The Matrimonial Bed
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| The Matrimonial Bed (1930) | |
|---|---|
 Poster showing Florence Eldridge and Lilyan Tashman. |
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| Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
| Written by | Harvey F. Thew Seymour Hicksbased on the play by André Mouézy-Éon and Yves Mirande. |
| Starring | Frank Fay Lilyan Tashman Florence Eldridge Beryl Mercer Arthur Edmund Carewebr>Vivien Oakland James Gleason |
| Music by | Louis Silvers |
| Cinematography | Devereaux Jennings |
| Editing by | Jack Killifer |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | August 2, 1930 |
| Running time | 69 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Matrimonial Bed is a 1930 Pre-Code comedy film produced and released by Warner Bros.. It was based on the French play by André Mouézy-Éon and Yves Mirande. The English version of the play, by Seymour Hicks, opened in New York on October 12, 1927 and had 13 performances.
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[edit] Plot
It is the fifth anniversary of the death of Adolphe Noblet (Frank Fay) who died in a train wreck. His maid (Beryl Mercer) and friends still worship him but don't care much for his wife Sylvaine's (Florence Eldridge) second husband Gustave (James Gleason) with whom she has recently had a child. Sylvaine's friends recommend that she use a new hairdresser, Leopold Trebel. However, when this womanizing coiffeur arrives, he turns out to be Adolphe suffering from amnesia. A doctor (Arthur Edmund Carewe) restores his memory using hypnosis but in the process wipes out everything that has happened to him over the last five years. Adolphe thinks he has been unconscious for only a few hours and the doctor tries to keep the truth from him thinking the shock could kill him. This becomes even more difficult as Leopold's wife (Vivien Oakland), with whom he has had two sets of twins, shows up and insists he is Leopold. Gustave finally tells Adolphe/Leopold the truth and he is left with the decision of which man and in which family he wants to be.
[edit] Songs
- "Fleur D'Amour"
[edit] Pre-Code Sequences
- Frank Fay is discovered in bed with James Gleason and Vivien Oakland assumes they are having an affair and shockingly exclaims: "What kind of a house is this?"
- When Dr. Beaudine (Arthur Edmund Carewe) attempts to examine Frank Fay, Frank assumes he is gay and refuses to take off his shirt. When Dr. Beaudine closes the light in order to hypnotize him Frank Fay exclaims that he was right in his suspicions about him.
- The movie has numerous gay jokes as the hairdresser/husband played by Frank Fay camps up the hairdresser persona to differentiate himself from the personality of the husband. There are lines like - "I may be a hairdresser but that doesn't mean I hold men's hands" And when he asks what manner of person was he as the hairdresser, he is told, "You were gay, a bit dandified."
[edit] Trivia
- Dickie Moore makes a uncredited cameo appearance in this film.
[edit] Preservation
The film survives intact and has been broadcast on television and cable.
