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The Film (3/5)
Whenever I hear or read about people complaining about remakes these days, whether it’s words such as “why bother”, or “do we really need a remake for that film” among other critiques, it should be noted that remakes have been going on in cinema for over a century. Timeless classics such as Frankenstein, The Maltese Falcon, The Wizard of Oz and even the Film Noir entitled Vicki are also part of a long list of films that are remakes. Even the obscure 1932 classic drama A Bill of Divorcement that starred John Barrymore, Billie Burke and Katharine Hepburn was remade in 1940.
Also known as Never to Love, A Bill of Divorcement is the story about a man Hilary Fairchild (Adolphe Menjou) who has escaped an insane asylum to return to his wife, Margaret (Fay Bainter) and reunite with his family. Unbeknownst to the now free Hilary, she has divorced him and is planning to re-marry another man, Gray Meredith (Herbert Marshall), but Hilary’s return spoils the plans, and is a disruption for the Fairchild family including daughter Sydney (Maureen O’Hara). Part of the film’s storyline focuses on family madness as Sydney learns that the madness that her father has is hereditary, causing her to panic somewhat, thinking what if the same thing that happened to her father should happen to her. The other key plot is of course Hilary’s outrage that Margaret had divorced him while he was in the insane asylum.
The 1940 offering of A Bill of Divorcement is a good, but not great film. Ideals about the institution of marriage had changed since the original 32 film hit the screen. The remake is still engaging with a literate plot and a fine cast of actors. Among the actors, which have been previously mentioned are Hebert Marshall (Foreign Correspondent, The Letter). Fay Bainter (Jezebel) May Whitty (The Lady Vanishes, Mrs. Miniver), Maureen O’Hara (The Quiet Man, Miracle on 34th Street) and silent era star Adolphe Menjou (A Star is Born). O’Hara and May Whitty both hand in fantastic performances but Herbert Marshall’s performance was rather lifeless, as if he was invisible when he was on the screen and Adolphe Menjou completely overacted as Hilary. The direction by John Farrow was a bit stagnant when trying for a slow steady pace. In summary, the 1932 version, at least to me, was a better film.
Audio/Video (4.5/5)
Kino Lorber debuts A Bill of Divorcement on Blu-ray. In its original aspect ratio of 1:37:1 and given a brand new 2K master, the black and white film looks attractive and is a bit of a revelation. The image has a smooth polished look to it, with deep textures and excellent greyscale. Black levels also are balanced and print damage is at a minimum. I was amazed just how well this film looked.
Kino Lorber goes with the usual English DTS-HD master audio 2.0 with dialog and other noises coming in crisp and clear. The lossless audio tends to not be aggressive, with dialog and the wonderful music by Roy Webb not sounding overpowering by any stretch of the imagination.
Extras (.25/5)
The only supplements for this release are trailers for other Kino releases. The trailers include The Young in Heart, Since You Went Away, I’ll be Seeing You, Intermezzo, and Ruby Gentry.
Overall (4/5)
A Bill of Divorcement should be given a spin by fans of the classics. Despite what I thought of the film’s shortcomings, there is no doubt that many might prefer the John Farrow directed version. The release, even without any supplements outside of trailers is a beautiful presentation and is a pleasure just to sit and watch the film looking as sharp as it does!
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