The more I watch 30's films the more I'm convinced that being part of high society means being a sociopath. I've never seen a whole species of creatures so able to compartmentalize and suppress emotions like them. When they do show emotion I believe they do it just to prove that they are human.
"Dr. Monica" was another high society movie about women and their men problems. In other words, it was nauseating.
Dr. Monica Braden (Kay Francis) was married to John Braden (Warren William) who was banging Mary Hathaway (Jean Muir). That was nothing new or novel for that era. You could spin a wheel and land on a 1930's movie that involved high society folks and their rampant infidelity.
In this case Mary got pregnant with John's child. That was something a little different because usually "gentlemen" had more sense than to get their side chick pregnant.
We knew Mary was pregnant because she fainted inexplicably. That was a sure sign of pregnancy because in 1934 they still weren't saying the word PREGNANT on screen. Just typing it makes me feel dirty. Such a lowly word. Gone are the days of purity when a movie would romanticize affairs, yet make sure not to show or even say the word pregnant. And because of Poe's Law regarding internet sarcasm not being understood, I'm telling you now that I was being sarcastic.
Mary had every intention of not notifying John that he had a baby. That was another common thing back then. If a woman wanted to spare a man any hardship or obligation, she would withhold that she had his child (see "Ann Vickers" (1933), "Only Yesterday" (1933), "Mary Stevens M. D." (1933), "Coming Out Party" (1934), and many others). The women back then were so wholly committed to the satisfaction of the man, and not burdening him with their troubles, that they would keep a child a secret so that he could go on and be free while she bore the burden of the child alone. What strong noble women they were (remember Poe's Law).
Mary was in an interesting predicament. Her obstetrician was none other than John's wife, Dr. Monica. How about that for irony? She never told Dr. Monica who the father was and she didn't plan on telling her. With that being the case, if she had any decency she would've gone somewhere else to have the baby, but this woman was carved out of stupidity.
From the point Dr. Monica informed Mary that she was pregnant, the movie took on a strange surreal atmosphere. Almost nothing that occurred after that point resembled reality or what real people do.
Remember how I said that Mary wanted to keep the father of the baby a secret from the father (John Braden) and from Dr. Monica? Well, while she was in bed waiting to deliver she decided to call John. She finally caved. She couldn't give birth alone, so she called John in a fit of panic. It needs to be known that she was giving birth in a house which was more private than a hospital. EVERYONE in that house could hear her call John. Even though she didn't get a hold of John, Dr. Monica still overheard her crying, "I must speak to John, it's important!"
Monica is no fool. She knew there could be only one reason she was so desperate to talk to her (Monica's) husband at that time. John had to be the father.
What does Monica do? She kept that knowledge to herself like a good sociopathic society girl should and delivered the baby. Sure, she was a bit cold towards Mary during and after the birth, but she wouldn't say why. Meanwhile, mush-brain Mary couldn't fathom why Dr. Monica was suddenly so cold towards her.
I wanted to scream, "SHE HEARD YOUR DUMBASS ON THE PHONE! THE NEIGHBORS PROBABLY HEARD YOU CALLING FOR JOHN!!"
She asked Monica, "Why don't you ever kiss me?" My assumption is that kissing is a normal greeting among society women, though there was no indication that Monica ever kissed Mary before. Still, I found the question strange. Instead of asking why she was so distant or cold towards her, she asked why she doesn't ever kiss her.
The two went back and forth with Mary keeping concealed what she unwittingly revealed, and Monica keeping concealed what she'd overheard. It was a dumb dance that was rooted in sparing the feelings of the other when in reality no such attempts would've been made.
Monica decided that she too would keep the baby a secret from John. So now the baby's mother AND the wife who was cheated on decided to spare John the burdensome knowledge that 1.) his affair is now known and 2.) he has a baby.
This was a society trope that always makes me lose my mind. Many many many movies involved infidelity and knowledge of the infidelity that is kept secret as though it's worse to confront the cheater than it is to cheat. It was a bizarre custom that would've kept me far from their circles. There's no way I'm keeping quiet if I know that my wife is cheating or that someone is cheating on a friend of mine. Later for such decorum.
Monica opted to spend two fantastic weeks with her husband before telling him what she knew and then breaking it off. She was going to compartmentalize her feelings about his affair, then be the better woman and bow out gracefully, thereby leaving him to raise a child with his mistress. Yet another society cliche I can't stand: being the "gentleman" or the "lady" when you've discovered that your S. O. loves another. They are so disgustingly diplomatic about it. They dare not interfere with the happiness of their S. O., so they quietly remove themselves from the dreaded love triangle as though there's some nobility in that.
Monica (the wife) would gracefully disappear out of John and Mary's life as though she were just a dream. She would swallow her pride and any feelings to make sure that she was no impediment to the happiness of two people, as though she had no stake in the matter at all. I really don't get it and I don't care to.
Monica's martyrdom would be co-opted by Mary's. When Mary heard that Monica planned to leave John, she simply couldn't allow such a happy marriage to be ruined on account of her. She made the move first and left. She essentially committed suicide (flew a plane across the ocean with no preparation); one of the surest ways to eliminate one side of a triangle.
That left two matters: would Monica take the baby, and would Monica finally tell John he fathered a baby.
Of course Monica took the baby. It was serendipitous because she couldn't have one of her own. And what's more--SHE NEVER TOLD JOHN SHE KNEW ABOUT THE AFFAIR OR THAT THE BABY WAS HIS.
Nope.
She just told him she adopted a baby and they lived happily ever after, while I sat dumbfounded, yelling GTFOH you apes. You're not people, you're robots or single-celled amoeba because real people don't behave like this.
This was yet another movie that left me asking, "Who writes this bleep?" It says Charles Kenyon, Laura Walker, and Maria Morozowicz-Szczepkowska, but I contend that they are not real people. They couldn't have been. I contend that they were aliens or perhaps children because adult human beings don't write such nonsense without labeling it "Fantasy."
Free on Odnoklassniki.
"Dr. Monica" was another high society movie about women and their men problems. In other words, it was nauseating.
Dr. Monica Braden (Kay Francis) was married to John Braden (Warren William) who was banging Mary Hathaway (Jean Muir). That was nothing new or novel for that era. You could spin a wheel and land on a 1930's movie that involved high society folks and their rampant infidelity.
In this case Mary got pregnant with John's child. That was something a little different because usually "gentlemen" had more sense than to get their side chick pregnant.
We knew Mary was pregnant because she fainted inexplicably. That was a sure sign of pregnancy because in 1934 they still weren't saying the word PREGNANT on screen. Just typing it makes me feel dirty. Such a lowly word. Gone are the days of purity when a movie would romanticize affairs, yet make sure not to show or even say the word pregnant. And because of Poe's Law regarding internet sarcasm not being understood, I'm telling you now that I was being sarcastic.
Mary had every intention of not notifying John that he had a baby. That was another common thing back then. If a woman wanted to spare a man any hardship or obligation, she would withhold that she had his child (see "Ann Vickers" (1933), "Only Yesterday" (1933), "Mary Stevens M. D." (1933), "Coming Out Party" (1934), and many others). The women back then were so wholly committed to the satisfaction of the man, and not burdening him with their troubles, that they would keep a child a secret so that he could go on and be free while she bore the burden of the child alone. What strong noble women they were (remember Poe's Law).
Mary was in an interesting predicament. Her obstetrician was none other than John's wife, Dr. Monica. How about that for irony? She never told Dr. Monica who the father was and she didn't plan on telling her. With that being the case, if she had any decency she would've gone somewhere else to have the baby, but this woman was carved out of stupidity.
From the point Dr. Monica informed Mary that she was pregnant, the movie took on a strange surreal atmosphere. Almost nothing that occurred after that point resembled reality or what real people do.
Remember how I said that Mary wanted to keep the father of the baby a secret from the father (John Braden) and from Dr. Monica? Well, while she was in bed waiting to deliver she decided to call John. She finally caved. She couldn't give birth alone, so she called John in a fit of panic. It needs to be known that she was giving birth in a house which was more private than a hospital. EVERYONE in that house could hear her call John. Even though she didn't get a hold of John, Dr. Monica still overheard her crying, "I must speak to John, it's important!"
Monica is no fool. She knew there could be only one reason she was so desperate to talk to her (Monica's) husband at that time. John had to be the father.
What does Monica do? She kept that knowledge to herself like a good sociopathic society girl should and delivered the baby. Sure, she was a bit cold towards Mary during and after the birth, but she wouldn't say why. Meanwhile, mush-brain Mary couldn't fathom why Dr. Monica was suddenly so cold towards her.
I wanted to scream, "SHE HEARD YOUR DUMBASS ON THE PHONE! THE NEIGHBORS PROBABLY HEARD YOU CALLING FOR JOHN!!"
She asked Monica, "Why don't you ever kiss me?" My assumption is that kissing is a normal greeting among society women, though there was no indication that Monica ever kissed Mary before. Still, I found the question strange. Instead of asking why she was so distant or cold towards her, she asked why she doesn't ever kiss her.
The two went back and forth with Mary keeping concealed what she unwittingly revealed, and Monica keeping concealed what she'd overheard. It was a dumb dance that was rooted in sparing the feelings of the other when in reality no such attempts would've been made.
Monica decided that she too would keep the baby a secret from John. So now the baby's mother AND the wife who was cheated on decided to spare John the burdensome knowledge that 1.) his affair is now known and 2.) he has a baby.
This was a society trope that always makes me lose my mind. Many many many movies involved infidelity and knowledge of the infidelity that is kept secret as though it's worse to confront the cheater than it is to cheat. It was a bizarre custom that would've kept me far from their circles. There's no way I'm keeping quiet if I know that my wife is cheating or that someone is cheating on a friend of mine. Later for such decorum.
Monica opted to spend two fantastic weeks with her husband before telling him what she knew and then breaking it off. She was going to compartmentalize her feelings about his affair, then be the better woman and bow out gracefully, thereby leaving him to raise a child with his mistress. Yet another society cliche I can't stand: being the "gentleman" or the "lady" when you've discovered that your S. O. loves another. They are so disgustingly diplomatic about it. They dare not interfere with the happiness of their S. O., so they quietly remove themselves from the dreaded love triangle as though there's some nobility in that.
Monica (the wife) would gracefully disappear out of John and Mary's life as though she were just a dream. She would swallow her pride and any feelings to make sure that she was no impediment to the happiness of two people, as though she had no stake in the matter at all. I really don't get it and I don't care to.
Monica's martyrdom would be co-opted by Mary's. When Mary heard that Monica planned to leave John, she simply couldn't allow such a happy marriage to be ruined on account of her. She made the move first and left. She essentially committed suicide (flew a plane across the ocean with no preparation); one of the surest ways to eliminate one side of a triangle.
That left two matters: would Monica take the baby, and would Monica finally tell John he fathered a baby.
Of course Monica took the baby. It was serendipitous because she couldn't have one of her own. And what's more--SHE NEVER TOLD JOHN SHE KNEW ABOUT THE AFFAIR OR THAT THE BABY WAS HIS.
Nope.
She just told him she adopted a baby and they lived happily ever after, while I sat dumbfounded, yelling GTFOH you apes. You're not people, you're robots or single-celled amoeba because real people don't behave like this.
This was yet another movie that left me asking, "Who writes this bleep?" It says Charles Kenyon, Laura Walker, and Maria Morozowicz-Szczepkowska, but I contend that they are not real people. They couldn't have been. I contend that they were aliens or perhaps children because adult human beings don't write such nonsense without labeling it "Fantasy."
Free on Odnoklassniki.