Still image from the 1931 film Private Lives.

Private Lives

Directed by Sidney Franklin

A divorced couple rekindles the spark after landing in adjoining honeymoon suites with new mates.

1931 1h 27m Comedy TV-G

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CAST
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0

Sidney Franklin, Director
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Sidney Franklin
Director

1

Norma Shearer, Amanda [Prynne]
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Norma Shearer
Amanda [Prynne]

2

Robert Montgomery, Elyot [Chase]
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Robert Montgomery
Elyot [Chase]

3

Reginald Denny, Victor [Prynne]
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Reginald Denny
Victor [Prynne]

4

Una Merkel, Sibyl [Chase]
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Una Merkel
Sibyl [Chase]

5

Jean Hersholt, Oscar
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Jean Hersholt
Oscar

FULL SYNOPSIS

Previously married to each other, but now divorced and re-married, Amanda Prynne and Elyot Chase unintentionally honeymoon with their new spouses at the same European hotel. While Elyot, who is now married to Sybil, is annoyed by his new wife's frequent inquiries about his ex-wife, Amanda insists that Victor, her new husband, stop mentioning Elyot so that they can enjoy their honeymoon. Elyot and Victor meet outside their rooms on the common terrace, but do not discover their relationship to each other. When Elyot meets Amanda on the terrace, however, he becomes so upset at their coincidental reunion that he insists on fleeing to Paris with Sybil. At the same time, Amanda pleads with Victor to take her to Paris. Amanda and Elyot quarrel bitterly with their spouses, and, as a result, are both left alone. Following their spats, Amanda and Elyot return to the terrace, where they recall the days when they were in love. Though Elyot tells Amanda that they are no longer in love, Amanda insists that they are, and they soon rekindle a new romance with a kiss. After mutually agreeing that they should find a way to prevent future quarrels, they make a pact to halt their bickering when either one utters the words "Solomon Isaacs." The two then decide to flee from their spouses by sneaking out of the hotel. They go to St. Moritz, Switzerland, where they resume their romance and go on a rock climbing expedition. Later, in their Swiss chalet room, Elyot and Amanda engage in another petty quarrel, which leads to a fight over a phonograph record. Amanda breaks the record over Elyot's head, and the two end up slapping each other and destroying the room. Amanda runs out of the room screaming and encounters Victor and Sybil, who have been looking for their respective spouses. Victor and Sybil become embroiled in Amanda and Elyot's dispute, and Victor intervenes on Amanda's behalf after Elyot calls her a slattern. Victor then announces that he came to get a divorce, but Sybil and Elyot, now reunited, announce that they plan no divorce. Both couples sit down to an amicable breakfast the next day, which soon turns hostile when Victor and Sybil quarrel. Amanda and Elyot slip out during the spat, and the two leave on a train.


VIDEOS
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Michael Feinstein Intro...
Hosted Intro
Robert Osborne Intro...
Hosted Intro
I'm On My Honeymoon...
Movie Clip
I Love You Too Much...
Movie Clip

ARTICLES
Noel Coward's scintillating play Private Lives is the story of a divorced couple, Elyot and Amanda, who run into each other when they're both on their honeymoons with new spouses, and find that their passion for each other is as strong as ever. The comedy had been a huge hit in London and New York, directed by and starring Coward opposite Gertrude Lawrence. MGM head of production Irving Thalberg quickly acquired the film rights for his wife, Norma Shearer. By 1931, Shearer was one of MGM's top stars, in equal parts because of her own drive and ambition, and because of her advantageous marriage to Thalberg. She and Thalberg had chosen her vehicles carefully, and she had won an Academy Award for her performance in The Divorcee (1930). It was one of a series of romantic melodramas starring Shearer that dealt frankly with sexuality in the days before the rigid enforcement of the Production Code, and delighted her female fans. But Coward expressed his concerns to friends about whether Shearer could handle his kind of sophisticated comedy. When word of Coward's doubts filtered back to Shearer, she dismissed them. "I don't care what he thinks - he thinks in theater terms - I think in film terms. It doesn't seem to occur to Mr. Coward that we both may turn out to be right!" Shearer herself chose a co-star and director with whom she was comfortable. Robert Montgomery had appeared in three films with Shearer, and excelled at comedy. Sidney Franklin had directed one of Sh...

ARCHIVES
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 Scene Stills from the movie 'Private Lives'
Private Lives
Scene Stills

NOTES
According to a Hollywood Reporter pre-release news item, the road company stage version of Private Lives, which opened in New York on January 27, 1931, was "raced through the U.S. to beat M-G-M's picture into key cities." Another pre-release Hollywood Reporter news item noted that a large portion of the film's budget was attributable to the time it took the director and the cast to frequently consult Sidney Franklin's film footage of the New York stage performance of Private Lives, which starred Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence; whenever a question arose about how a particular scene should be done, Franklin, the cameraman and the entire cast would stop filming, view Franklin's film of the stage play, and then return to the set and resume production.
       According to a contemporary New York Times article, this picture was filmed at Glacier National Park, Montana, and at Franklyn Canyon, Los Angeles. The art...

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