THE DIVORCE OF LADY X (1938) ** For the first half hour it's as dumb and irritating as anything ever made. It is successfully demonstrated, as if anyone had any lingering doubts, that no one with half a clue on life and how to live it could have ever submitted to the constraints of the crusty existence of an early 20th century London barrister. That Laurence Olivier delivers his lines fluently as ever makes him anything but interesting. Merle Oberon flouts about not wanting a man to see her in pajamas not nearly as revealing as her evening attire. Meanwhile there's what sounds like a Tom & Jerry soundtrack going off in the background. And as if anyone would willingly look! Anyone with a brain in their head tells that chick, "Bitch, I'm gonna count to two and if you ain't out the door, you're gonna land on your fucking head!" Against all odds, when the film takes off it does so with a certainty that simulates violence. All you have to do to these people, to make them sensible if not necessarily appealing, is get them out of the bedroom! Suddenly Olivier, as good at saying anything and making it seem like no one else wrote it as anyone in cinematic history, is suddenly saying quite witty, provocative things. And in court no less, which is where subtle absurdities shall forever dwell, but the more spectacular and entertaining ones aren't generally even considered. And Oberon isn't even particularly nauseating as she connives, though again, it's hardly the foremost characteristic to look for in a soulmate. It gets genuinely funny, whereas the only humorous part of the first half hour is that anyone would consider it so. Critics typically celebrate Ralph Richardson's performance, but Morton Selten is far more compelling as the judge. Mort has seen it all, which leads him to laugh at people a lot, often joyously. He understands that Laurence and Merle are playing games because their stations in life are so dreary. He instinctively cuts through the bullshit to see the truth, and the writers kindly spare us the spectacle of knowing whether his own station in life allows him to issue judgments in accordance with his insight. A huge portion of making a character appealing is in knowing what to leave out. Damn, society was screwed up then. Of course, society is still screwed up, but at least it's a complex of more mature maladies. Well, I mean, except for Beavis and Butthead.
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