Their Own Desire

Today, most women initiate divorces. But there was a time when it was the other way around since women had few options outside of the home. If you were a woman, you'd just better hope that as the bloom fell off of your rose that your husband did not get the 7, 17, or 27 year itch. This is about the impact of one of those marriages with an itchy husband, an unlikely cad, Lewis Stone as Marlett.

I like how this movie takes the time to build up the characters, always a trademark of screenwriter Frances Marion. A great deal of time is spent in the beginning to show the respect and friendship wealthy author Marlett has with his only child, Lally (Norma Shearer). Then a tell - she asks her dad as they walk up the drive, what book he is working on. He says it is a romance involving a 45 year old man. She, about 20, laughs at the idea. Marlett says that the middle aged are made of flesh and bone too. That life is not over at 30 as youngsters think, and that they thirst for romance, that "last" romance, indicating that dad might be thirsty. When they get to the top of the drive, the slender and glamorous Mrs. Chevers is talking to Lally's mom about her son, Doug, who is away at Princeton. Lally's mom is graying, a bit overweight, a bit sedentary, and Marlett calls her affectionately "mama". Indicating that he thinks of her as first Lally's mom - and a good one - and then a wife.

A year passes and Marlett and his wife are planning to divorce, as is Mrs. Chevers from her husband, but Lally yet knows none of this. She walks into her dad's study and catches Mrs. Chevers and her father in a passionate embrace, talking of marriage. Then her dad tries to justify it. He says that he and her mother are not the same boy and girl who made all of those promises 23 years before. I like Lally's translations - that perhaps he sees her mom as fat and a bit boring "unlike the slick Mrs. Chevers". He says he intends to keep the house. She reminds him that doesn't matter to her since her mom is being bundled out of that house and Mrs. Cheever is being brought in to replace her. Lally says her final goodbye to him and plans to never marry because she will not be made a fool of as her mother has been, and the male sex has fallen mightily in her esteem because of her father's fall, which he won't even acknowledge as a misdeed.

So off go mother and daughter for a summer vacation before mom goes to France for a divorce, which was the custom in that day. When Lally reiterates her vow to never marry, her mom is happy, which seems odd. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Marlett is not succeeding at hanging out at his old haunts with his new mistress. They both get the cold shoulder from everyone. I'm not sure why this scene was in here other than to show that people did pass moral judgment on affairs and homewreckers at that time, and that a smooth transition did not await them both if they proceed.

On vacation, Lally meets a guy (Robert Montgomery) who really fancies her. They dance, they enjoy each other's company, and maybe Lally is softening on men just a bit until she discovers his full name - Jack "Doug" Chevers - son of the woman who has ousted her mother, a symbol of why she decided to not take men seriously in the first place.

So Lally is one confused girl. She has a mom who encourages her to play the field due to her own bad experience with marriage. She has a dad who thinks "until death do we part" is just a phrase people like to kick around at weddings, and she has a beau who is insisting on marriage now - as in right this minute. How will this all work out? Watch and find out.

This is very good writing by Frances Marion who had already had a couple of short lived marriages that did not work out and one that did that ended in her husband's sudden death just the year before. Thus she could approach this subject of love from the viewpoint of someone who had seen all of the angles. I'd highly recommend it.

The plot is pretty simple and this 65 minute film is in general pretty average, with one exception – Norma Shearer, who is so charming I rounded my review score up a bit. She's the epitome of the 1920's flapper – playful, adventurous, and in control of her own destiny. She's also smart, sexy in a natural way, and has an infectious laugh – truly a delight to watch. She plays the spunky daughter of a couple who divorce, and later finds herself unknowingly falling in love with Robert Montgomery, the son of her father's new wife, setting up inner conflict. I love how we see her character playing polo, diving from a high board, and canoeing in a storm – and also how we see her romantic, and in control of how far she wants to take things. She occasionally overacts but is so natural and spontaneous otherwise that I'm not surprised she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance.

The movie has a somewhat overheated, strained quality to it, much like a soap opera and is primarily of interest for Norma Shearer's performance, which received a nomination for Best Actress for the 1929-30 Academy Awards, which she lost to herself, winning instead for her performance in The Divorcee, a better role in a much better film. Ms. Shearer was THE actress at the time and did quite well for many years. A good movie that could have been better and largely a curio now.

Their Own Desire is an example of why I love pre-Code movies so much. While on a cinematic level it's clearly mediocre, its 65-minute runtime provides a fast-paced, thoroughly entertaining story buoyed by Norma Shearer's fun, fresh performance.

The film follows the Marlett family, Lally (Shearer) & her parents (Belle Bennett & Lewis Stone), through her father's cheating, their divorce, and Lally's whirlwind romance with the son of her father's mistress (Robert Montgomery). The plot is totally unoriginal and most of the acting is unmemorable, but the film's strong production values make it highly enjoyable, especially as a 93-year-old time capsule.

The sets and costumes are sleek and tasteful, evoking the life of luxury these characters lead and allowing for some pure escapism. The whole movie felt like a warm summer night, I especially loved that moonlight confrontation scene by the tree. And while the film's structure doesn't allow for any real emotional depth, the dialogue has sharp and satisfying moments.

The acting is very hit or miss, with the only real standout being Shearer - and even then, she can only do so much given the material. She brings infectious energy to the role, sometimes pushing too hard but often pulling surprisingly funny and quirky vocal & facial expressions that feel fresh and almost subversive. For example when she and Montgomery have a rendezvous in the car, she somehow flips the script on the creepiness of the dialogue/setup with her manic eye rolls & expressive face, showing that she is clearly in control and enjoying getting frisky with him, while at the same time being slightly annoyed by his antics. (I'm sure she channeled many women of the time, seeing how one-sided and controlling "courtships" seemed to be in those days. Yikes!)

Shearer also looks absolutely fabulous in all her "modern" fashions, and in the emotional moments she delivers beautifully without overacting (surprising to me given how mannered many of her performances are). The Lake Michigan castaway sequence is so hilariously, entertainingly over the top, but she does the best she can and is very affecting on a superficial level. Oscar-worthy? I'm not so sure, but she acquits herself well for what it is. I am solidly a Norma Shearer fan, and only love her more for this shallow but charismatic, fluid performance.

Montgomery is terrible, although that may be due to the contemptible character vs. His actual acting. As mentioned I'm not sure if this was just considered "normal" behavior for the time, but it was cringeworthy throughout. Belle Bennett is decent as Shearer's mom, and I thought she conveyed well the high-class air of depression surrounding her character. Lewis Stone is surprisingly bland and forgettable as her dad. Finally, shoutout to the actress who played Shearer's mom's loyal maid. She is uncredited and it's no more than a cameo, but her indignation and protectiveness made a relatively substantial emotional impression amid the fluff.

This movie is a treat for anyone who loves pre-Code films & Norma Shearer, and for Oscar completists not a bad way to spend an hour. Just don't dive in expecting anything too deep.

I rate this movie highly not because it's all that great but because it's a fascinating piece of movie history. There are no seamless edits - the end of one take often doesn't match up with the beginning of the next. Scriptwise, more is implied than said. In one conversation, Norma Shearer is clearly about to say the word "mistress", but bites her lip and spits out the name of her father's paramour instead. Yet fifteen minutes later she's standing in a slip while brushing her hair, and her nipples are clearly outlined through the fabric. Shocking, I tell you! My favorite scene was the dance sequence, which features a wonderful, haunting piece of music called "Blue Is The Night" by Fred Fisher.

Overall this movie was interesting as an exercise in contrast and comparison with modern films. There are better films from that era - there were probably better films made that week - but I didn't mind spending 65 minutes with these people. I was duly entertained.