Customer Reviews

Divorce of Lady X [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I cannot believe no one has reviewed this film yet! Okiday, where do I start? This is one of the best little-known movies out there...ranks right up there with *Stand-In* (Leslie Howard, Joan Blondell) as one of the best obscure intellectual comedies out there. Merle Oberon is the vivacious and mysterious "Lady X" that attourney Laurence Olivier becomes enamored of, and although she completely butchers her accent (SHE'S an American? Yeah, right), she still delivers a solid performance. Olivier makes a terrific naive young lawyer, and is completely captivating (and, may I add, pretty darn sexy). Hilarious mix-ups and such crap ensue. Not the greatest film ever made, but one of the most enjoyable, and a fabulous film all-around. By the way, contrary to the box art, the film is actually in color (at least the version I have on tape is, and you can tell when things are colorized).

One of the most charming of the "screwball comedies." Highlights include the delightful performances of Laurence Olivier as the smug young attorney and Merle Oberon as the lady who taunts him, but the performance you should not miss is that of Ralph Richardson as the dotty husband who hires Olivier to arrange the divorce proceedings that complicate the plot. Richardson and Olivier seem to have established a rapport in this film that made them exceptionally comfortable acting together. Each carries his own role in a way that enhances the wit and the humor of the other's part. Richardson is at his understated best in the scene where he leaves Olivier's office totally mystified by some chance remark but filled with suspicion! The film is full of gleeful surprises, and the plot just intricate enough to hold up under a third, a fourth, or a fifth viewing. It lacks the sophistication of Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins' "Trouble in Paradise," but it is as full of exhilarating surprises. Here's a chance to see the young Olivier playing the daft lover. Compare this to his suave performance in the more mature role of the Doctor in "Uncle Vanya."

This movie is one that shouldn't be taken seriously. It's a cute little romp about a girl(Merle Oberon) playing a joke on a naive gorgeous young lawyer(Lawrence Olivier). He easily falls in love with her but thinks that she is a wicked woman who's been married several times. She plays along and lets him think that it's true causing all kinds of funny chaos in the life of the love -struck lawyer. Lawrence Olivier looks especially dashing and handsome! This is a must see for any Olivier and Oberon fan and for anyone else who loves no brainer type flicks.

Darlings, let not Leonard Maltin's little review turn you off. _Lady X_ is a fine piece of work, especially if you appreciate the more important aspects of the cinematic art form: namely, adorable actresses, marvellous clothing, and farfetched plotlines. It's frothy, a fine little trifle of a happy bon-bon, and you simply must see it.

I have watched this movie three times. It never fails to make me laugh, and brighten my mood. True it is not a thought provoking plot, but if you want to sit back relax, and laugh this is the movie to watch. I had to buy it because I enjoy it so much.

Be aware that this is a CDR with the purple colored back DVD disc. Also be aware, the company LOGO appears on the screen throughout the entire feature film, like you see on cable TV, with any number of stations who practice this same thing. It is very annoying to PURCHASE a video with this where you'd hope to escape obnoxious commercialism. Anyway, this copy does have a good recorded quality so that is fine. Also, at this time, no one else is making this really nice movie on DVD that is better. Although to settle for this version is the option, You now know as it is not stated in the ad, it is CDR, and you must contend with that very annoying company stamp logo on the screen throughout the picture.

I first saw this movie on VHS, but this version is better. It is slightly better in picture quality. If you look at the date of this picture, it's old... don't expect the quality of a modern picture. You'll be disappointed. However, this picture makes up for the lack of picture quality with the story and the repartee between the characters.

Undoubtedly Pygmalion and this movie were the most remarkable films in the comedy genre that somehow seemed to foresee what U.K. would give as legacy to the world after the forced interruption due the WW2 in an interval that spanned fourteen years and that would reappear with "Kind hears and cornets" in 1950.

A lawyer allows a lady spends the night at his place. But as you know the scandal is the half of the sin, and although it happened nothing, he is branded as "the other man" with laughable and unpredictable consequences that will make you love this film as I did it.

A must-see.

Film is witty, charming, and fun. Nice to watch Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon in their happier days (they hated each other later in Wuthering Heights), but this rating is not for the film itself, it's a rating on the DVD quality only. This is basically a VHS transfer to a DVD. Gritty quality and faded colors. If you get the chance to catch the oh-so-much-nicer Turner Classic Movies showing of the film, you'll see a big difference. If the TCM version was on the DVD, then easily 5 stars. This DVD only gets a generous 2 stars (1 star because it's on DVD and 1 more because I've seen worse).

So Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon did two films together. The Divorce of Lady X and Wuthering Heights, one of my favorite films. (Merele Oberon and Laurence Olivier so famously did not get along on the set, as he called her "A bloody little idiot." See, he was probably upset Vivien Leigh, his lover at the time, didn't get cast. Yet Despite their off camera relationship though, Wuthering Heights turned out to be a fantastic film, and in fact, made Laurence Olivier a mega star.)
However, this isn't about Wuthering Heights. This is about the other film Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier did, before they butted heads in Wuthering Heights. It's not a cinematic masterpiece like Wuthering Heights, but The Divorce of Lady X is a cute film with some cute dialogue and a cute storyline. All in all, it's cute. Cute, cute, cute.

Olivier plays a misogynistic lawyer by the name of Everard Logan, who ends up spending a chaste night in a hotel with Oberon's character, Leslie, due to a bad London fog. He thinks she's married, when in fact she's not, but none the less, he becomes hopelessly in love with her. After their chaste night, he is asked by an old school friend, Lord Mere to represent him in divorce court, in a case agianst his wife. Everard thinks it's Leslie, she doesn't tell him she's not, and hilarity ensues.

Easily the best part of the movie is the first thirty minutes, when Olivier's character and Oberon's character spend the night in the hotel room. Their interactions are hilarious, and while the movie is good after that, and certainly not boring, the first part was simply the most entertaining. The two leading actors aren't brilliant in this film, (The script doesn't exactly warrant brilliant acting.) but they are pretty good, and it's interesting to see what Laurence Olivier was doing before he became the mega-star Sir Laurence Olivier, head of the Brittish Theater. And let's face it. He's gorgeous, and looks great in a suit. (Although I think the prime of his handsome-ness and gorgeous-ness was in Wuthering Heights.)

This movie may not be that well known, but I think any fan of Laurence Olivier or Merle Oberon need to see this at least once. Even if you aren't, you'll probably find some enjoyment out of it. Next time you have ninety minutes free, give it a watch. It's well worth your time.