''A Bill of Divorcement'' is a 1940 film directed by

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, in 1942 he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

. It was also known as ''Never to Love'' and was based on a 1921 British play of the same name, written by

Clemence Dane Clemence Dane CBE is the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton (21 February 1888 – 28 March 1965), an English novelist and playwright. Life and career After completing her education, Dane went to Switzerland to work as a French tutor, but returned ...

that was filmed in 1932 with

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

and

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

Plot

Hilary Fairchild (Adolphe Menjou) returns home after a long spell in a lunatic asylum. He has regained his sanity, but finds that his strong-willed daughter Sydney (Maureen O’Hara ) has grown up and is planning to marry and his wife (Fay Bainter) has divorced him.

Cast

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural ...

as Sydney Fairchild *

Adolphe Menjou Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley Ku ...

as Hilary Fairchild *

Fay Bainter Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968) was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Jezebel'' (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Bainter wa ...

as Margaret Fairchild *

Herbert Marshall Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall (23 May 1890 – 22 January 1966) was an English stage, screen and radio actor who starred in many popular and well-regarded Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. After a successful theatrical career in the Uni ...

as Gray Meredith * Dame May Whitty as Hester Fairchild *

Patric Knowles Reginald Lawrence Knowles (11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995), better known as Patric Knowles, was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he made his film debut in 1932, and played either first or second fi ...

as John Storm *

C. Aubrey Smith Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937) ...

as Dr. Alliot *

Ernest Cossart Ernest Cossart (born Emil Gottfried von Holst, 24 September 1876 – 21 January 1951) was an English-American actor. After a stage career in England, he moved to the US, appearing on Broadway and all around the country. In the 1930s and 1940s, ...

as Rev. Dr. Pumphrey *

Kathryn Collier Kathryn is a feminine given name and comes from the Greek meaning for 'pure'. It is a variant of Katherine (given name), Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: * Kathryn Beaumont (born 1938), English voice actress and school teacher ...

as Basset *

Lauri Beatty Lauri may refer to: * Lauri (given name), including a list of people with the name * Lauri (surname), including a list of people with the name * Lauri, Põlva County, a village in Estonia * Lauri, Rapla County, a village in Estonia * Lauri, Võru ...

as Susan

Production

The film was announced in November 1939 with the lead roles allocated to

and

. O'Hara had just moved to Hollywood with

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...

and appeared in ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame''. Producer Robert Sisk and director John Farrow had made a number of films together including the popular ''

Five Came Back ''Five Came Back'' is a 1939 American black-and-white melodrama from RKO Radio Pictures produced by Robert Sisk, directed by John Farrow, written by Jerry Cady, Dalton Trumbo, and Nathanael West, and starring Chester Morris and Lucille Ball. ...

'' (1939). It was considered an "A" picture – Farrow and Sisk's first such movie at RKO. Filming started 2 December 1939.

Reception

The film recorded a loss of $104,000.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bill of Divorcement 1940 films 1940 drama films American black-and-white films American drama films American films based on plays Films about divorce Films directed by John Farrow Films scored by Roy Webb Films set in England RKO Pictures films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films