Child of Divorce
Brief Synopsis
A sensitive girl has trouble adjusting to her parents' divorce.
Cast & Crew
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Richard O. Fleischer
Director
Sharyn Moffett
[Roberta] Bobby [Carter]
Regis Toomey
Ray [Carter]
Madge Meredith
Joan [Carter Benton]
Walter Reed
Michael [Benton]
Una O'connor
Nora
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Adaptation
Release Date
Oct
15,
1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Wednesday's Child by Leopold L. Atlas (New York, 16 Jan 1934).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 2m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,570ft
Synopsis
While her father Ray is away on an extended business trip, eight-year-old Roberta "Bobby" Carter and her school friends see her mother Joan kissing a stranger in a public park. Although Bobby refuses to admit to the other children that her mother has a "boyfriend," she is deeply disturbed by what she has witnessed. That night, Ray returns home unexpectedly from his trip and gives the delighted Bobby a toy piano, which plays "Home Sweet Home." After Bobby goes to bed, Joan tries to tell Ray about her affair, but is unable to break the news to him. Later, at a playground, Bobby is again teased by her friends about her mother's behavior. After chasing away her tormenters, the sensitive little girl tearfully asks God to make her parents love each other. Joan, however, continues her affair until a suspicious Ray finally asks her about her frequent absences. Thus confronted, Joan admits that she is love with a man named Michael Benton and wants a divorce. Stunned, Ray rails against his wife and slaps her across the face as a confused and frightened Bobby spies on her parents in the doorway. Upset by Ray's outburst, Joan runs to the park and is followed by a hysterical Bobby. Although Bobby seeks reassurance from her mother, Joan tells her that she is leaving home that night and is taking her away from her father. Later, at her parents' divorce trial, Bobby is asked to testify, but she is unable to condemn either parent. The judge grants the Carters a divorce and gives Joan custody of Bobby during the school year and Ray custody for the summer months. After Joan and Michael marry, Michael attempts to win over his step-daughter, but Bobby continually resists his overtures. Then, just before Bobby is to return to her father, Michael confronts Joan about the situation and suggests that the girl is causing a rift in their marriage. Although Joan implores Bobby to give Michael a chance, Bobby cannot accept her new "father" and tells her mother that she is not sure if she wants to return to her in the fall. Bobby's joy at being reunited with her father is abruptly curtailed, however, when she is suddenly introduced to his fiancée, Louise Norman. After Bobby falls sick with grief, her doctor informs Ray and Joan that she needs more continuity in her life and advises that one of them should assume sole custody of her. As neither parent feels capable of making Bobby happy, the child is sent to a country boarding school. There, on visitors' day, a lonely Bobby waits for the arrival of her parents, who are to visit her separately. After Ray, who has since remarried, cuts short his visit, Bobby is reassured by her wise, young roommate, whose parents also are divorced, that she will eventually "get used to" being alone. Then, as the school's church bells play "Home Sweet Home," Bobby sadly ponders her future and vows that when she grows up and gets married, she will put her own little girl to bed every night.
Director
Richard O. Fleischer
Director
Cast
Sharyn Moffett
[Roberta] Bobby [Carter]
Regis Toomey
Ray [Carter]
Madge Meredith
Joan [Carter Benton]
Walter Reed
Michael [Benton]
Una O'connor
Nora
Doris Merrick
Louise [Norman]
Harry Cheshire
Judge
Selmer Jackson
Dr. Sterling
Lillian Randolph
Carrie
Pat Prest
Linda
Gregory Muradian
Freddie
George Mcdonald
Donnie
Patsy Converse
Betty
Ann Carter
Peggy [Allen]
Arthur Stone
Keyes
William Forrest
Proctor
Sherry Hall
Court clerk
Max Rose
Deputy
Ann Burr
Ruth
Connie Seymour
Twin
Mary Louise Seymour
Twin
Crew
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
Samuel E. Beetley
Editing
Ralph Berger
Art Director
Russell A. Cully
Special Effects
Albert S. D'agostino
Art Director
Leigh Harline
Music
Lillie Hayward
Producer
Lillie Hayward
Wrt for the Screenplay by
Maxwell Henry
Assistant Director
Terry Kellum
Sound
Jack Mackenzie
Director of Photography
William Magginetti
Set Decoration
Sid Rogell
Executive Producer
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
Earl A. Wolcott
Sound
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Adaptation
Release Date
Oct
15,
1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Wednesday's Child by Leopold L. Atlas (New York, 16 Jan 1934).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 2m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,570ft
Articles
Child of Divorce
A sensitive girl has trouble adjusting to her parents' divorce.
Child of Divorce
A sensitive girl has trouble adjusting to her parents' divorce.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Richard O. Fleischer (1916-2006) made his feature directorial debut and writer Lillie Hayward her producing debut with this film. Hayward's onscreen credit reads, "written for the screen and produced by Lillie Hayward." Prior to Child of Divorce, Fleischer had directed RKO's This Is America series and other documentary pictures. Some reviewers commented on the documentary-like style of the film. Hollywood Reporter announced in 1940 that Dalton Trumbo was writing the screenplay for the picture, which Howard Benedict was to produce, but it is unlikely that any of Trumbo's work was retained in the completed film. In 1935, John Robertson directed Karen Morley, Edward Arnold and Frankie Thomas in Wednesday's Child, RKO's first version of Leopold L. Atlas' play (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.4982). In that version, the main child was a boy. Modern sources speculate that post-war statistics showing an annual divorce rate of 250,000 influenced RKO's decision to remake the Atlas play.
