Before the opening credits begin to role, one knows that the plot premise of this comedy is not going to work. A three-month trial period of living together without making love is the hot idea of Ann Winters. She's one of the top brass of an insurance firm that has been losing its shirt from so many divorces. It never explains how the divorce rate affects the company, but it's most likely because of policies being cancelled with divorces. So, she thinks that if couples marry and abstain from sex for three months, they will get to know one another better, and there will be fewer divorces. (And more insurance policies won't be canceled?)
Ann wants to test her theory with her own marriage. When her fiancé, Tice Collins, returns from three months away on a mining venture in South America, she springs the plan on him. At first, he's outraged (a very funny scene in the courtroom for her sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Tom Howland's divorce hearing). But then, his company attorney, Harry Bertrand, tells him to go for it, get married, and then romance Ann into giving up on the plan and being a normal newly married couple.
The humor begins to roll after Ann and Tice tie the knot in "This Thing Called Love." Rosalind Russell and Melvyn Douglas play the leads and the film has a good supporting cast that include Lee J. Cobb, Binnie Barnes, Don Beddoe, and Allyn Joslyn. It's not a riotous comedy but it has a mix of funny dialog, antics and situations - most of the latter.
As an aside, the basis for Ann's plan got me to wondering about the marriage and divorce situation in 1940; and how it would compare to more recent times. I couldn't find data for marriages that end in under one year. But some data is maintained by the U. S. Census bureau and other sources. One way to consider the divorce picture is the ratio of the numbers of divorces to marriages. In 1940, there were 264,200 divorces in the U. S. and 1,595,879 marriages. That's a ratio of 1 to 6. But, in 2010, the ratio of divorces to marriages was 1 to 2 (estimated 1,055,120 divorces to 2,096,000 marriages). And that's with millions more people cohabiting before marriage and/or never marrying.
One sad note about the cast is that Gloria Dickson, who plays Florence Bertrand, would die at age 27. She was 23 when this movie was released in January 1941. She struggled with three marriages and had an alcohol problem. She died in a Hollywood house fire in 1945.
The silly idea for this film plot provides for a silly movie. It's doesn't rate with the best of the stars' comedies by any means. But, with Russell and Douglas, it's a film that most movie buffs should enjoy. Here are some favorite lines.
Ruth Howland (Leona Maricle), Ann's sister, before the divorce judge, "Your honor, my husband is a psychiatrist. All of his patients are crazy. He spends most of his time trying to keep nuts from making faces at each other. He began to handle me with the same effect." Tom Howland (Don Beddoe), "That's a lie."
Tice Collins, "Ann, once a piece of mining machinery hit me over the head. That's just the way I feel now." Ann Winters, "That's the most beautiful speech."
Tice Collins, "Darling, I've waited all my life for you." Ann, "Darling, I didn't wait for you. I went out and found you."
Tice Collins, after the phone rings, "If Mr. Bell had to invent something, why couldn't it have been a cigar lighter. They never work."
Tice Collings, "From now on, let's be jealous... hot-tempered... suspicious... irrational - but human. In other words, let's just be an average couple, and live like one."
Tice Collins, "I travel 6,000 miles by foot, by dog cart, by jackass, by plane by ship. I couldn't' get her fast enough. And what do I find? A shoulder that'd make dry ice feel like a, well, like a bed warmer."
Harry Bertrand, "Either you've had too much to drink, or I haven't had enough."
Harry Bertrand, "Listen to me, you prairie pixie. You spent five years up to your hips in mud, snakes and jungle, and yet when we're that close to success, you throw everything out of the window. And what for?" Tice Collins, "For love. Ever heart of it?" Harry, "Yes - before I was married."
Ruth Howland; Ann, you seemed sane enough as a child." What happened to you? What sort of lightning struck you?
Ann wants to test her theory with her own marriage. When her fiancé, Tice Collins, returns from three months away on a mining venture in South America, she springs the plan on him. At first, he's outraged (a very funny scene in the courtroom for her sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Tom Howland's divorce hearing). But then, his company attorney, Harry Bertrand, tells him to go for it, get married, and then romance Ann into giving up on the plan and being a normal newly married couple.
The humor begins to roll after Ann and Tice tie the knot in "This Thing Called Love." Rosalind Russell and Melvyn Douglas play the leads and the film has a good supporting cast that include Lee J. Cobb, Binnie Barnes, Don Beddoe, and Allyn Joslyn. It's not a riotous comedy but it has a mix of funny dialog, antics and situations - most of the latter.
As an aside, the basis for Ann's plan got me to wondering about the marriage and divorce situation in 1940; and how it would compare to more recent times. I couldn't find data for marriages that end in under one year. But some data is maintained by the U. S. Census bureau and other sources. One way to consider the divorce picture is the ratio of the numbers of divorces to marriages. In 1940, there were 264,200 divorces in the U. S. and 1,595,879 marriages. That's a ratio of 1 to 6. But, in 2010, the ratio of divorces to marriages was 1 to 2 (estimated 1,055,120 divorces to 2,096,000 marriages). And that's with millions more people cohabiting before marriage and/or never marrying.
One sad note about the cast is that Gloria Dickson, who plays Florence Bertrand, would die at age 27. She was 23 when this movie was released in January 1941. She struggled with three marriages and had an alcohol problem. She died in a Hollywood house fire in 1945.
The silly idea for this film plot provides for a silly movie. It's doesn't rate with the best of the stars' comedies by any means. But, with Russell and Douglas, it's a film that most movie buffs should enjoy. Here are some favorite lines.
Ruth Howland (Leona Maricle), Ann's sister, before the divorce judge, "Your honor, my husband is a psychiatrist. All of his patients are crazy. He spends most of his time trying to keep nuts from making faces at each other. He began to handle me with the same effect." Tom Howland (Don Beddoe), "That's a lie."
Tice Collins, "Ann, once a piece of mining machinery hit me over the head. That's just the way I feel now." Ann Winters, "That's the most beautiful speech."
Tice Collins, "Darling, I've waited all my life for you." Ann, "Darling, I didn't wait for you. I went out and found you."
Tice Collins, after the phone rings, "If Mr. Bell had to invent something, why couldn't it have been a cigar lighter. They never work."
Tice Collings, "From now on, let's be jealous... hot-tempered... suspicious... irrational - but human. In other words, let's just be an average couple, and live like one."
Tice Collins, "I travel 6,000 miles by foot, by dog cart, by jackass, by plane by ship. I couldn't' get her fast enough. And what do I find? A shoulder that'd make dry ice feel like a, well, like a bed warmer."
Harry Bertrand, "Either you've had too much to drink, or I haven't had enough."
Harry Bertrand, "Listen to me, you prairie pixie. You spent five years up to your hips in mud, snakes and jungle, and yet when we're that close to success, you throw everything out of the window. And what for?" Tice Collins, "For love. Ever heart of it?" Harry, "Yes - before I was married."
Ruth Howland; Ann, you seemed sane enough as a child." What happened to you? What sort of lightning struck you?