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The Divorcee
The Divorcee
	Ad for the film
Directed by	Herbert Blaché
Written by	June Mathis (scenario); Katharine Kavanaugh (scenario)
Based on	Lady Frederick; 1907 play; by W. Somerset Maugham
Produced by	Maxwell Karger
Starring	Ethel Barrymore; E. J. Ratcliffe; Holmes Herbert
Cinematography	George K. Hollister
Production; company	Metro Pictures
Distributed by	Metro Pictures
Release date	January 20, 1919;
Running time	5 reels; 4,400 feet (approximately 68 minutes)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Divorcee is a 1919 American society drama starring Ethel Barrymore in her last silent feature film. The film is based on a 1907 play, Lady Frederick by young Somerset Maugham, which had starred Barrymore on Broadway.^[2] The play was already quite dated when this film was made, but the actress was always comfortable with this kind of soap-operish melodramatic material. Herbert Blaché directed, and June Mathis wrote the scenario based on Maugham's play. The film was produced and distributed by the Metro Pictures company.

It is believed to be a lost film.^[3]^[4]^[5] The last known surviving copy was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire.

Plot

As described in a film magazine,^[6]^[7] 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

Ethel Barrymore as Lady Frederick Berolles
E. J. Ratcliffe as Lord Frederick Berolles
H. E. Herbert (aka Holmes Herbert) as Sir Paradise Fuldes
Naomi Childers as Kitty Beresford
John Goldsworthy as Horace Beresford
Joseph Kilgour as Robert Montgomery
Maude Turner Gordon as Lady Mereston
Harold Entwistle as Lord Mereston
Eugene Strong as Young Lord Mereston
Ricca Allen as Madame Claude

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.^[8]

References

^ According to the reference How Movies Work by Bruce F. Kawin (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987, pp. 46-47), a full 1000-foot reel of film in the silent era had a maximum running time of 15 minutes. Silent films were generally projected at a "standard" speed of 16 frames per second, much slower than the 24 frames of later sound films.
^ The Divorcee at the Internet Broadway Database
^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20, published by The American Film Institute, c. 1988
^ "Progressive Silent Film List: The Divorcee". silentera.com.
^ The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:The Divorcee
^ "Advertising Aids for Busy Managers: The Divorcee". Moving Picture World. 39 (4). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Company: 542. Jan 25, 1919. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
^ Wietzel, Edward (Feb 8, 1919). "Critical Reviews and Comments: The Divorcee". Moving Picture World. 39 (6). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Company: 803. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 5 (15): 33. October 6, 1917.