The Night Before the Divorce
Cast & Crew
Robert Siodmak
Lynn Bari
Mary Beth Hughes
Joseph Allen Jr.
Nils Asther
Truman Bradley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Chemical engineer George Nordyke grows increasingly irritated by the incredible efficiency of his lovely wife Lynn. One day, George's ego is further assaulted when Lynn, who has just learned to play golf, easily bests him in a game. George storms off, and is involved in a minor traffic accident with Lola May, a blonde schemer whose helpless act charms George. Over the next three months, George comes to believe that he is in love with Lola May, and he decides to ask Lynn for a divorce on the night of their wedding anniversary. As usual, Lynn has anticipated his desires and serves him with divorce papers, which will be finalized at a hearing to be held in thirty days. After the couple separate, Lynn dates band leader Victor Roselle, much to the dismay of her and George's friend, police detective Bruce Campbell. Bruce believes that George and Lynn belong together, and so, just before the divorce is to become final, tells Lynn that George and Lola May will be spending their honeymoon at one of George and Lynn's favorite places. Inspired by happy memories, Lynn invites George to dinner on the night before the hearing, but he is cold and unresponsive to her wish to spend one last evening together on their yacht, the Tippy Tim . Lynn then visits Victor and goes home, but early the next morning, Bruce arrives at her home and tells her that Victor has been murdered. Bruce holds her as a material witness, thereby preventing her from attending the hearing. Lola May is infuriated when the judge will not grant the divorce, and becomes even more angry when Lynn, who has "escaped" from Bruce, goes to George for help. Worried that Lynn is guilty, George helps her sneak off to the Tippy Tim and plans to take her to Canada. Lola May follows them aboard, and George locks her below with Lynn to prevent her from calling the police. They cannot sail until the next day, however, due to an engine malfunction, and in the morning, Lola May and Lynn compete for George's attention. Lynn's act of selflessness wins George over, and Lola May finally gives up and swims ashore. Bruce then appears and accuses George of being Victor's killer, but Lynn helps him escape before Bruce can arrest him. The couple are eventually apprehended but by then their love has been re-kindled. Bruce reveals that Victor's ex-wife confessed to the murder, and that his persecution of Lynn and George was a ruse to get them to realize how much they need each other. Upon learning that their divorce was granted the day before, George and Lynn decide to re-marry immediately.
Director
Robert Siodmak
Cast
Lynn Bari
Mary Beth Hughes
Joseph Allen Jr.
Nils Asther
Truman Bradley
Kay Linaker
Lyle Latell
Mary Treen
Thurston Hall
Spencer Charters
Leon Belasco
Tom Fadden
Alec Craig
John Sinclair
Chuck Evans
Robert Emmett Keane
Crew
Lucien Andriot
Jasper Blystone
John Brady
Lewis Creber
Richard Day
Nick Demaggio
Ralph Dietrich
Mack Gordon
Herschel
William Koenig
Harry M. Leonard
Thomas Little
Peverell Marley
Emil Newman
Jerry Sackheim
E. Clayton Ward
Harry Warren
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Gina Kaus's novel Morgen um Neun (Tommorrow at Nine) first appeared as a serial in the German magazine Die Dame (15 October-26 November 1931). An English translation of the novel, titled Tomorrow We Part, was published in the United States in 1933. The final German version of the play, written by Kaus and Ladislas Fodor, was adapted by Siegfried Geyer, while the English version, titled The Night Before the Divorce was translated and adapted by Huntley Tennyson Holme. The extent of Geyer's and Holme's contributions to the finished film, however, has not been determined. Information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department, located at the UCLA Arts-Special Collections Library, indicates that both Geyer and Holme waived all rights to publicity or acknowledgment in the onscreen credits. Rights to the play were purchased by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1937, and according to the legal records and Hollywood Reporter news items, between 1937 and 1941, the following writers were assigned to work on the screenplay: Charles Kenyon, Bella Spewack, Samuel Spewack, Horace Jackson, Darrell Ware, Fidel LaBarba, Shepard Traube, Louis F. Moore and Francis Faragoh. The extent of the contributions by any of these writers to the finished film, however, has not been determined. A 1937 Hollywood Reporter news item noted that the picture was originally to be produced by Raymond Griffith and was to star Loretta Young and Tyrone Power. A 1941 Hollywood Reporter news item stated that the yacht used in the film was the Zoa III, which was owned by actor Preston Foster. Although John Brady receives onscreen credit as the picture's film editor, Hollywood Reporter production charts credit Nick DeMaggio.
