A Bill of Divorcement marks the film debut of Katharine Hepburn and her talent is clearly there to be seen. Hepburn was lucky that she had George Cukor as director.
The film is an adaptation of a stage play and unfortunately it is rather creaky and hemmed in.
This melodrama stars John Barrymore as Hilary Fairfield. He was shell shocked in World War One, which unleashed hereditary madness. He has been locked up in an asylum for 15 years, but has now escaped and returned home.
Hilary discovers that his daughter Sidney (Hepburn) has grown up and his wife has divorced him and plans to remarry. A setup that has no room for him despite his desperate pleas to his now divorced wife. His daughter though learns the realities of her father's madness.
Barrymore can be overdramatic but it actually works in this film. The film though is too old fashioned and stage bound that should had been opened up.
The film is an adaptation of a stage play and unfortunately it is rather creaky and hemmed in.
This melodrama stars John Barrymore as Hilary Fairfield. He was shell shocked in World War One, which unleashed hereditary madness. He has been locked up in an asylum for 15 years, but has now escaped and returned home.
Hilary discovers that his daughter Sidney (Hepburn) has grown up and his wife has divorced him and plans to remarry. A setup that has no room for him despite his desperate pleas to his now divorced wife. His daughter though learns the realities of her father's madness.
Barrymore can be overdramatic but it actually works in this film. The film though is too old fashioned and stage bound that should had been opened up.