When we first meet Claudia in the movie of the same title from 1943, she is either very simple or has a borderline intelligence. She depends on David for everyday work as keeping house accounts, moves and acts childishly, and seems quite unconscious of the consequences of her behavior -which on one side makes one wonders why are they together, and on the other side is part of her charm. Now, after the events that they went through, she has come into age (which points to the first explanation), and she is another person. Completely. It is not that she has lost that clumsiness and that her hair now remains on place; it´s that she is the usual kind of wife that might be expected, effectively caring for her husband, managing the farm (not a hint of house accounts) and dining out with neighbors. She is a loving if overconcerned mother, a bit supersticious, and people refers to her as being different, but she is not. Now she can effectively deal with life as it is, even help a jealous woman in a marriage crises with her own intrinsic honesty. Pain is replaced by jealousy, and so the couple goes on fairly well. David was already the grown-up and reasonable one, so now they are even and we can see how their marriage flows. In fact, he has here some humoresque moments that greatly add to the impression of a happy marriage, as both their acting in these scenes shows the simple reality of what a loving couple may share. Claudia´s mother, a wonderful performance by Ina Claire, conveyed much of the interest in the first part, and is here much missed. The continuity of the servant´s couple makes easier to understand that Claudia and David are the same couple we met before. Only, it isn´t very believable to some of us.
Review of Claudia and David
