Consolation Marriage
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Consolation Marriage |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 81 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Paul Sloane |
| script | Humphrey Pearson , Bill Cunningham |
| production | Myles Connolly , William LeBaron for RKO |
| music | Max Steiner |
| camera | J. Roy Hunt |
| cut | Archie Marshek |
| occupation | |
| |
Consolation Marriage is a 1931 romantic comedy that featured Irene Dunne's first star role after her breakthrough in Cimarron .
action
Steve Porter is dumped for another man by his lover Elaine. He later meets Mary Porter, who is also lovesick because her long-term relationship with Jeff Hunter has come to an end. The two unhappy lovers get to know each other and find each other sympathetic. In order not to have to spend life alone, the two marry with the strict intention of having an open marriage. Instead of love and romance, the relationship should be built on respect and mutual respect. Both assure each other: As soon as one of them discovers true love, he can end the relationship immediately and demand a divorce without problems or reproaches. Soon after, their child is born and despite the unromantic circumstances of the marriage, Mary and Steve like each other more and more. After three relatively happy years, Elaine returns and makes advances to Steve. Mary also uses the situation for a romance with a suitor. In the end, Steve and Mary find each other again and confess their love.
background
Irene Dunne came to Hollywood in 1930 after a relatively successful career as a singer on various Broadway shows . Her second film, the western drama Cimarron , earned her a nomination for an Oscar for best actress. Her studio RKO did not really know how to use the sudden fame of Irene Dunne and the actress initially only appeared in supporting roles. It was not until mid-1931 that those responsible decided to use Dunne's popularity with the fans and consistently build it into a catchy name at the box office. In the romantic comedy Consolation Marriage , her name appears for the first time alone above the title, a sure sign of an actor's status as a star.
The film discusses different models of coexistence among the sexes. In addition to the pure marriage of convenience without love, the love marriage, the extramarital relationship and the purely platonic friendship between man and woman are more or less equal. In a comparable way, Illicit and Barbara Stanwyck from the same year or The Animal Kingdom with Ann Harding also tried to clarify the question of how a modern marriage could be structured, which in particular does not restrict the free development of the wife and at the same time the need for romance and security Does enough.
In the years that followed, Irene Dunne established herself as the studio's most popular female star. But in the internal hierarchy she was behind Ann Harding and Katharine Hepburn and was usually only assigned the roles that had been rejected by the other actresses. It was only after she left the studio in 1935 that Dunne managed to become one of Hollywood's highest paid stars with salaries of up to $ 150,000 and an annual income of regularly more than $ 400,000.
Reviews
In Variety there were words of praise for the leading actress:
“Irene Dunne is good in her first starring role. As far as its portrayal is concerned, it is as good as in "Cimarron". "
The New York Times named the film:
“[...] a nice little romance with well-written dialogues [...]. Miss Dunne's portrayal is competent, almost as good as her role in "Cimarron". "
Web links
- Consolation Marriage in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Consolation Marriage at Turner Classic Movies (English)
- Background information