If you could have only one piece of information about a movie before watching it, it should be the year it was made: in part, for the historical context; and in part, for the moral context. It is the latter that is essential for this movie, for it presumes much of a moral nature that we no longer accept and may even find repulsive. At the beginning of the movie, Dexter and Tracy are a married couple who are fed up with each other and in the act of separating. After Tracy breaks one of Dexter's golf clubs, he pushes her in the face so hard that she falls to the ground. If a man did that to a woman in a modern movie, we would dislike him, but this movie wants us to like Dexter and approve of what he did to Tracy. We are able to get past this scene without too much difficulty, because Tracy is obviously not hurt, and because it is played for laughs.
Later, it turns out that the reason she divorced him was that he was an alcoholic, which was all her fault, and that she was wrong to divorce him for that. This point is made seriously, and so it is harder to get past than the push in the face. Can you imagine someone getting up in front of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and saying, "I am an alcoholic, and it is my wife's fault"? Today, we might blame the alcoholic for drinking too much, or we might say his alcoholism is a disease and thus is no one's fault, but blaming the wife is outrageous. Furthermore, we might praise a woman who stays with an alcoholic husband and tries to help cure him, but we do not blame her if she divorces him.
When Tracy decides to remarry, Dexter decides that her fiancé George is not the right man for her to marry. Dexter not only crashes the wedding, but he also arranges for a reporter and a photographer, who work for a tabloid, to cover the wedding, in hopes of causing trouble. Many of us have had the experience of disapproving of the person someone is going to marry, but we know it is none of our business, especially if that someone is an ex-wife. Can you imagine being a woman whose ex-husband crashes her wedding trying to break things up? Today, we would regard a man who would do that as odious, and we would advise the woman to get a restraining order on him.
Tracy's mother has separated from her father Seth because he was cheating on her, and thus Tracy does not invite him to the wedding. But he shows up anyway. He tells Tracy and his wife that a man's philandering is not his wife's concern. Furthermore, he goes on to say that his adultery is all Tracy's fault (here we go again). He explains that when a man starts getting old, having a sweet, devoted daughter is the mainstay that he needs. But when his daughter does not live up to those expectations, the man just naturally has to go out and get a sweet, devoted young woman to have an affair with. That argument is not only bizarre, it is downright creepy as well. It is hard to believe that even in 1940, when this movie was made, the audience would have bought that line.
Although the reporter, Macaulay (Mike), and the photographer, Elizabeth, seem to be romantically involved, he nevertheless begins to fancy Tracy. The night before the wedding, they start smooching and go for a swim. It is all supposed to be innocent, and we are supposed to disapprove of George when he refuses to go through with the wedding. The idea is that since Mike and Tracy did not actually have sex, he is making a big fuss over nothing. But I cannot say that I blame him.
Of course, the fact that Tracy is drunk is supposed to excuse her indiscretion. At least her intoxication is an important plot point. But there is way too much drinking in this movie in general. Two-thirds of the movie involves people getting drunk, having a hangover, and then drinking some more as a cure for the hangover. This may be another difference between 1940 and now: we do not think drunk-humor is all that funny anymore.
After George leaves, Mike asks Tracy to marry him. When she says "No," he goes back to Elizabeth, who does not seem to be disturbed by this at all. Except for George, the men in this movie sure get a lot understanding. Tracy, on the other hand, is depicted as being wrong- headed, and is pretty much told so by Dexter, Mike, and Seth, each in his own way. But Tracy is fine just the way she is, and it is the men who are wrong-headed. She would be better off without the lot of them. Instead, she remarries Dexter. I disapprove of that marriage, but as I noted above, if that is the man she wants to marry, it is none of my business.
Later, it turns out that the reason she divorced him was that he was an alcoholic, which was all her fault, and that she was wrong to divorce him for that. This point is made seriously, and so it is harder to get past than the push in the face. Can you imagine someone getting up in front of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and saying, "I am an alcoholic, and it is my wife's fault"? Today, we might blame the alcoholic for drinking too much, or we might say his alcoholism is a disease and thus is no one's fault, but blaming the wife is outrageous. Furthermore, we might praise a woman who stays with an alcoholic husband and tries to help cure him, but we do not blame her if she divorces him.
When Tracy decides to remarry, Dexter decides that her fiancé George is not the right man for her to marry. Dexter not only crashes the wedding, but he also arranges for a reporter and a photographer, who work for a tabloid, to cover the wedding, in hopes of causing trouble. Many of us have had the experience of disapproving of the person someone is going to marry, but we know it is none of our business, especially if that someone is an ex-wife. Can you imagine being a woman whose ex-husband crashes her wedding trying to break things up? Today, we would regard a man who would do that as odious, and we would advise the woman to get a restraining order on him.
Tracy's mother has separated from her father Seth because he was cheating on her, and thus Tracy does not invite him to the wedding. But he shows up anyway. He tells Tracy and his wife that a man's philandering is not his wife's concern. Furthermore, he goes on to say that his adultery is all Tracy's fault (here we go again). He explains that when a man starts getting old, having a sweet, devoted daughter is the mainstay that he needs. But when his daughter does not live up to those expectations, the man just naturally has to go out and get a sweet, devoted young woman to have an affair with. That argument is not only bizarre, it is downright creepy as well. It is hard to believe that even in 1940, when this movie was made, the audience would have bought that line.
Although the reporter, Macaulay (Mike), and the photographer, Elizabeth, seem to be romantically involved, he nevertheless begins to fancy Tracy. The night before the wedding, they start smooching and go for a swim. It is all supposed to be innocent, and we are supposed to disapprove of George when he refuses to go through with the wedding. The idea is that since Mike and Tracy did not actually have sex, he is making a big fuss over nothing. But I cannot say that I blame him.
Of course, the fact that Tracy is drunk is supposed to excuse her indiscretion. At least her intoxication is an important plot point. But there is way too much drinking in this movie in general. Two-thirds of the movie involves people getting drunk, having a hangover, and then drinking some more as a cure for the hangover. This may be another difference between 1940 and now: we do not think drunk-humor is all that funny anymore.
After George leaves, Mike asks Tracy to marry him. When she says "No," he goes back to Elizabeth, who does not seem to be disturbed by this at all. Except for George, the men in this movie sure get a lot understanding. Tracy, on the other hand, is depicted as being wrong- headed, and is pretty much told so by Dexter, Mike, and Seth, each in his own way. But Tracy is fine just the way she is, and it is the men who are wrong-headed. She would be better off without the lot of them. Instead, she remarries Dexter. I disapprove of that marriage, but as I noted above, if that is the man she wants to marry, it is none of my business.