''The Divorcee'' is a 1919 American society drama starring

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

in her last silent feature film. The film is based on a 1907 play, ''

Lady Frederick ''Lady Frederick'' is a comedy by the British writer W. Somerset Maugham, written early in his career. The play was first seen in London in 1907, and was very successful, running for 422 performances. The title role was played by Ethel Irving. I ...

'' by young

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

, which had starred Barrymore on Broadway. The play was already quite dated when this film was made, but the actress was always comfortable with this kind of soap-operish

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...

tic material.

Herbert Blaché Herbert Blaché (5 October 1882 – 23 October 1953), born Herbert Reginald Gaston Blaché-Bolton was a British-born American film director, producer and screenwriter, born of a French father. He directed more than 50 films between 1912 and ...

directed, and

June Mathis June Mathis (born June Beulah Hughes, January 30, 1887 – July 26, 1927) was an American screenwriter. Mathis was the first female executive for Metro/MGM and at only 35, she was the highest paid executive in Hollywood. In 1926 she was voted ...

wrote the scenario based on Maugham's play. The film was produced and distributed by the

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a Film, motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leas ...

company. It is believed to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. The last known surviving copy was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire.

Plot

As described in a film magazine, Betsy O'Hara (Barrymore) marries Lord Frederick Berolles (Ratcliffe) to please her parents but soon falls in love with another man Sir Paradise Fuldes (Herbert) whom she had initially rejected due to his poverty. Her husband discovers this and becomes verbally abusive towards her and when Sir Fuldes soon comes into fortune, she finds herself more in anguish than ever. Her situation is further worsened when her sister Kitty (Childers), while married to a man of position, has foolishly compromised herself with Robert Montgomery (Kilgour), a cad who forces her to visit his rooms on threat of disclosure. While assisting her sister in the recovery of some old love letters, she is surprised in the apartments of Montgomery and takes responsibility to save her sister's reputation. She is then divorced and her social status is destroyed. Betsy visits Monte Carlo and while gambling, she meets the married Lord Charles Mereston (Entwistle) who falls in love with her. Despite no encouragement from Lady Frederick, he will not take no for an answer and continues to pursue her. He also happens to be the brother in law to Sir Fuldes whose sister, Lady Mereston (Gordon) appeals for his help to intervene in the matter. Initially resentful of the interference, she sends Lord Mereston about his business using an ingenious device and eventually finds her reward in the arms of Paradise.

Cast

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''The Divorcee'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors in reel 3 cut the holdup of a car, in reel 4 cut two holdup scenes except a direction to flash a three-foot length showing the bandit riding away, and in reel 5 cut the bandit riding away.

References

External links

* * * *
Lantern slide to the film
archived)
Scene from the film, with Ethel Barrymore and Holmes Herbert

still photo
with Maude Turner Gordon, unidentified player, Ethel Barrymore, Holmes Herbert (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Divorcee, The 1919 films American silent feature films American films based on plays Films directed by Herbert Blaché Lost American films Metro Pictures films 1919 drama films American black-and-white films Films about sisters Adultery in films Films about divorce Silent American drama films 1919 lost films Lost drama films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films

Plot

Cast

See also

Reception

References

External links