''The Divorce of Lady X'' is a 1938 British Technicolor

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film produced by

London Films London Films Productions is a British film and television production company founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda and from 1936 based at Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire, near London. The company's productions included ''The Private Life ...

; it stars Merle Oberon,

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He w ...

and Binnie Barnes. It was directed by

Tim Whelan Tim Whelan (November 2, 1893 – August 12, 1957) was an American film director, writer, producer and actor best remembered for his writing credits on ''Harold Lloyd'' and '' Harry Langdon'' comedies, and his directing of mostly British films (e. ...

and produced by Alexander Korda from a

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, f ...

by Ian Dalrymple and

Arthur Wimperis Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

, adapted by

Lajos Bíró Lajos Bíró (; born Lajos Blau; 22 August 1880 – 9 September 1948) was a Hungarian novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who wrote many films from the early 1920s through the late 1940s. Life He was born in Nagyvárad, Kingdom of Hunga ...

from the play ''Counsel's Opinion'' by Gilbert Wakefield. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and

Lionel Salter Lionel Salter (8 September 1914 – 1 March 2000) was an English pianist, conductor, writer and administrator who had a long association with the British Broadcasting Corporation.Sadie, Stanley, rev. Jon Stroop. 'Salter, Lionel (Paul)' in ''Gr ...

and the cinematography by Harry Stradling. The film is a remake of the 1933 film ''

Counsel's Opinion ''Counsel's Opinion'' is a 1933 British romantic comedy film starring Henry Kendall and Binnie Barnes. It was one of three films directed in Britain in the early 1930s by Canadian-American Allan Dwan and was an early production from Alexande ...

'', also from London Films and in which Binnie Barnes appeared in the role played by Merle Oberon.

Plot

Party guests at a smart London hotel are stranded by a thick evening fog. All rooms end up being taken. Leslie Steele, a young, pretty but madcap socialite, barges her way into Everard Logan's suite. He promptly registers one objection after another, but all of his efforts to evict Leslie are to no avail. He thus agrees to a compromise, allowing her use of the bedroom, while he takes another room in the suite. She spends the entire time teasing and taunting him. By breakfast, Logan changes his tune and insists they meet again. But while he's out of the room, dressing, she mysteriously bolts for home, which she shares with her grandfather/judge. He informs her that Logan is a barrister specializing in divorce cases. The zany, impulsive Ms. Steele then tells her grandfather she intends to marry Logan. To her surprise, she learns that Logan will be pleading a case before her grandfather's court that day. So she attends the proceeding to observe her intended in action – and to her further surprise, sees him mercilessly rip to shreds a woman accused of adultery. As Leslie and Everard spend the rest of the film struggling to adjust to each other's whims and differences, a subplot involving Lord Mere, one of Logan's clients, is interwoven into the complicated story-line. A confusion of identities ensues, as at one point, Logan is led to mistakenly believe that Leslie is actually Lord Mere's wife. But after a weekend fox hunt at the lord's manor, all conflicts are satisfactorily explained away, and the two lovers are reconciled. By the story's end, Leslie has successfully transformed Everard from the inhumane, hostile, woman-browbeating counselor she witnessed earlier into an empathetic, understanding, sensitive courtroom-interrogator of "the gentle sex".

Cast

* Merle Oberon as Leslie Steele *

as Everard Logan * Binnie Barnes as Claire, Lady Mere *

as Lord Mere * Morton Selten as Lord Steele * Victor Rietti as hotel manager *J. H. Roberts as Slade *Gertrude Musgrove as Saunders, the maid * Gus McNaughton as room service waiter *H. B. Hallam as Jefferies, the butler *Eileen Peel as Mrs. Johnson * Lewis Gilbert as Tom

Critical reception

A reviewer for '' Variety'' wrote: "Alexander Korda's Technicolored comedy is rich, smart entertainment", and also praised the acting: "Oberon impresses. Olivier does his role pretty well, retarded somewhat by an annoying bit of pouting business. Two key performances which sparkle are those of Ralph Richardson and Morton Selten". whereas several decades later, Leonard Maltin described the film as a "Cute but extremely dated screwball comedy,"; and the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...

'' found the whole thing "quite amusing...in a daft and inconsequential way". Emanuel Levy gave the film a "C" grade and wrote that "Though opulent in color costumes and design, this minor British screwball comedy is mostly known for its on-screen teaming of two young actors, Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson, in their pre-Hollywood era, who would become legendary stars".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Divorce of Lady X, The 1938 romantic comedy films 1930s color films British romantic comedy films Films shot at Denham Film Studios London Films films Remakes of British films British films based on plays Films directed by Tim Whelan Films scored by Miklós Rózsa Films produced by Alexander Korda Films with screenplays by Ian Dalrymple Films about divorce Films set in London 1930s British films