IMDb RATING
6.7/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
Divorced couple unexpectedly meet each other during their honeymoon and rekindle their love.Divorced couple unexpectedly meet each other during their honeymoon and rekindle their love.Divorced couple unexpectedly meet each other during their honeymoon and rekindle their love.
Herman Bing
- Train Conductor
- (uncredited)
Ferike Boros
- Cook at Chalet
- (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell
- Hotel Concierge
- (uncredited)
Wilfrid North
- Sibyl's Wedding Escort
- (uncredited)
Jerry Tucker
- Little Boy at Station
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRobert Montgomery was accidentally knocked unconscious during the fight scene with Norma Shearer.
- GoofsWhen Elyot, Amanda, and Oscar are riding on the gondola, Elyot and Amanda begin to argue. As their argument escalates, the two of them stand up, and Oscar, listening quietly, stands up with them. Their is a cut to a medium shot of Oscar which shows him still seated. Then a return to the shot of the three of them which shows Oscar standing again.
- Quotes
Victor Prynne: He struck you once didn't he?
Amanda: Oh, more than once.
Victor Prynne: Where?
Amanda: Several places.
Victor Prynne: What a cad!
Amanda: Ha-ha. I struck him too. Once I broke four gramophone records over his head. It was very satisfying.
- ConnectionsVersion of Les amants terribles (1936)
- SoundtracksSomeday I'll Find You
(1931) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Noël Coward
Sung by Norma Shearer
Whistled and played on piano by Robert Montgomery
Played often as background music
Featured review
Interesting artifact, but the stars are fairly clueless
Years ago I saw a revival of "Private Lives" starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Although his voice was amazingly deep and melodic, he was near the end of his life and barely able to move. She was who she was -- not, perhaps, one of the great stylists of the American stage. But their portrayal of a glamorous, endlessly bickering couple was certainly resonant, and I went home thinking it was an amusing production of an essentially silly play.
But after I thought about it a while, I realized that in the right hands -- witty, wise, bright and sophisticated hands -- "Private Lives" could reveal endless charm and even great insight into the more maddening aspects of love. So that's why I think it's a damned shame that no one chose to film Gertrude Lawrence and Noel Coward as Elyot and Amanda. Their almost absurd elegance, otherworldly glamour, and bone-deep wit must have something to behold.
Instead we're left with this curious artifact. Montgomery's not too bad as Elyot -- he looks at home in a dinner jacket, and he doesn't trip too badly over the dialogue. But Shearer is something else entirely. She looks elegant enough, in that applied-from-the-outside MGM manner. But, with the exception of the occasional appealingly raised eyebrow, she doesn't seem to have the damnedest idea of what she's saying.
In the end these two people, however noisy their battles, don't seem to have an ounce of genuine passion for one another. And without that, "Private Lives" is just silly fluff. You could do worse than silly fluff, but you deserve better.
But after I thought about it a while, I realized that in the right hands -- witty, wise, bright and sophisticated hands -- "Private Lives" could reveal endless charm and even great insight into the more maddening aspects of love. So that's why I think it's a damned shame that no one chose to film Gertrude Lawrence and Noel Coward as Elyot and Amanda. Their almost absurd elegance, otherworldly glamour, and bone-deep wit must have something to behold.
Instead we're left with this curious artifact. Montgomery's not too bad as Elyot -- he looks at home in a dinner jacket, and he doesn't trip too badly over the dialogue. But Shearer is something else entirely. She looks elegant enough, in that applied-from-the-outside MGM manner. But, with the exception of the occasional appealingly raised eyebrow, she doesn't seem to have the damnedest idea of what she's saying.
In the end these two people, however noisy their battles, don't seem to have an ounce of genuine passion for one another. And without that, "Private Lives" is just silly fluff. You could do worse than silly fluff, but you deserve better.
helpful•813
- jayson-4
- Jan 8, 1999
- How long is Private Lives?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 24 minutes
- Color
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