The Night Before the Divorce

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Joseph Allen, Lynn Bari, and Mary Beth Hughes in The Night Before the Divorce (1942)

George Nordyke is married to Lynn, the perfect wife, but is unhappy about it; his wife is so competent that poor George's masculine ego never gets exercised. But along comes a spider with a ... Read allGeorge Nordyke is married to Lynn, the perfect wife, but is unhappy about it; his wife is so competent that poor George's masculine ego never gets exercised. But along comes a spider with a coy approach, Lola May Wayne, and Mr. Deflated files for divorce and ready to set up house... Read allGeorge Nordyke is married to Lynn, the perfect wife, but is unhappy about it; his wife is so competent that poor George's masculine ego never gets exercised. But along comes a spider with a coy approach, Lola May Wayne, and Mr. Deflated files for divorce and ready to set up housekeeping with a new web-master.But, on the eve of the trial (hence the title) an orchestra ... Read all

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IMDb RATING

5.9/10

107

YOUR RATING

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5.9107

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5boblipton

Weak Crazy Comedy

Lynn Bari and Joseph Allen have been married for three years and the cracks are showing in the marriage. She's so competent it galls his tender male pride. To soothe it, he's taken up with Mary Beth Hughes and as soon as the divorce goes through, they will be wed. However, when Miss Bari's new boyfriend, Nils Asther is married, she decides to tell Allen she murdered him and ask for his help.

There are a number of cracks in this crazy comedy, including the fact that Asther's murder is never solved. Allen is annoyingly theatrical in his performance. Clearly this is not director Robert Siodmak's area of competence. The ladies are fine, though, and there's good support from performers Thurston Hall and Robert Emmett Keane. See if you can spot Dorothy and Ruby Dandrige in tiny roles.

3planktonrules

Very dated and easy to skip.

"The Night Before the Divorce" is an incredibly dated and sexist film. George is marries to Lynn--a woman who is incredibly bright, lovely and accomplished. Naturally, George resents her because he has a very small....um...I mean he has a very fragile ego. So, when the conniving Lola May sets her sights on stealing away George, he's a very easy mark--and when Lynn finds out, she seeks a divorce. However, before the divorce is final, Lynn falls in the middle of a murder case and George rises to the occasion to protect and defend his now helpless wife. In other words, girls, to keep your man you have to be dumb and subservient...or, get a man who isn't a complete idiot!!! I would hope my daughters would choose the latter!

In addition to the stupid message about how sexism is GOOD, the film also fails in many other ways. The characters are mostly unlikable and the film has very little to distinguish it. It's just a cheap B- movie with a ridiculous plot.

As for the other review on IMDb, they complain about how ratings are inexplicably inflated for many films on the site. I do agree and this movie clearly is NOT the quality of its current 6.1 rating. However, there are far more egregious cases than this---such as how some group has rated all the films of William Haines and Marion Davies 10s...and both were, at best, mediocre actors (Haines, in particular, pretty much made the same movie again and again).