February 21, 2013
We’re Not Married –
US, 1952
Some time ago, I came across the peculiar story of an area
in China that had practically a 100% divorce rate. According to the story, the
residents were being relocated due to the construction of a dam, and in order
to make the transition as smooth as possible, the central government had promised
new houses to every person who was single. Apparently, most husbands and wives
decided that two homes would be better than one, so almost all of them filed
for divorce. I mention this because once the divorces were final, each of these
couples had to face the same question as many of the characters in Edmund Goulding’s
1952 film, We’re Not Married: What do
we do now?
In the film, an overzealous justice of the peace marries six
couples a week earlier than he is supposed to. We only see the first couple,
and their reasons for getting married aren’t exactly what most would consider romantic.
If I understand their situation correctly, they are getting married so that
they can become the hosts of a morning radio show that purports to follow the
daily happenings of a perfectly loving married couple whose morning banter is conveniently
replete with the names of household products. To get a sense of the rapidity
with which they mention their sponsors, think of Laura Linney in The Truman Show, and multiply by about
fifty. How anyone could stand listening to it is beyond me.
Two and a half years after the celebrities’ “wedding,” the
justice’s mistake comes to light, and the governor elects to inform five of the
six couples of their situation in a letter. This way, it is reasoned, each
couple can decide for themselves what to do. In a rather clunky narrative
device, we watch as the judge and his wife remember the couples that tied the
knot that week under the guise of returning the money they spent on the
wedding. Their discussion allows viewers to see each couple’s demeanor just
before they got married and to see the differences between then and now.
Unfortunately, what unfolds is only mildly interesting.
Ginger Rogers and Fred Allen start things off as the radio stars, the Gladwyns.
Their part of the film starts out humorous, becomes alluringly caustic, and
then settles into an overly-long radio show. It’s somewhat interesting to see
how radio shows were produced back in the day, but the scene goes on far too
long. Marilyn Monroe has a bit part, playing a model whose husband is perhaps just
a little too eager for her budding career to be over. Monroe has one absolutely
priceless moment before the film quickly moves on to another unsuspecting
couple.
The film has several opportunities to treat the situation
with the drama that it deserves. However, every time it hints at serious marital
problems, it backs off and settles for overly simplistic moments of humor. For
example, there are hints of infidelity in the segment of the film that stars
Paul Douglas and Eve Arden. However, instead of exploring the hurt that Arden’s
character is clearly feeling, the film elects to show her husband’s fantasies
of returning to the single life. It’s fun, but ultimately disrespectful,
relegating his wife’s anguish to being nothing more than an inconvenience that
can easily be overcome. Only the film’s final segment, starring Eddie Bracken
and Mitzi Gaynor, approaches real drama. In it, Bracken plays a young soldier
named Willie Fisher, who learn the news about his wedding just as he is about
to be shipped overseas. Making his situation worse is the fact that his wife
has just learned that she is pregnant. The drama comes from Fisher’s
understandable concern that society will treat the child differently now. Of
all of the stories the film presents, theirs seems the most realistic and they
the most deserving of the audience’s empathy.
Unfortunately, the film only finds the right tone
intermittently. It often resorts to humor to keep viewers involved instead of using
realism to explore the characters emotions and motives. The result is a film
that is occasionally fun, yet ultimately forgettable. Part of this is no doubt
due to the time in which the film was made, for a serious film about infidelity
and divorce would have been hard to make during the years in which the Hayes
Code was enforced. Still, I have to wonder just how audiences responded to the unconvincing
simplicity with which the film resolves these characters’ plights. In truth, I found
myself sighing aloud much more than laughing, and I felt disappointed just as
often as I felt moved or amused. A classic symptom of “mixed-bag-itis.” (on
DVD)
3 stars
*As for the Chinese residents I referred to at the start of
this review, their story does not end as happily as We’re Not Married. For one, the government did not have enough
houses for everyone that was now eligible for one. More importantly, the
divorces gave many residents a chance to take a fresh look at their lives, and many
people apparently didn’t like what they saw. It is said that many men opted to
run off with their much younger mistresses, leaving their ex-wives and children
alone and impoverished. To the men, the divorce was a new start. To the women,
it was only supposed to be temporary.
The lesson from real life seems to be: Be careful what you
wish for. The message of We’re Not
Married: Saying “I do” cures everything. If only that were truly so.
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