A Bill of Divorcement (1940 film)

A Bill of Divorcement
Directed byJohn Farrow
Screenplay byDalton Trumbo
Based onA Bill of Divorcement
by Clemence Dane
Produced byRobert Sisk
StarringMaureen O'Hara
Adolphe Menjou
Fay Bainter
CinematographyNicholas Musuraca
Edited byHarry Marker
Music byRoy Webb
Production
company
Release date
  • May 31, 1940 (1940-05-31)
Running time
74 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A Bill of Divorcement is a 1940 film directed by John Farrow. It was also known as Never to Love and was based on a 1921 British play of the same name written by Clemence Dane that had been filmed in 1932 with John Barrymore and Katharine Hepburn.

Plot

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Hilary Fairchild returns home after a long spell in a lunatic asylum. He has regained his sanity but finds that his strong-willed daughter Sydney, now an adult, is planning to marry and that his wife has divorced him.

Cast

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Production

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The film was announced in November 1939 with the lead roles allocated to Adolphe Menjou and Maureen O'Hara. O'Hara had just moved to Hollywood with Charles Laughton and appeared in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Producer Robert Sisk and director John Farrow had made a number of films together, including the popular Five Came Back (1939).[1] It was considered an "A" picture, Farrow and Sisk's first such film at RKO.[2]

Filming began on December 2, 1939.[3][4]

Reception

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In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Theodore Strauss wrote: "Under the restrained direction of John Farrow, the performances of an ably selected cast are fused into a film that is continuously eloquent and moving. ... Out of a familiar play the producers have again drawn a suspensive drama of courage and despair."[5]

The film recorded a loss of $104,000.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD". New York Times. November 1, 1939. ProQuest 102790700.
  2. ^ Louella O. Parsons (November 1, 1939). "Close-Ups and Long-Shots Of the Motion Picture Scene". The Washington Post. ProQuest 151106620.
  3. ^ Schallert, E. (November 18, 1939). "DRAMA". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 165040168.
  4. ^ Churchill, Douglas W. (November 23, 1939). "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD". New York Times. ProQuest 102920596.
  5. ^ Strauss, Theodore (1940-07-12). "The Screen in Review: The Capitol Presents Joan Crawford and Fredric March in 'Susan and God'—'A Bill of Divorcement' and 'Devil's Island' Also Are Seen". The New York Times. p. 11.
  6. ^ Jewell, Richard; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House. p. 148. ISBN 9780706412857.
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