A Bill of Divorcement

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A Bill of Divorcement

Directed by	George Cukor
Produced by	David O. Selznick
Written by	Clemence Dane (play) Howard Estabrook Harry Wagstaff Gribble
Starring	John Barrymore Billie Burke Katharine Hepburn David Manners
Cinematography	Sidney Hickox
Editing by	Arthur Roberts
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)	September 30, 1932
Running time	70 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$300,000
IMDb profile

A Bill of Divorcement is a British play written by Clemence Dane that debuted in 1921 in London. Dane wrote it as a reaction to a law passed in Britain in the early 1920s that allowed insanity as grounds for a woman divorcing her husband.

It was made into a British silent film in 1922, and into American movies in 1932 and 1940. The most well-known treatment was the 1932 movie, which was acting legend Katharine Hepburn's film debut.

1 Plot
2 Reception
3 Production
4 References

[edit] Plot

In the 1932 film, John Barrymore played a man who had long been institutionalized in an insane asylum. His wife had been set to divorce him to marry another, but he escaped from the asylum and returned home, child-like and docile. Hepburn, who played their daughter, takes care of him.

[edit] Reception

The film today is dated for its attitude toward gender relationships and mental illness, but even modern film critics praise the warm rapport between Hepburn and Barrymore.

[edit] Production

The film was produced by David O. Selznick and George Cukor, who had disagreed about casting Hepburn. Cukor had seen Hepburn’s screen test and was impressed by the 24-year-old, but Selznick did not like the way she looked and was afraid she would not be well-received by audiences. Cukor cast her anyway (beginning what would be a lifelong professional and personal relationship between the two), and Hepburn was declared "a new star on the cinema horizon" by The Hollywood Reporter.

[edit] References

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v • d • e

Films directed by George Cukor

Grumpy (1930) • Virtuous Sin (1930) • The Royal Family of Broadway (1930) • Tarnished Lady (1931) • Girls About Town (1931) • A Bill of Divorcement (1932) • Rockabye (1932) • What Price Hollywood? (1932) • Dinner at Eight (1933) • Our Betters (1933) • Little Women (1933) • David Copperfield (1935) • No More Ladies (1935) • Sylvia Scarlett (1935) • Camille (1936) • Romeo and Juliet (1936) • Holiday (1938) • Zaza (1939) • The Women (1939) • The Philadelphia Story (1940) • Susan and God (1940) • Two-Faced Woman (1941) • A Woman's Face (1941) • Her Cardboard Lover (1942) • Keeper of the Flame (1942) • Gaslight (1944) • Winged Victory (1944) • A Double Life (1947) • Edward, My Son (1949) • Adam's Rib (1949) • Born Yesterday (1950) • A Life of Her Own (1950) • The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951) • The Marrying Kind (1952) • Pat and Mike (1952) • The Actress (1953) • A Star Is Born (1954) • It Should Happen to You (1954) • Bhowani Junction (1956) • Les Girls (1957) • Wild Is the Wind (1957) • Heller in Pink Tights (1960) • Let's Make Love (1960) • The Chapman Report (1962) • My Fair Lady (1964) • Justine (1969) • Travels With My Aunt (1972) • The Blue Bird (1976) • Rich And Famous (1981)

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