Je retourne chez maman

Chet marries Florence and for a while all is swell. But due to personal tragedy and Chet's inability to hold on to a job, they find themselves in divorce court.

Time has completely forgotten this truly masterful piece of cinema art. 'Marrying Kind' starts out as a screwball comedy, evolves into gentle and then starker realism, takes a drastic turn towards tragedy, only to try and find its way back. Veteran director Cukor invited all sorts of trouble with this extremely challenging format, with a drama very obviously inspired by King Vidor's ground-breaking late silent 'The Crowd'.

It is a virtuosic and deeply, deeply affecting film, as written by Garson Kanin, directed with an almost uncanny ear for dialogue by the underrated Cukor, and acted by newcomer Aldo Ray and the ever-brilliant Judy Holliday. The ending to this film testifies to an unexpected emotional maturity in Hollywood in the early 50's, and the transfer is perfect.

I daresay nobody with an open mind is ever liable to forgot this film, and remember, before you start moaning about the mixing of genres, Life does its own mixing of tears and laughter every day to every single one of us. In that respect no film ever was more organic than this one!

Lesson learned from this film. Don't take yourself too seriously and appreciate the life partner you have before you lose them by saying the wrong thing(s). Judy Holliday plays Florence Keefer a secretary at a busy office and her husband Chet Keefer suffers a debilitating work accident that leaves him almost useless as the family breadwinner. In any marriage there are ups and downs and sometimes depression and dissention get the better of one or both partners. Such is the case with Mr. And Mrs. Keefer who end up in divorce court where a wise judge decides to put off her decision overnight and let both parties sleep on their decision but first they walk Judge Anne B. Carroll (Madge Kennedy) through their marriage and family turmoil from each of their perspectives.

Any film with Judy Holliday is worth watching and the (then) novice Aldo Ray both showed their acting chops. I am sure many moviegoers were wiggling rather uncomfortably in their theater seats reflecting on their own marriages and the silly fights that were relevant on screen to their own life experiences.

This film may be seventy (70) years old now but the trials and tribulations of millions of married and/or cohabitating partners could learn from the film The Marrying Kind.

I give the film a quality 6 out of 10 IMDB rating.

From 1952 director George Cukor (A Star is Born/The Philadelphia Story) directs Judy Holliday (who he reunites w/after her Oscar winning turn in his Born Yesterday) & Aldo Ray (in his screen debut) in this drama about a marriage fraying at the edges. Opening up at a divorce hearing at court, a judge takes the feuding couple into an office & there they lay out the genesis of their union & what led up to where they are now. We see their blue collar straits, he works at the post office while she's a stay at home Mom rearing a boy & a girl. She wants to move ahead & yearns for a chance to do so (in one episode she calls into a radio show to answer a question & Ray feeds her the wrong answer) while he seems to be happy at his status quo. Things take a turn when their son dies in a freak accident at a lake which causes all the recriminations & regrets to boil over into constant arguments which culminates when she receives a check from a deceased boss which stirs Ray to think the worst of Holliday figuring she was romantically linked to him. Will the union give up the ghost or save itself in the final moments? Cukor was wise to cast these earthy actors (in the heated throes of argument you can almost hear your neighbors going at it in any big city) dig into these meaty roles (a turning of the tide was on the horizon for the accurate portrayal of real people, working class American accents & all, to be seen on the big screen). Co-written by Ruth Gordon (the some time actress) & Garson Kanin, this yarn set in the boroughs of the Big Apple crackles w/authenticity & heart.

THE MARRYING KIND gave movie-goers a first glimpse of ALDO RAY and he proves to be every bit a match for the comic talent and dramatic abilities of JUDY HOLLIDAY. The two of them are a sheer pleasure to watch, totally good chemistry and always believable as a husband and wife on the verge of divorce.

The story is told in a series of well-staged vignettes in flashback as they recount the facts of their troublesome marriage to a divorce court judge (MADGE KENNEDY), who ends up believing that the two of them still love each other and can be taken off the docket for the next day's hearing.

The ups and downs of the marriage are mostly due to the financial strain and the macho behavior of a man who has the need to be the breadwinner but feels he can't support his wife and children the way he'd like to on his post office salary. Ray is excellent at suggesting the moods of a man who misunderstands many a situation because he can't see beyond the money angle. A very revealing scene at a butcher shop where the butcher talks common sense about the realities of life, is a fine piece of writing and beautifully played.

Both Holliday and Ray shine in what is almost a two-character film, especially in the second half--and their arguments have the ring of truth in them, with money and temperament being the strain that seems to be the root cause of their problems.

A touching film, serious at times but basically a romantic comedy directed with great skill by George Cukor (who said he could only direct women?). Ray does a masterful job in his breakthrough film.

Summing up: Highly recommended. Clever screenplay by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin.

The story follows a young couple through courtship, honeymoon, parenthood and breakup.

The movie looks like a worthy experiment that doesn't quite work. The problem—as others point out—lies with the abrupt change of tone in the movie's middle that causes a radical re-adjustment on the viewer's part. To that point, the style is generally charming and light-hearted, appropriate to the couple's courtship and honeymoon period. I love the way each remembers the past the way he or she wants it to be, while the camera in flashback shows quite the opposite. It's pretty funny. This early part also provides Holliday with opportunity to show off her inimitable comedic style.

But then the tone goes deadly serious, befitting, I guess, the tragedy and troubles that enter the Keefers' life, eventually leading to a breakup. Note in this half how much of the staging has the couple in various stages of unglamorous undress while yelling at one another. Clearly, the idea is to show the other non-cute, deglamorized side of marriage that old Hollywood in its preoccupation with escapism didn't often show. In that sense, the movie's a rather daring stab, for its time, at marital reality.

The trouble, however, is that the two halves clash with one another in both style and content, creating the impression of two movies instead of one. I wish director Cukor had tried shaping the second-half material to the entertaining style of the first half. That might have worked, given his legendary level of expertise. But the way things stand, not even Holliday's talent can paper over the mis-match. Also, I noticed that the actress's comic book voice, so well adapted to comedy, becomes shrill and annoying in the heated exchanges with movie husband Ray. From that standpoint, she was wise to stick to laughs in what remained of her tragically short career.

This is not to say the movie's without compensations. It certainly has its funny moments, while actor Ray's boyish appeal looks just right for an engaging average guy. However, the central problem remains, despite the talent and gutsy stab at reality.