MovieChat Forums > Libeled Lady (1936) Discussion > One problem

One problem

posted 18 years ago by krp-7
12 replies | jump to latest

The Bill Powell character married the Myrna Loy character because he determined that his marriage to Jean Harlow was not valid because her Yucatan divorce was valid.

Here's the deal. Harlow had missed at least three wedding dates with Spencer Tracy, so if Tracy had ever shown up on time, that marriage would not be valid (and by corollary, the entire start of the picture would be meaniness).

It would seem to me that the Powell character would have been smart enough to realize this and to realize that either Tracy or Harlow would have figured that out to have made arrangements to correct that matter.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] dim_sumus 18 years ago

You seem to be stating the situation incorrectly. Bill Chandler found out that her divorce in the Yucatan wasn't valid; therefore, she was still married to her first husband. Then, she announces that she knew about the problem and got a divorce in Reno. (Otherwise, why would she try to marry Warren Haggerty so many times?) So, in the end, Chandler is married to Gladys Benton AND Connie Allenbury, making him a bigamist. It's not exactly clear how they'll resolve the matter as the movie just sort of ends with the two couples happy & James Allenbury flustered in the middle.

[–] MartynGryphon 18 years ago

If I was Bill Chandler, I would have kept 'em both, and moved to Utah with the mormons where no one would have given a toss about me having two wives.

Choices, Choices, which one all I make love to tonight, Loy or Harlow. now there's a difficult decision.

Growing old is mandatory, Growing UP is optional

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] jenminator 17 years ago

I just saw this for the first time last night, and I almost agree with you. Powell was so charming, Loy sophisticated, Harlow worldly, and Tracy an absolute jerk. You'd think that Loy and Harlow's characters would have worked something out. Rather than the Mormon thing - Powell married to Loy, with Harlow set up in a swanky apartment uptown.

Tracy was married to the paper.

[–] Troy202 16 years ago

Or Harlow, Powell, Loy and Tracy could just skip the preliminaries, move into communal living and be the first swingers of the 1930's!

"Any girl can look glamorous. Stand still and look stupid."
--Hedy Lamarr

[–] Godfrey2 10 years ago

Well, Miriam Hopkins, Frederick March, Edward Everett Horton and Gary Cooper beat them to the "first communal swingers of the 30's" in "Design for Living (1933)." Miriam got the best of that deal. And I seem to recall a few other pre-codes which had threesomes as well. But then, as you correctly note, this would have been a post-code foursome and really driven the Code folks crazy!

[–] Matrix-Rules 16 years ago

For a second, this is what they think is the case. However, Harlow then goes on to inform him that she heard that her divorce was no good, so she got a divorce in Reno to cover the "failed divorce" just in case. So, in reality, she did get a successful divorce.

[–] brackenhe 16 years ago

This post is old but you're missing a very important part--the man who married them was a phony so they were never married in the first place.

[–] justaudrey 15 years ago

Wait, who was never married in the first place? Bill and Connie?

[–] brackenhe 14 years ago

No, Bill & Gladys. That's why Bill & Connie were able to get married.

[–] gribfritz2 13 years ago

I just watched it and have to say....what? Gladys was married, then seemingly divorced in the Yucatan. She found out this might not be legit, so she got ANOTHER successful divorce in Reno. Bill knew about the Yucatan divorce. He did not know about the Reno divorce. Therefore, Bill thought Gladys was still married to whoever, which would make his marriage to Gladys void. However, she WAS divorced in Reno, so she IS married to Bill. Connie also is married to Bill making him a temporary bigamist. You know, it was the '30's. They couldn't do a quick record retrieval on the Internet to see if Bill was married or not. They were able to get married because the minister asked if either of them were married and they said no.