Consolation Marriage

New York reporter Steve "Rollo" Porter (Pat O'Brien) returns to find his longtime girlfriend Elaine had married someone else. Shopkeeper Mary Brown (Irene Dunne) is heartbroken with her beloved marrying a rich woman. The two left-behind souls encounter each other in a restaurant.

The meet-cute needs to be cuter. Getting arrested is actually a pretty good turn. They get to bond over some fun banter. The other two don't have enough screen time to matter to the audience. The movie is trying for a love quadrangle. Those are hard to pull off at the best of movies. I do like Steve and Mary together. The romance gets bumpy and I am disagreeing with them as much as agreeing. I really don't like the pulling apart after they had the baby. It's hard to pick sides in this one.

This mawkish stilted chick flic from the 30s is concrete proof that they made them as bad back then as they do today (for a lot more money and with a longer shooting schedule). On the face of it Consolation Marriage is about a pair of progressive adults burned by love in the past who enter into an open marriage to protect themselves but find it hard to extricate themselves from it when both ex-beaus come a calling again.

Consolation Marriage might have had a chance to resonate with its controversial theme if its bohemian protagonists didn't project such middle class personas. Irene Dunne's Mary makes a sorry attempt at being care free especially when she's deciding to jettison her 18 month old. Pat O'Brien in the meantime comes across cold and unemotional as if listening to confessions. A blond Myrna Loy looks alluring enough but not when she's reduced to fluttering her eyes and mouthing sappy lines like "Oh darling look at this glorious night, it was made for us" to a champion of the Catholic guilt complex.

Director John Sloane does little to inspire his actors who morosely deliver their lines in two shot filled with pregnant pauses and embarrassed looks. Sloane manages to zap the energy out of nearly every shot while his clumsy cuts from scene to scene plays havoc with time and place.

If there is any consolation to Consolation Marriage it is that Ms. Dunne at times rises above the material and Pat's anemic passion to project an effective and ideal portrait of a modern woman in turmoil. Thing is she does it just as well in better pictures.

This is a touching comedy/drama for 1931 when they all were feeling the ropes of this new medium.

Irene Dunne and Pat O'Brien marry each other on the rebound after each of their true loves marry someone else. It is agreed to be an "open" marriage, where each can leave at any time with no questions asked. The film tries to answer the question: what happens if either of their former loves came back and want them? That is exactly what happens in duplicate - both loves, Myrna Loy and Lester Vail, return almost at the same time and want their former sweethearts back. I enjoyed watching the stars perform even though the story was routine and the final outcome was never really in doubt. The supporting cast, especially John Halliday, was all very good. Myrna Loy was still stuck in her "bad girl" roles.

Watch for the scene where Dunne and O'Brien drive by New York's RKO Mayfair. Its marquee is emblazoned with lights heralding two RKO features shown earlier in 1931, A Woman of Experience and Millie. You can even pick out ZaSu Pitts on the marquee, but a large screen TV and a VCR in the slow motion mode will help.

I had never heard of this film. The plot is very different and modern for the time.

Irene Dunne and Pat O'Brien have both been dumped by the loves of their lives. They are both sure they could never love anyone else. After meeting and realizing how much they have in common, they joke about getting married to each other. And then they do! It is all with the agreement that if someone else comes along, they will part ways, wish each other luck, and have no hard feelings. It sounds like an odd setup but as the movie plays out, it all seems to make sense and be a very natural and modern way of viewing their marriage.

They enjoy the relaxed relationship and each others companionship. However, neither one of them can completely forgot their first loves. They even talk about them openly. No secrets. They even have a child and it is all taken in stride.

The real plot comes along when, almost at the same time, the old loves come back into their lives. Each one is unsure what to do and unsure of what the other one is going to do. It sounds like the story for a comedy or farce, but this is not played for laughs. It is acted out as a real believable story and it actually works.

Irene Dunne is perfect in her part and Pat O'Brien is boyish and charming. Myrna Loy plays O'Brien's first love. Her part is moderate (only really seen in the beginning and then the end of the film), but I have never seen Myrna Loy looking more stunning!!

The ending is satisfying and, overall, it is a good film worth watching. It is not too heavy nor too tedious. It is just the right film to watch when you are not sure what you are in the mood for. This will be a perfect choice.

Check out this classy classic.