Consolation Marriage

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

New York reporter Steve "Rollo" Porter (Pat O'Brien) returns to find his longtime girlfriend Elaine had married someone else. Shopkeeper Mary Brown (Irene Dunne) is heartbroken with her beloved marrying a rich woman. The two left-behind souls encounter each other in a restaurant.

The meet-cute needs to be cuter. Getting arrested is actually a pretty good turn. They get to bond over some fun banter. The other two don't have enough screen time to matter to the audience. The movie is trying for a love quadrangle. Those are hard to pull off at the best of movies. I do like Steve and Mary together. The romance gets bumpy and I am disagreeing with them as much as agreeing. I really don't like the pulling apart after they had the baby. It's hard to pick sides in this one.

Although the first ten minutes of the film are a trial, relishing as it does the cacophony of early films, the sheer bravado of Pat O'Brien and the iridescent charm of Irene Dunne soon make up for the horror of Myrna Loy, as stiff and plastic as her hairdo, and John Halliday, as a weak, chinless cretin musician. Once these two are left behind, the screenplay transcends its material and the dialogue and wit are as illuminating as the key lighting. The interaction between Dunne and O'Brien is what people mean when they say: "They don't make movies like this anymore." The two simply become more than the sum of their parts.

Discussing the ending would be akin to drowning a kitten. Suffice it to say that this is soap opera at its best and once the two weak sisters re-appear and disappear, we are left with an ending that allows us to feel morally uplifted. The material is dated but the inter-action between these two beginning stars of yesteryear makes up for any weaknesses. To fault the film for its age is simply ridiculous and makes such critics even less aware of just how good Hollywood films once were -- crowsfeet and all.

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

Man, this thing is old. Old in years, yes, but a film can be old and still fresh and relevant. This is old in that it's melodramatic and irrelevant, and dated.

"Consolation Marriage" is from 1931 and stars Irene Dunne, Pat O'Brien, Myrna Loy, John Halliday, and Lester Vail. Dunne is Mary Brown Porter, who loses her childhood sweetheart, Aubrey (Lester Vail) to a rich woman. Mary tends to be a fairly understanding woman. Or else she's masochistic.

She meets Steve Porter (O'Brien), another jiltee, and they decide to get married, even though they aren't in love. There's an understanding that Steve is still in love with the girl of his dreams, Elaine (Myrna Loy), but they keep breaking up. Mary again goes along with this arrangement.

When I saw that Myrna Loy was supposed to be playing the other woman, I thought it was a mistake when I saw her. She did not look remotely like herself. Later I realized it was indeed Loy, who made a dazzling blond, beautifully gowned and coiffed.

Steve and Mary get a dog and have a baby, but Steve slips away often to be involved with Elaine. Then Mary gets her big chance with Jeff (John Halliday). Will she take it? And will Steve ever leave her for Elaine?

It's the rare woman who has the other woman over to her house and helps her dress.

This is a movie about class distinction, a big topic in the old days, so it has a certain formality found in the theater and film before the Depression brought in the working man playwrights.

I always liked Pat O'Brien, but I've never quite understood why he was used as a leading man in these romantic movies. Comedy, certainly. However, unlike the other character actors who became leads - Bogart, Robinson, Cagney, etc. - O'Brien was not as successful.

Irene Dunne is lovely in a difficult role, that of a woman being walked all over, putting up with it, and keeping her dignity.

John Halliday refers to himself as an "old man," and I thought to myself, "I'll bet he's 40" - you know how differently age was perceived in those days. Turned out he was 50.

This is one of Dunne's first films, and if you're a huge fan, you may want to see it. I don't recommend it. At around 90 minutes, it seems like it's four hours long.