Don't Change Your Husband

In his autobiography Cecil B. DeMille did not spend time on Don't Change Your Husband. Except to say that this was his first film with a new discovery Gloria Swanson. He then went on for a couple of pages talking about his friendship over the years with her.

Don't Change Your Husband was one of DeMille's silent comedies with a Victorian moral to every one. Here Swanson is a bored wife married to comfortable and stuffy DeMille regular Elliott Dexter. He barely notices the wife any more, keeping his head buried in the newspaper in the morning. He also has a nasty habit of eating raw onions and that will kill romance like nothing else will.

But he's provided for Swanson well including a nice set of jewelry and even though Dorothy Parker hadn't said it yet, diamonds are a girl's best friend.

One day a real Snidely Whiplash type villain Lew Cody starts putting the moves on Swanson. She divorces Dexter and marries Cody. But Cody just wants her jewels for business and to shower on another and badder girl Julia Faye.

DeMille was a child of the Victorian era and this film ends just about as the title suggests. The title itself really gives it all away.

Julia Faye who was one of DeMille's mistresses appeared in most of his feature films right up to the second Ten Commandments. Another was Jeanie MacPherson who was an actress as well as a screenwriter. She did the script for this and many other DeMille films. Lastly there was Gladys Rosson who was his private secretary and on every set right up to The Greatest Show On Earth. He had a regular harem going, but all these women even after the relationship was over were well taken care of work wise.

In fact Faye has one of the more meatier parts in her career as the other woman in Don't Change Your Husband. If this was sound one can only imagine the dialog between Swanson and Faye.

Don't Change Your Husband was the beginning of a fine collaboration between a great director and great star.

No more corned beef and cabbage for her!

This little romantic comedy clips along from scene to scene with a few exotic twists (some imaginary scenes and a costume party). All of this is centered around the wife of the husband(s) who is looking to break out of the doldrums, played by Gloria Swanson (she is twenty here!). Both the leading men have a natural air that is convincing and of course Swanson is perfect in all kinds of moods, from frivolous to worried to hopeful.

Behind all the games and apparent lightheartedness is that old serious problem of staying in love and not straying in love. There's a little corniness, but director DeMille is on top of keeping it snappy and believable in all. As with many films from this period, the subtitles do not just tell what they are saying (or thinking) but often give a kind of philosophical insight, as if to justify the tragedy (or raciness). And there is that higher purpose here, probably better without the instructional text, but it's part of the narrative style, and it's kind of quaint.

If you are looking for visual or formal amazement, you won't find it here. But as a story, well acted, and filmed with precision and economy, it's really a great example. The events might not come as a total surprise, but it's such a modern love story, set almost a hundred years ago, it's a gas. And did I saw Swanson was perfect?

Gloria Swanson (as Leila Porter) is an understandably bored wife. Workaholic husband Elliott Dexter (as James Denby Porter) has "lost his romance" along with his waistline; he also smokes cigars in bed, eats onions, and snores. He can barely remember his own anniversary - which is attended by caddish Lew Cody (as Schuyler Van Sutphen); the younger man eyes Ms. Swanson's voluptuous figure, and flirts unabashedly. Soon, Swanson is drawn to Mr. Cody. Then, Mr. Dexter decides to try and get her back. Who will win?

The three principals are fine, with Swanson most impressive in the pivotal role as the woman torn. Julia Faye grabs supporting honors as Cody's other interest, "Toodles"; off-screen, she tempted director Cecil B. DeMille. The DeMille touch is evident; especially in an imaginary sequence wherein Cody promises Swanson... "Pleasure… Wealth… Love…"

******* Don't Change Your Husband (1/26/19) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Gloria Swanson, Elliott Dexter, Lew Cody

The film "Don't Change Your Husband" Starring Gloria Swanson and Directed by award winning director Cecil Demille was overall a pretty fun film with twists thrown in there to keep things interesting. The film revolves around Leila Porter (Gloria Swanson's character) and how she basically got sick of her husband James resulting in divorce, she thought that once she was a away from him she would be much happier with another man but thing's didn't turn out the way she would have liked them to. She moves on to marry another man and sure enough things didn't go as exactly planned when she realizes that he's much worse than her original husband - hence the title "Don't Change Your Husband." It's just a fun film with a somewhat shallow plot but fun nonetheless, the story line keeps you interested and although it is a silent film it's still worth seeing at least once, not that there's anything wrong with a good silent film. Great Actors and Great Story line.

This movie was certainly an interesting one to watch. The storyline is one that I can see happening even in today's modern era. All the characters had personality traits that travel through the ages.

For this movie I did not expect how beautiful the setting would be. All the different sculptures, paintings, furniture, rooms and decorations kept your mind thinking and alive as the movie played on. The costumes were beautiful and it was something you don't see often in movies today.

Overall, I would recommend this movie. It was certainly one that kept my interest although it was a bit boring in the beginning. The plot is something that can happen today and it can teach us all a lesson about how to deal with our lives.