Private Lives (1931)

Based upon one of Noël Coward's wittiest plays, Private Lives is somewhat bowdlerized but still immensely entertaining. In Amanda and Elyot, Coward created a pair of joined-at-the-erotic-hip twins; while there was nothing particularly bawdy about them on-stage, they were still rather too frank (and frankly amoral) to totally withstand the censor's shears on film. Fortunately, the filmmakers were sensitive and judicious in their cutting, with the result that most of the humor -- and more importantly, the flavor -- of the original remains. True, there's a little of the edge missing, but that has more to do with the actors than the adaptation. Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery are slightly too much the movie stars to play the parts with the total honesty that is called for, but their charm, timing, and bearing more than make up for this. Shearer, especially, understands the cadences of Coward's dialogue, but doesn't become enslaved to it. Reginald Denny has Victor's amusing insufferableness down pat, and Una Merkel is a winningly tiresome Sibyl. The movie has been opened up from the stage play, sometimes to good effect, sometimes to little; however, the settings -- especially the glorious Art Deco hotel -- are noteworthy. Sophisticated British comedy is difficult to pull off, but minor flaws aside, this is a winning effort. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide