parents are still concerned about his meekness. His father wants him to play a rough contact sport like football, but Morris plays tennis at Yale; his mother wants "mama's boy" Morris to be a doctor, but he lacks determination and interest. Childhood "sweethearts" Morris and Lane are very much in love, but his mild manner threatens their happiness. Aggressive Dick Foran (as Pete Martin) also desires Lane...

Lane sings a nice version of The Andrews Sisters' colossal introductory hit "Bei Mir Bist du Schoen" (1937), which put the singing sisters on the map. This is a well-structured story, but ends with a scene promoting violence; Lane's arousing "spanking" is fine, but the characters show visible wounds ("black eyes") resulting from an audibly vicious fight, which is celebrated by much of the cast. By the way, watch for Morris to lose the small hairpiece that covers his "bald spot" during the fight.

Equating contact sports and sex play with domestic violence scores no points.

*** Love, Honor and Behave (3/12/38) Stanley Logan ~ Wayne Morris, Pricilla Lane, Dick Foran, Thomas Mitchell

I'm probably in the minority, but this film sends out wrong messages about good sportsmanship and domestic violence. I do believe in winning when playing a game and in standing up for one's rights at all times, but not by cheating and not with physical violence. When Wayne Morris senses the referee was in error when called a ball hit by his opponent "out" in a college tennis game, he purposely throws the next point away, which costs him the game. He's chastised by his father (Thomas Mitchell), who believes in winning at all costs, but praised by his mother (Barbara O'Neill), whose actions Morris is emulating. Earlier in the film, their disagreement in matters such as this ended up in a divorce. Mitchell even says if she had been angry and even struck him when he was caught philandering he would not have left her. The idea that hitting a person to show you care seemed to me to be ludicrous, but it permeates the entire film (and in other movies of the 30's, when spousal abuse was not a catchword). Now Morris is married to Priscilla Lane and is faced with a similar problem.

I did enjoy most of the acting, even though Lane comes on a bit too aggressive for my taste, and very hostile to her mother-in-law. The supporting players, including the child actors, give very competent performances.

It's hard to believe sometimes, in a new century, that movies like this, were made and viewed as acceptable behavior. The message is not only "only the strong survive", it's that the violent and the pushy survive and that what we now accept as correct behavior was looked upon as incorrect.

An example of how ridiculous the premise is made when Wayne Morris, the hero, who was raised by his mother, is criticized for preferring tennis to football, by macho old dad. Dad had even criticized Mom for not "fighting" (literally) for him earier in the movie. Well,Wayne falls for childhood girlfriend Priscilla Lane, whose philosophy is not unlike that of his schmuck father's. Priscilla wants a man who looks good, (as does Wayne Morris) but she wants him to be as physical and morally ambiguous as his father was. Very soon tere are marital problems because hero can't find a decent job (it's the depression and he quit med school to marry her). She still wants to party with a male friend while Morris wants her to stay home discuss a job that would mean their living on a lot less.

The "happy ending" and our "lesson in life" is when she manipulates him into physically fighting the guy who comes to take her out, and physically abuses her for not sticking with him. Both sets of parents watching from outside the front window (and are amazingly amused and satisfied) are told by Priscilla Lane's character to "leave them alone" (She appears tojoy his new-found penchant for domestic violence). The "older folks" present think it's all cute.

It's a movie with good actors but it's message makes it really difficult to watch. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that there are some people who may watch this movie and think of it as merely a screwball comedy, with an appropriate message. I pity them.