Perfect Understanding

Last updated

Perfect Understanding
Perfect understanding poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Cyril Gardner
Written by
Produced by Gloria Swanson
Starring
Cinematography Curt Courant
Edited by Thorold Dickinson
Music byHenry Sullivan
Production
company
Gloria Swanson British Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • 24 February 1933 (1933-02-24)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Perfect Understanding is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Cyril Gardner and starring Laurence Olivier, Gloria Swanson and John Halliday. [1] The film was an independent production made at Ealing Studios, conceived as an attempt to revive Swanson's career which had suffered following the conversion to sound films.

Contents

Plot

Judy and Nicholas Randall are a newly married couple who agree to a marriage based on "perfect understanding." This agreement is meant to rule out any form of jealousy. During their honeymoon they are called away to Cannes to spend time with their friends. Judy chooses to go back to London to decorate their home but insists that Nicholas spend time with their friends. While in Cannes, Nicholas becomes drunk and ends up sleeping with Stephanie, his former mistress. Nicholas is guilt-stricken and immediately returns home and confesses to Judy his sin. Judy forgives him due to their prior agreement of a perfect understanding. However, while Nicholas is away on business she confesses to her friend Ivan that she is still upset with Nicholas. Ivan then declare his love for Judy and tells her that if she would like, he would be willing to spend the night with her. Judy leaves Ivan to consider her options and ends up wandering the streets at night. Meanwhile, Nicholas has been outside Ivan's apartment and does not realize that Judy has left. He concludes that the two are having an affair. When Judy returns from walking the streets she leaves a letter for Ivan, thanking him for his love.

When she arrives home, she is confronted by Nicholas who accuses her of an affair. She denies this and an argument ensues. Nicholas later drives to Ivan's apartment and finds the letter. He and Judy eventually separate. A month later, Judy finds that she is pregnant. She informs Nicholas who questions whether the baby is his. Angrily, she declares that their marriage is over and chooses to initiate divorce proceedings.

Nicholas is distraught over his failed relationship with Judy and confers with his lawyer over preventing the divorce. Unfortunately, due to Nicholas's infidelity the judge will grant the divorce for Judy unless he can prove that Judy was also unfaithful. During the court proceedings, Nicholas' lawyer displays her letter to Ivan. The judge dismisses the divorce due to the appearance of Judy's unfaithfulness. Afterward, Nicholas tells Judy he believes her and the couple promise to make amends and create a new life together.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Swanson</span> American actress (1899–1983)

Gloria Josephine Mae Swanson was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for her 1950 turn in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, which also earned her a Golden Globe Award.

<i>The Trespasser</i> (1929 film) 1929 film

The Trespasser is a 1929 American pre-Code film written and directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Gloria Swanson, Robert Ames, Purnell Pratt, Henry B. Walthall, and Wally Albright. The film was released by United Artists in both silent and sound versions.

<i>BUtterfield 8</i> 1960 film by Daniel Mann

BUtterfield 8 is a 1960 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey. Taylor won her first Academy Award for her performance in a leading role. The film was based on a 1935 novel of the same name by John O'Hara.

<i>The Divorce of Lady X</i> 1938 British film

The Divorce of Lady X is a 1938 British Technicolor romantic comedy film produced by London Films; it stars Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Binnie Barnes. It was directed by Tim Whelan and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Ian Dalrymple and Arthur Wimperis, adapted by Lajos Bíró from the play Counsel's Opinion by Gilbert Wakefield. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and Lionel Salter and the cinematography by Harry Stradling.

<i>Unfaithful</i> (2002 film) 2002 American erotic thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne

Unfaithful is a 2002 erotic thriller film directed and produced by Adrian Lyne and starring Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Olivier Martinez, Erik Per Sullivan, Chad Lowe, and Dominic Chianese. It was adapted by Alvin Sargent and William Broyles Jr. from the 1969 French film The Unfaithful Wife by Claude Chabrol. It tells the story of a couple living in the suburbs of New York City whose marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an affair with a stranger she encounters by chance.

"The One Where Ross Got High" is the ninth episode of Friends' sixth season. It first aired on the NBC network in the United States on November 25, 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orson Hodge</span> Fictional character on Desperate Housewives

Orson Hodge is a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. The character is played by Kyle MacLachlan. Orson is introduced in the final episodes of the second season of the series, and becomes the main mystery of the third season. MacLachlan left the main cast in season six, but made guest appearances until the eighth and final season.

<i>Monsieur Hire</i> 1989 French film

Monsieur Hire is a 1989 French crime drama film directed by Patrice Leconte and starring Michel Blanc in the title role and Sandrine Bonnaire as the object of Hire's affection. The film received numerous accolades as well as a glowing review from the American film critic Roger Ebert, who later added the film to his list of "Great Movies." The screenplay of the film is based on the novel Les Fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon and has original music by Michael Nyman. Simenon's novel was previously filmed in 1947 by Julien Duvivier as Panic (Panique) starring Michel Simon.

<i>Send Me No Flowers</i> 1964 film by Norman Jewison

Send Me No Flowers is a 1964 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison from a screenplay by Julius Epstein, based on the play of the same name by Norman Barasch and Carroll Moore, which had a brief run on Broadway in 1960. It stars Rock Hudson, Doris Day, and Tony Randall. Following Pillow Talk (1959) and Lover Come Back (1961), it is the third and final film in which Hudson, Day, and Randall starred together.

<i>The Affairs of Anatol</i> 1921 film by Cecil B. DeMille

The Affairs of Anatol is a 1921 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson. The film is based on the 1893 play Anatol by Arthur Schnitzler.

<i>Tonight or Never</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Tonight or Never is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Gloria Swanson, Melvyn Douglas and Boris Karloff.

<i>Rockabye</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

Rockabye is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film starring Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, and Paul Lukas. The final version was directed by George Cukor after studio executives decided that the original film as directed by George Fitzmaurice was unreleasable. The screenplay by Jane Murfin is based on an unpublished play written by Lucia Bronder, based on her original short story.

<i>Beyond the Rocks</i> (film) 1922 film

Beyond the Rocks is a 1922 American silent romantic drama film directed by Sam Wood, starring Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson. It is based on the 1906 novel of the same name by Elinor Glyn. Beyond the Rocks was long considered lost but a nitrate print of the film was discovered in the Netherlands in 2003. The film was restored and released on DVD by Milestone Film & Video in 2006.

<i>High Profile</i>

High Profile is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the sixth in his Jesse Stone series.

The Autumn Garden is a 1951 play by Lillian Hellman. The play is set in September, 1949 in a summer home in a resort on the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 miles from New Orleans. The play is a study of the defeats, disappointments and diminished expectations of people reaching middle age. For inspiration, Hellman drew on her memories of her time in her aunts' boardinghouse. Dashiell Hammett, who had been Hellman's lover for 20 years, helped her write the play and received 15 percent of the royalties. Of all Hellman's plays it was her favorite.

<i>Fine Manners</i> 1926 film

Fine Manners is a 1926 American black-and-white silent comedy film directed initially by Lewis Milestone and completed by Richard Rosson for Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount Pictures. After an argument with actress Gloria Swanson, director Milestone walked off the project, causing the film to be completed by Rosson, who had picked up directorial tricks while working as an assistant director to Allan Dwan. The success of the film, being Rosson's first directorial effort since he co-directed Her Father's Keeper in 1917 with his brother Arthur Rosson, won him a long-term contract with Famous Players–Lasky.

A Society Scandal is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan, and starring Gloria Swanson and Rod La Rocque. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is based on a 1922 play The Laughing Lady, by Alfred Sutro which starred Ethel Barrymore in 1923 on Broadway and originally in 1922 with Edith Evans in UK.

<i>Riptide</i> (1934 film) 1934 American romance film directed by Edmund Goulding

Riptide is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic drama film starring Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery and Herbert Marshall, written and directed by Edmund Goulding, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>Alleluia</i> (2014 film) 2014 film

Alleluia is a 2014 Belgian-French horror-drama film directed by Fabrice Du Welz. It was screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It received eight nominations at the 6th Magritte Awards, including Best Director for Du Welz.

<i>Personal Shopper</i> 2016 film by Olivier Assayas

Personal Shopper is a 2016 supernatural psychological thriller film written and directed by Olivier Assayas. The film stars Kristen Stewart as a young American woman in Paris who works as a personal shopper for a celebrity and tries to communicate with her deceased twin brother.

References

  1. "Perfect Understanding (1933)". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016.
  2. "Perfect Understanding".