A Bill of Divorcement (1932) User Reviews

Hepburn's first film

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 30 January 2007]

When Hollywood was madly casting the ingénue in "A Bill of Divorcement," they saw many, many tests of actresses but still weren't satisfied. Katharine Hepburn took a look at the test scene and realized immediately why no actress was acceptable - it was a terrible scene. So she did another one and won the role.

Let's just say that Hepburn started her amazing career with amazing good fortune. Her director was the excellent George Cukor, marking the beginning of their marvelous collaboration; and she had the great John Barrymore as a co-star.

The story concerns a man who comes home from an insane asylum only to discover that his daughter has grown up, his wife has divorced him, and she is about to marry someone else. He's as much in love with her as he has always been and can't bear the thought of her leaving him.

Based on a play by Clemence Dane, "A Bill of Divorcement" doesn't hold up today. It's very talky, done in a stagy manner, and melodramatic. Some of the performances are melodramatic as well - it was the beginning of talkies, and many of the actors had not yet adapted to the technique of acting on film, Billie Burke especially. My big quibble with the story is that, due to the times, it can't distinguish between "insanity" and emotional problems or chemical imbalances, which makes the Hepburn character's ultimate sacrifice seem unnecessary.

You can really see in this movie how Katharine Hepburn would have been so unusual to audiences with her angular, athletic body, high cheekbones and austere looks. She once said of Angela Lansbury, "She was unusual in the wrong way, and I was unusual in the right way." It's certainly true. She's quite beautiful and interesting-looking. Ultimately she would tone down her acting. For a first film, she's wonderful.

The star is John Barrymore, who gives a timeless, heart-wrenching performance. What a wonderful actor and what a loss that his last film was made in 1941 and as early as 1938, he was playing his roles drunk.

Recommended definitely for Hepburn aficionados and to see the great John Barrymore being the magnificent actor he was capable of being.

Jack Barrymore is the man!

[hgmoore-1 · 7/10 · 7 May 2007]

A touching, very well done movie. Of course it sounds and looks stagy. Of course the acting seems melodramatic. This is the very early years of talkies, and the material is a play that was already 10 years old in 1932! That gives us some idea of how desperately Hollywood was searching for material with which to make talking pictures. John Barrymore, as other people have said, was on the slippery slope of alcoholism and lived only 10 more years, each more debilitated than the previous one. Yet he never lost his ability and it is a shame he didn't get to be in better films. He could always act! And he knew that his style was dated. He said that his was a 'middle' generation of stage acting, between the florid romantic style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the more naturalistic style that followed. Any time he worked with actors and directors he respected: Marie Dressler, Greta Garbo, Hepburn, Billie Burke, Carole Lombard, George Cukor, Howard Hawks --Barrymore turned in an excellent performance.

A rather stagy melodrama that is still worth your time

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 20 April 2012]

This somewhat stagy early talkie is noteworthy for several reasons. First, it is Katharine Hepburn's screen debut, and it is interesting to see that even at 24 she is the prototype of the confident woman that she played in all of her films. Hepburn likely made quite a first impression on audiences with her lean athletic look versus that of typical film heroines of that era that still had that combination china doll and ex-flapper look that was so popular in the 20's. Likewise, just as it is the beginning of Hepburn's career, it is nearing the end of John Barrymore's. By the end of the decade alcoholism and, by some reports, early onset Alzheimer's disease, cause the end of his career. Also, it is interesting to see society's attitudes towards divorce and mental illness in the early 1930's.

Meg Fairfield (Billie Burke) has waited fifteen years while her husband Hilary (John Barrymore) is in a mental institution before finally obtaining a divorce. Shortly before her remarriage, Hilary "comes to himself" and returns home. To complicate matters further, their daughter Sydney (Katharine Hepburn) believes her father has been insane due to shell-shock. However, she soon learns that there is actually insanity in the family and wonders if either she will go insane herself or if her children will. The family doctor also hardly has a good bedside manner in dealing with the situation, saying that "who shall be sacrificed the lame or the whole?" and mentioning that Hilary's child, Sydney, shouldn't even have been born. Startling today, but probably a pretty typical attitude 75 years ago. One of the players puts it best when they mention that people always grieve the dead, but wonder how their reaction would change if the dead were suddenly alive again, which is basically Hilary's situation. Insane he could be mourned for what he once was, recovered he is just in the way. In spite of the usually able direction of George Cukor, this movie comes across as over-the-top melodramatic. However, given its place in Hepburn's film career, it is definitely worth viewing.

A Fragile Psyche

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 7 May 2007]

Though this is the second screen version of Clemence Dane's play A Bill of Divorcement, it's the version that we all remember because it is the film that gave us the director/actress combination of George Cukor and Katharine Hepburn who would then rack up nine more joint ventures in almost fifty years.

Sad to say the play is an old fashioned melodrama that dates pretty badly and it's not really good screen material with the nearly the whole short 70 minute film taking place on only one set. Neither Cukor or Hepburn have quite mastered the screen technique. But the talent and charm were there and it's no wonder Kate had the lengthy career she did.

Though he enters the film when it's nearly a third over, when John Barrymore comes in, he dominates the proceedings. He's a shell shocked World War I veteran returning home after years in an asylum. By that time his wife Billie Burke is in love with another man, Paul Cavanaugh, and is ready to serve Barrymore with divorce papers, hence the title.

Barrymore seems cured, but it doesn't take much to set his fragile psyche out of kilter. What are both Burke and Hepburn to do as it comes out that insanity is prevalent in Barrymore's family tree?

Though the story is very dated, the power of the performances will keep you interested. Quite a lot is packed into a classic film that has an unusually short running time.

A Sound Stage for the Stars

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 2 July 2008]

It's Christmas in England. World War I veteran John Barrymore (as Hilary Fairfield) has been committed to an asylum for 15 years, due to insanity brought on by "shell shock". The season has resulted in a blessing for Mr. Barrymore, who is on his way home for the holidays, after recovering his sanity. Meanwhile, wife Billie Burke (as Margaret "Meg" Fairfield) has fallen in love again, received a divorce, and is planning to re-marry. Barrymore's return throws the household into turmoil. Daughter Katharine Hepburn (as Sidney Fairfield), also planning to marry, begins to fear starting her own family, after learning Barrymore's madness is hereditary.

It's admittedly not intended as such, and consequently not exceptional; but, George Cukor's "A Bill of Divorcement" should be seen as a filmed stage play. The story is thought-provoking; it mixes madness, marriage, and war with duty, self-sacrifice, and religion. The characterizations are, today, "outdated" in style, substance, and storyline. Still, they are interesting in context. The three lead performances are significant: Barrymore's theatrical skills are clearly evident; his performance is most enjoyable (the war duty scene is a highlight). Additionally, Ms. Burke begins a welcome "second career" in sound films; and Ms. Hepburn begins a welcome "second career" in films. With less to do, steadfast supporting actress Elizabeth Patterson (as Hester Fairfield) definitely holds her own.

****** A Bill of Divorcement (1932) George Cukor ~ John Barrymore, Billie Burke, Katharine Hepburn

Kate's Striking Debut Opposite a Touching Barrymore in an Antiquated Drama About Family Obligations

[EUyeshima · 6/10 · 7 April 2008]

At 25, fourth-billed Katharine Hepburn bursts off the screen with her characteristic persona already fully formed in her screen debut as Sydney, the headstrong daughter of WWI veteran Hilary Fairfield, in this antiquated 1932 melodrama. Fifteen years earlier, Hilary was shell-shocked triggering a latent mental instability, which required his wife to institutionalize him. On the day his wife Meg files for divorce, he escapes the asylum in a docile state little realizing how much time has elapsed. In fact, he mistakes Sydney for Meg, as ironically, both Meg and Sydney are soon to be betrothed, The crux of the drama lies in Hilary's insanity and how his sudden appearance forces Meg and Sydney to make life-altering decisions. Directed by George Cukor, the film already shows his innate ease with larger-than-life actors like Hepburn and John Barrymore.

However, the screenplay by Howard Estabrook and Harry Wagstaff Gribble (adapted from an earlier British play by Clemence Dane) is severely dated in its attitude toward familial self-sacrifice, and the film is further hampered by a stilted feeling of staginess throughout. Already in career descent from his alcoholism, Barrymore gives a poignant performance as Hilary giving into heated theatrical fervor in just a couple of key scenes. In what was likely her most substantial role, Billie Burke (later Glinda the Good Witch in "The Wizard of Oz") makes Meg's dilemma palpable, while Elizabeth Patterson (later babysitter Mrs. Trumble on "I Love Lucy") is surprisingly dour as self-righteous Aunt Hester. Hepburn's destiny seems assured from the very first scene, and this was to be the start of her remarkable 47-year professional relationship with Cukor. As of March 2008, the film is not available on DVD.

Very well acted drama

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 9 November 2017]

At the start of A Bill of Divorcement, Billie Burke is hosting a glorious Christmas party for her family and friends. She's celebrating with her fiancé Paul Cavanagh, for they plan to take a vacation at New Year's and marry. Her sister-in-law Elizabeth Patterson disapproves because she still values Billie's first marriage to her brother, John Barrymore. After he came home from the war, John's shell shock devolved into insanity, and he's been in an asylum for fifteen years. When John escapes from the asylum, anxious to reclaim his place in the family, he's in for a rude awakening.

John Barrymore gives a wonderful, heartbreaking performance as the insane patriarch. His emotions are highly volatile and all worn on his sleeve, which fits his character and the situation perfectly. When he first comes home, he chances upon a young woman he believes to be his wife. It's actually Katharine Hepburn, his daughter all grown up, and the two have some very touching emotional scenes together. I don't know why this film was ignored at the Oscars, but it wasn't ignored at the Hot Toasty Rags. This is a very well-acted, well-written, thoughtful piece. Bring your Kleenexes when you sit down for this heavy drama. It might not be clear from the cheerful first scene, but you'll be in for quite a few tears by the end.

Simply heartbreaking

[Ursula_Two_Point_Seven_T · 9/10 · 28 January 2007]

Unlike some other reviewers here, I did not find the acting stagy or over-the-top melodramatic. Then again, most of the movies I watch are from the 20s and 30s, so I am used to this style of acting.

I was surprised by this movie. It breaks your heart, then never lets up. There's no light comedy to offset the drama, and there's no happy ending.

John Barrymore was amazing. My favorite performances of his have for a long time been Dr Jekyll (1920) and Svengali (1931). I've seen many other films of his (including Counsellor at Law which many people claim to be one of his best performances), but after seeing Bill of Divorcement tonight, I think this might be my most favorite performance. Sure, it was hammy, but that doesn't make it bad. Barrymore emoted his heart out, and my heart did literally ache each time he expressed his own agony and pain on screen. I was shocked to find myself in tears over his character's pain.

Billie Burke was a wonderment as well. I know her best from her slightly comic roles, such as the supercilious wife in Dinner at Eight, or her various Mrs. Topper roles (and, yes, of course Glinda the Good Witch). I didn't know she had it in her to do dramatic stuff, but she had me in tears as well on more than one occasion. She really made me feel the agony and conflict she was in, being in love with Paul Cavanagh and yet feeling pity and obligation to Barrymore.

I found the writing and the direction to be superb. One particular scene was almost sublime in its pathos: Billie Burke sitting in a chair, John Barrymore on the floor with his arms wrapped around her, his head in her lap as he cries. He can't comprehend why she doesn't want him, he asks her didn't she vow to be with him through better and worse, through sickness and in health? He asked what he did that was wrong, other than to get sick? He reminds her of what a kind person she is, how he even noticed her once stepping around a "green crawling thing" so as to not harm the creature, and he wonders if she could show pity and compassion to the green crawling thing, then why couldn't she show the same kind of compassion to him? Three-hankie stuff for sure!

Miss Hepburn storms the screen

[jjnxn-1 · 7/10 · 17 December 2014]

VERY stagy but interesting film served as Hepburn's screen bow. She's a trifle studied and Barrymore occasionally goes over the top but mixed in with that is some excellent acting by both. Billie Burke, more subdued than usual, delivers the film's best most consistent performance. She does a very fine job of showing the anguish of a life suddenly turned upside down. The three of them are really the whole show.

Considering the cast and the historical place in Kate's filmography as her debut the film is frustratingly difficult to see. Odd considering the relative availability of the rest of her canon, exempting the obscure Grace Quigley.

Some of the attitudes are dated but because of the star trio this is worth tracking down.

"The whole or the maimed"

[Steffi_P · 4/10 · 4 March 2010]

Career openings, no matter how promising they were at the time, can be disappointing in retrospect. A Bill of Divorcement was the great Katherine Hepburn's screen debut. It shows a feisty and clearly talented young actress, but her performance falls well short of the nigh on flawless standard with which most of us are familiar.

Hepburn shows a remarkable vitality and a natural touch that is so often absent from the early talkies, but she demonstrates only fleeting glimpses of all her abilities without allowing a mood or tone to dominate. We get to see her forcefulness, her credibility, her sense of humour, her emotional sincerity, but they are not bound together by control. She makes every scene an emotional climax, trying to give her all to every moment without ever once holding back. Her emotional peaks are marvellously done, but there are so many of them the overall effect is one of flatness.

The direction of George Cukor suffers from a similar problem. Cukor's career had an incredibly speedy ascent. Earlier in 1932 he was fired from the Ernst Lubitsch production One Hour with You simply for being not very good. By the end of 1933 he had garnered (and merited) his first Oscar nomination for Little Women. Sadly Bill of Divorcement belongs firmly with his novice efforts. As always, he shows himself to be a director who loves movement, be it camera manoeuvres or moving elements in the frame. He makes rapid switches from one type of movement to the other, and keeps the picture flowing, but there is no real sense to any of it, and too much of it is awkward and obtrusive. Some of the clumsiness could be down to having a second rate production crew (this was not among RKO's most prestigious productions) but still his choice of shots at any given moment is far from inspired.

But perhaps Bill of Divorcement was not the kind of material to inspire. The basic premise is a solid one, with scope for power and poignancy, but it is poorly executed. Hepburn's character has a particularly odd development. She begins as a flighty and somewhat callous teenager, saying her father might as well be dead for all she knows of him. Then when her father appears on the scene she immediately becomes his primary companion and defendant. There is no substantial build-up or prefiguring for her change of heart, meaning it lacks sincerity and therefore emotional impact.

Add to this mix the acting of John Barrymore, something which depending on the kind of picture could be either a blessing or a curse. Barrymore was like a locomotive – powerful, effective, unstoppable, but only capable of running along his own rails. Someone told him he would be playing an escapee from a lunatic asylum, so as could be predicted he hams it up into a crazed caricature. Yes, fair enough, he gets the emotionally fragile side to his character as well, but it is so exaggerated it's impossible to take seriously. On the other hand, the wonderfully professional and stylish Billie Burke delivers the one outstanding performance of the picture. She masks her character with stone-faced propriety, yet just perceptible beneath the surface is a sea of turmoil and conflict.

So Bill of Divorcement is not a product of outright incompetence. It is a work of good intentions still to be refined. Cukor would soon be specialising in making weighty stage-plays into classy cinematic entertainment without compromising their integrity. Once Hepburn gained a little more confidence she would quickly emerge as one of the most formidable performers in cinema history. Director and star would have a long and productive collaborative partnership. 1933 was to be the breakthrough year for them both. In 1932 they were still learning.

Barrymore, Hepburn & Burke, Oh My!

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 8 April 2005]

A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT is only one of the problems to confront a man returning to his family after fifteen years in an insane asylum.

Although this George Cukor-directed soap opera is chiefly remembered now for Katharine Hepburn's film debut, its other strengths should not be overlooked. The film was primarily crafted to be a showcase for the histrionic talents of John Barrymore and he certainly does not disappoint his audience. Charging his way through the range of emotions from giddy elation to utter despair, Barrymore, left profile firmly planted towards the camera, gives a wonderful master class in ham acting. This is in no way to disparage his performance -- he makes leaping a bit beyond the bounds terrifically entertaining.

Hepburn is a sensation, of course, very fresh & unspoilt, giving real urgency to the plight of a headstrong girl who must make a wretched decision during a domestic upheaval. The viewer cannot help but think of the many decades to come in which she would continue to delight moviegoers. The trouble is that Kate's excellence makes it somewhat easy to forget the film's real female lead. In a rare serious role, Miss Billie Burke gives a splendid portrayal of a good woman torn between duty to a man she no longer loves and the possibility of joy with the man she now adores. In the scene where Barrymore forces her to make a commitment to him, Burke's body language painfully communicates the agony of her breaking heart.

A fine supporting cast adds to the film's enjoyment: sensitive David Manners, one of the ablest young actors of the era, as Hepburn's loyal boyfriend; gentlemanly Paul Cavanagh as Burke's fiancé; waspish Elizabeth Patterson as Barrymore's strict sister; and elderly Henry Stephenson as the wise family doctor.

Movie mavens will have to look fast to spot the excellent young English actor, Bramwell Fletcher, unbilled as the fellow at the Christmas party who opens the windows for the carolers.

David O. Selznick production features Katharine Hepburn's film debut, with John Barrymore

[jacobs-greenwood · 7/10 · 15 December 2016]

Katharine Hepburn's impressive film debut was directed by George Cukor, who would go on to direct the actress seven more times over the next seventeen years. This Clemence Dane play, which was adapted to the screen by Howard Estabrook and Harry Wagstaff Gribble, about "insanity runs in the family" stars John Barrymore as Hilary Fairfield. He's just escaped from a mental institution after 15 years on the day that his wife Meg (Billie Burke) has divorced him, because she's interested in remarrying Gray Meredith (Paul Cavanagh). She had finally found happiness again after her husband had been shell shocked during World War I and been confined to a nearby institution.

Upon arriving at the house, Hilary mistakes his now grown daughter Sydney (Hepburn) for his wife; she is the image of her pre-war mother. Sydney had also been looking forward to her pending nuptials with fiancé Kit Humphreys (David Manners). However, the arrival of her father has upset things.

Barrymore plays his part most believably and sympathetically such that his wife feels guilty for her actions, abandoning him when he needed her most even though she'd been advised by the family doctor (Henry Stephenson) not to upset him by visiting him at the institution. Burke is equally credible in what would be a rare dramatic role for her. Sydney is able to calm her father. But after a conversation with the doctor, she realizes that she too could go insane. So she decides to break off her engagement to Kit and forego having children for fear of passing on the affliction.

Later, after Hilary pleads with Meg to give him another chance, not to leave him in his hour of need, and she agrees to stay. She tells Gray about her pity for Hilary, but when he overhears this, learning that Meg really loves Gray, he decides not to hold his ex-wife to her promise. He feigns rage and tells Sydney that he'll kill the two lovers unless she can get them to leave immediately. Meg is thrilled to learn from Sydney that she'll be able to marry Grey and the two of them leave right away. Sydney has decided to stay and care for her father, Hilary is happy and Sydney is resigned and somewhat melancholy about their future together.

David O. Selznick produced the drama; Elizabeth Patterson plays Aunt Hester.

Time hasn't been kind to "A Bill of Divorcement"...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 2 April 2008]

This George Cukor film is a creaky soap-opera from a stage play and shows its stage origins throughout with melodramatic, florid dialog and overbearingly anguished performances from BILLIE BURKE (in a rare dramatic role) and JOHN BARRYMORE, who at least doesn't appear to be reading cue cards yet. He puts heartfelt sympathy into the role of a man returning from an insane asylum who finds that his wife is in love with another man and only has pity for him--but not love.

Only when he realizes that it's useless to come between his wife (who tells him she has divorced him) and her new love, does he face the truth. He gets helpful support from his loving daughter Sidney (KATHARINE HEPBURN in her film debut) and, in fact, shares a final tender scene at the piano with his daughter playing the lovely theme Max Steiner wrote for the film.

But it's hopelessly dated in every way--and even Hepburn goes overboard with the quivering lower lip and stage acting techniques which she gradually refined for the camera. The only natural performer (by today's standards) is David MANNERS as the young man earnestly in love with Hepburn and rebuffed by her after she's told by HENRY STEPHENSON that she may have inherited the insanity gene from her father.

At a brisk seventy minutes of running time, it's still seems slow and labored and totally unreal, no matter how hard the cast tries.

The Shell Shock Redemption

[lugonian · 7/10 · 7 February 2007]

A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT (RKO, 1932), directed by George Cukor, from the play by Clemence Dane, is a dramatic story about a shell shock victim of the World War coping with the lost years of his life separated from his family, and his homecoming on Christmas Day. Starring the legendary John Barrymore, the film is notable for the motion picture debut of Broadway actress, Katharine Hepburn, whose career has become legendary, as well as the sound debut of comedienne Billie Burke, better known at the time as Mrs. Florenz Ziegfeld, in a rare dramatic performance.

The setting is England where the Fairchilds are hosting a Christmas Eve dinner party. Sydney (Katharine Hepburn) and Kit Humphreys (David Manners) are in love, plan to get married and live in Canada where they hope to become proud parents of lots of children. Her mother, Margaret (Billie Burke), is engaged to Gray Meredith (Paul Cavanaugh), a man of honor, whom she's going to marry on New Year's Day in spite of Aunt Hester's (Elizabeth Patterson) reminder that her brother, Hillary, a shell shock victim of the war having spent 15 years of his life institutionalized, is still very much her husband. The next morning, Christmas Day, Sydney is notified by telephone that her father has disappeared from the asylum and possibly on his way home. Upon his arrival, Hillary (John Barrymore) meets with a young girl whom he doesn't know (Hillary: "Who are you?" Sydney: "I believe I'm your daughter."), and soon discovers something even more startling, that his wife, "Meg," through arrangements with Gray, has secretly divorced him with intentions on remarrying. The truth about insanity in the family is brought forth by Doctor Aliot (Henry Stephenson) of the asylum, leaving Sydney with a harsh decision whether to marry as planned or give up the man she loves with the possibility that her children might be afflicted as her father and other members of the family. As for Meg, who fears her husband, even though he's cured, she's told that to take Hillary back would be more out of pity than love, and an extreme sacrifice if she intends on abandoning all hope and happiness with Gray.

Obviously a big success at the time, thanks to the fine direction by Cukor and his principle players, first time viewers might find A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT disappointing due to its age and "filmed stage play" premise. Naturally, with the exception of Hillary and/or Sydney playing the piano, there's no underscoring. Much of the story is set inside the Fairchild home with few instances where scene(s) shift out of doors. The cast is relatively small and dialog plentiful, but what's said is something to consider, especially when Doctor Alicot confronts Hillary by saying, "Face it man! One of you must suffer. Which is it to be? A healthy woman with her life before her or a man whose children ought never to have been born?" With mental illness as its subject matter, there's no harrowing scenes involving patients going berserk inside the institution. The film itself can be categorized as a "soap opera," but in reality it's a character study about family loyalty and sacrifice, and the bonding between two perfect strangers, the father and his daughter, both having a lot in common, each being musically inclined and outspoken individuals. To view it this way is to understand the circumstances involved and the outcome during its 69 minutes of screen time.

Remade in 1940 (retitled NEVER TO LOVE to avoid confusion whenever shown on television), and starring Maureen O'Hara, Adolphe Menjou, Fay Bainter and Patric Knowles in the Hepburn, Barrymore, Burke and Manners roles, it's not exactly a scene for scene replay, but the theme remains the same while not quite as powerful as the original. Menjou's big scene as he goes on his knees begging "Meg" to take him back, comes off more naturally than Barrymore with his theatrical method of overacting, but overall, an agreeable story.

Director George Cukor obviously loved Miss Hepburn, giving her the opening shot as she comes down the stairs to dance with her fiancé. David Manners, an underrated actor best remembered as the romantic hero in several Universal horror (DRACULA, THE MUMMY, THE BLACK CAT, etc.), gives a sensitive performance as the suitor fearing of possibly losing the one woman he loves (Hepburn), unless she reconsiders.

Television prints (and 2000 video release by Video Anchor Bay Enterprises) that have been circulating for many years are actually the reissue prints that bear the Selznick International studio name, as well as a few minutes of missing scenes. After its run on American Movie Classics (1997-2001), Turner Classic Movies premiered it in 2002, with its copy being the restored version with RKO Radio logo intact.

A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT goes on record as the motion picture where a new star is born, a morning glory named Katharine Hepburn. (***)

Stagey and dated

[drjgardner · 7/10 · 22 May 2016]

"Bill of Divorcement" (1932) is a film about social attitudes toward divorce and mental illness circa 1920 when the original play on which the film is based was written.

The 1921 smash hit play by English playwright and novelist Clemence Dane (aka Winifred Ashton) ran for 173 performances and helped launch the career of Katharine Cornell who played the part of the daughter, played by Katharine Hepburn in the film. The play takes place in 3 parts, and the film literally adapts the same format. Director George Cukor does manage to use a roving camera lens to offer some diversity, but the stage origins are all too evident throughout.

Dane drew her inspiration for the play from a law passed in England allowing divorce based on insanity. While men always had the right of divorce, it was granted to woman as late as 1857, and then only for adultery plus cruelty, rape, and/or incest (based on the 1801 Addison case). Problems with returning veterans caused a spike in divorce around this time and it was a hot topic in the early 20s (hence the play).

The early 20s was also a time when people believed that many traits were hereditary, following the work of Henry Goddard on the Kallikaks. Large scale sterilizations were conducted throughout the U.S. in an attempt to prevent crime, mental retardation and mental illness, all of which were assumed to be transmitted through the genes.

So, what seems like a filmed stage and dated film is in fact a filmed stage and dated film.

The film stars John Barrymore (as the recovered shell shock victim who became mentally ill), silent film star Billie Burke as the wife, and Katharine Hepburn in her first film role. All are excellent, but none better than John Barrymore who turns in what I consider to be his finest film performance.

The NY Times said "Miss Hepburn's portrayal is exceptionally fine….(her) characterization is one of the finest seen on the screen…" The Hollywood Reporter said "there is a new star on the cinema horizon, and her name is Katharine Hepburn" and the Post said Miss Hepburn "has the makings of a star."

Of Billie Burke the Times said she "..is most gratifying…has a pleasing enunciation and the ability to express herself in a serious and difficult role." I recall her best as the good witch from The Wizard of Oz"

This isn't a particularly great film, but it is noteworthy for the performances.

Very good, but also very stagy and a bit dated

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 31 January 2007]

The film is a very far-fetched tale about a woman whose husband has been insane for about two decades and in an institution. When she decides to finally re-marry, the man escapes and shows up with most of his faculties finally intact (this part is the tough to believe part). Naturally, this throws everything into chaos and it has a HUGE impact on his wife and daughter.

It is very obvious when you watch this that A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT was originally a play. This doesn't severely damage the impact of the film, but it IS a tad static and slow because it's confined just to a few rooms in a house. If you are able to look past this, it is a very interesting and thought-provoking film that offers up an interesting moral dilemma. Also, the film is worth seeing for film buffs because it's Katherine Hepburn's first film--and is A LOT better than some of her subsequent films (such as SPITFIRE and SYLVIA SCARLET). Finally, John Barrymore, as usual, is mesmerizing at times--his performance was the best of the film. The best part of his performance was when he realized his wife was marrying again and he cried and begged her to take him back as her husband (when he arrived he had no idea she'd divorced him and thought they'd pick up where they'd left off years earlier). It's a very moving and intense scene.

Insanity on the run

[princesshm27 · 7/10 · 13 June 2008]

Katherine Hepburn's first movie & she didn't look like any novice! The acting was better than the script honestly. The story was a bit peculiar though nice. It's about this family where Hepburn plays Sidney & the only daughter of a couple who had gone separate ways years ago. Hilary the husband is diagnosed with mental illness after the Shell shock & is sent to the asylum from where he escapes & returns home to surprise his family.

His beloved wife, Margaret by the passage of 15 years finds herself in love & ready to wed when Hilary returns home & finds that he had long been replaced & there was no need for him anymore. His return to sanity raises many family secrets that were attempted to be buried. Many are forced to face the painful truths & in that time the only one to support him is his daughter who removes his fears & gives up all that she loves just to have her father return home safely.

America meets a Legend

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 6 July 2012]

It is obvious from the moment that Katharine Hepburn walks towards the stairwell towards her English family home that motion pictures have found an amazing new find. And when she first encounters John Barrymore and says, "I think I am your daughter", there is no doubt about it. While the idea of Hepburn playing a young British lady might seem bizarre, she truly pulls it off. Barrymore, having spent many years in a mental institution (apparently for shell shock), has arrived home just as his ex-wife (Billie Burke) is preparing to marry another man. He has no idea that during the time of his stay, Burke divorced him because he seemed to have no chance of recovery. Now, Hepburn learns from psychiatrist Henry Stephenson that she may have inherited the potential of having a mental illness, or that her offspring might have it as well. She is engaged to handsome (but dull) David Manners and must make a decision of what to do. Burke, too, has doubts about what the right thing to do is, and Barrymore's over protective sister (Elizabeth Patterson) isn't any help.

With the exception of Manners, the entire cast is excellent. You really feel the pain and guilt everyone surrounding Barrymore feels, particularly Hepburn and Burke. Known mostly for his sometimes hammy performances and flamboyant personal life, Barrymore gives a wonderful theatrical performance that works in this case because of the nature of the character he plays. Even Patterson's meddlesome aunt has understandable motivation, which makes her really likable rather than a pain in the neck if played incorrectly.

Nobody will ever confuse Burke's sympathetic wife and mother with her most famous role as Glinda in "The Wizard of Oz" or her later feather-brained matrons. When given a serious role, Burke could deliver a very touching performance and keep the helium like sounds she had in lighter parts out of it. Hepburn's voice, too, is not the imitatable one she had in "Morning Glory" or "Stage Door" (especially every time she had to utter the simple word "really") or the shaky matronly voice of "The Lion in Winter" or "On Golden Pond". She is almost Garbo-like in her looks and demeanor, American royalty on celluloid. No wonder America had a love affair with her on screen for over 60 years!

Dated but Great

[Michael_Elliott · 26 February 2008]

Bill of Divorcement, A (1932)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

After years in a mental hospital, a man (John Barrymore) returns to his wife (Billie Burke) and daughter (katharine Hepburn) but he doesn't realize the wife has gotten a divorce. I was really shocked to see how much I enjoyed this film from director George Cukor. Some moments are heavy handled but other than that I found this to be the perfect little drama. The highlight is certainly the performance by Barrymore, which is one of the best I've seen from him. He plays it straight for the most part and manages to be quite touching during several scenes. When he has to go over the top, ala insane, that comes off very well too. Burke is good as well and Hepburn, in her screen debut, really shines. David Manners of Dracula fame gives a good performance as well.

I've seen better Katharine Hepburn

[Calysta · 7/10 · 1 January 2000]

Now wildly dated, this film is probably more famous for fostering the debut of the greatest actress of all time, Katharine Hepburn.

On all accounts, both screenplay and dramatic elements are slight, despite including a cast of John Barrymore and Billie Burke. However, this still is an acceptable movie from the the 1930s, and any Katharine Hepburn film is hard to pass up.

It is interesting to see the legend Hepburn became being moulded in the early stages, and her performance as Sydney Fairchild, a young girl, passing up her chance at marriage to David Manners because of her fear of insanity and in order to look after her Father, is definitely the strongest in the movie.

Knowing there are stronger Katharine Hepburn movies of her days at RKO, such as "Little Women", "Stage Door" and "Bringing Up Baby" is comforting enough. The same can be said for George Cukor's direction.

Only for Katharine Hepburn fans, but I suppose is still passable on other accounts.

Rating: 6.5/10

Historically interesting but badly delivered

[kijii · 4/10 · 29 November 2016]

As far as film history is concerned, this RKO movie is interesting as Katharine Hepburn's film debut. It also marked the beginning of her long professional relationship with George Cukor: they eventually made 10 movies together.

The movie also marked Billie Burke's debut in 'talkies.' She was forced to return to the screen to support her husband, Flo Ziegfeld. After his long string of Broadway successes, he was broke in 1932. He died about two months after this movie was released. His story is fairly well covered in the multi-Oscar winning movie, The Great Zeigfeld (1936) with Myrna Loy playing Burke. The year after A Bill of Divorcement was released, Burk, Barrymore, and Cukor rejoined in MGM's ensemble work, Dinner at Eight (1933), and Hepburn went on to make her first Oscar winning movie, Morning Glory (1933), for RKO. While the history surrounding A Bill of Divorcement is interesting, the film is close to a flop for me, saved only by Hepburn's great acting.

The movie concerns a family working its way around its absent patriarch , Hilary Fairfield (John Barrymore). Hilary had been in a mental institution for 15 years due to being shell shocked in the Great War. His wife, Meg (Billie Burk), is serving him with a bill of divorcement so that she can go on with her life and marry again. His daughter, Sydney (Katherine Hepburn), is set to marry her boyfriend, Kit (David Manners), while only his sister, Hester (Elizabeth Patterson), knows the real reason for Hilary's sickness: the awful family history of mental illness. When Hilary escapes from the hospital, the family is forced to deal with him.

This dated melodrama doesn't play well for today's audiences who have seen vast improvements in the treatment of mental illness, its portrayal in the movies, and its now-dated stigma. In the movie, Barrymore is pitiful as a whimpering shell of a man who refers to the mental hospital as 'that place.' The family doctor and Hilary's sister are brutal about his disease and its inescapable prognosis for Hilary and all of his blood offspring.

Barrymore's acting is atrocious! Not only do you 'catch him acting,' but the 'acting' that you catch him doing is bad. You become so impatient when he delivers his lines that you want to finish them for him rather than endure his clumsiness. To see a bad job of early sound editing, watch Barrymore's pantomiming his piano 'sonata' at the end of the movie. What you SEE and what you HEAR don't even remotely match.

Billie Burk's performance is better than we are used to. Her voice doesn't warble, and we can feel some sympathy with her situation, at least as she understands it. The entire movie is saved by Hepburn's loving and caring debut performance.

Let Christmas last Forever

[jayraskin1 · 9/10 · 13 October 2015]

This is such a pleasure for a cinema lover. It has delights at every turn. First, it is Katherine Hepburn's screen debut. She is as good here as she is in almost every film she ever did. Only here, she is younger and maybe even more beautiful than in her other films. John Barrymore is at the height of his incredible acting career and maybe not as great as in Svengali or Topaze or Twentieth Century, (the material isn't that strong)but he is still intense and exciting to watch. Some people have criticized Billie Burke for her melodramatic performance, but one should consider that her husband, Broadway producer Flo Zeigfeld, died during the making of the film. You can tell that it was terrible for her doing such a difficult role at this moment in her life. For this reason I found her performance quite touching. Finally, this was George Cukor's ninth film and it is as smooth as any of his later films. If you are a movie fan, don't miss it.

Fine performances from Hepburn and Barrymore but little else...

[LDB_Movies · 6/10 · 29 October 2000]

I recommend this movie for Lionel Barrymore and Katherine Hepburn fans only. Their performances are clearly the highlight. The movie is very "talky" as it was a play before becoming a movie.

Unfortunately, no one told Billie Burke that this wasn't going to be a silent movie - as she overacts facial expressions throughout the film. Some of her blunders, however, can be blamed on the overly-melodramatic dialogue.

Some of the cross-cutting of close-ups without a concern for continuity are an embarrassment, and would later be spoofed in variety shows such as The Carol Burnett Show. There really is a scene where a man says to a woman, "You've changed", and when the next close-up of the woman is shown, she HAS changed - her hair style and even hair COLOR is completely different! It's laughable.

Rating - 6/10 (cannot recommend, except for die-hard fans of the actors featured).

A star is born

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 27 September 2018]

A Bill of Divorcement marks the film debut of Katharine Hepburn and her talent is clearly there to be seen. Hepburn was lucky that she had George Cukor as director.

The film is an adaptation of a stage play and unfortunately it is rather creaky and hemmed in.

This melodrama stars John Barrymore as Hilary Fairfield. He was shell shocked in World War One, which unleashed hereditary madness. He has been locked up in an asylum for 15 years, but has now escaped and returned home.

Hilary discovers that his daughter Sidney (Hepburn) has grown up and his wife has divorced him and plans to remarry. A setup that has no room for him despite his desperate pleas to his now divorced wife. His daughter though learns the realities of her father's madness.

Barrymore can be overdramatic but it actually works in this film. The film though is too old fashioned and stage bound that should had been opened up.

A stagy transcription of a stage play!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 18 August 2017]

Executive producer: David O. Selznick. Copyright 30 September 1932 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Mayfair: 2 October 1932. U.S. release: September 1932. Re-issued by Selznick International Pictures. U.K. release: April 1933. 70 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: An escaped lunatic regains his sanity, only to find his wife is divorcing him and his daughter has inherited his mental illness.

NOTES: Film debut of Katharine Hepburn. Following its successful opening season in London's West End, the stage play was presented on Broadway at the George M. Cohan Theater on 10 October, 1921, starring Allan Pollock, Katharine Cornell and Janet Beecher in the roles now played by Barrymore, Hepburn and Burke. The play ran a most respectable 173 performances. The first film version was released in England in 1922 with Malcolm Keen, Constance Binney and Fay Compton, respectively in the Barrymore-Hepburn-Burke roles. In the 1940 re-make, directed by John Farrow, these roles were played by Adolphe Menjou, Maureen O'Hara and Fay Bainter.

COMMENT: As the very title itself seems to imply, "A Bill of Divorcement" is a creaky, old-fashioned, stagy melodrama. In this screen version, Cukor brings it to often stilted, often overly theatrical, yet often curiously moving life. Thanks to Barrymore and Hepburn. No doubt about it, "The Great Profile" is superb. Oddly, contemporary critics thought his performance "restrained". It's certainly not by to-day's standards, yet still most involving and compelling. Almost as impressive — perhaps more — is Hepburn in her debut movie role.

The support cast, alas — with the sole exception of Elizabeth Patterson's smooth study of a recriminating old spinster — fails to come up to the Barrymore-Hepburn standard. Billie Burke emerges as particularly forced, contrived and artificial. She seems out of place in a dramatic vehicle. So does David Manners who comes across as a priggish pain, whilst posh-accented Henry Stephenson and Paul Cavanagh rate only as lesser embarrassments in the talking automatons department because they are not around so much.

Virtually no attempt has been made to open up the original stage play for the screen. Thanks to Cukor's skill, this does not become apparent until about half-way through. At this point even the classiest of technical expertise cannot overcome the dead weight of Dane's heavy-handed plotting and too obvious construction.

Absence of background music (which gives the dialogue a hollow ring) doesn't help either.