| Children of Divorce | |
| Story: | Adela Rogers St. Johns |
| Editing: | E. Lloyd Sheldon |
| Studio: | Famous Players–Lasky |
| Distributor: | Paramount Pictures |
| Runtime: | 70 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Silent (English intertitles) |
Children of Divorce is a 1927 American silent romantic drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Clara Bow, Esther Ralston, and Gary Cooper. Adapted from the 1927 novel of the same name by Owen Johnson, and written by Louis D. Lighton, Hope Loring, Alfred Hustwick, and Adela Rogers St. Johns, the film is about a young flapper who tricks her wealthy friend into marrying her during a night of drunken revelry. Even though she knows that he is in love with another woman, she refuses to grant him a divorce and repeat the mistake of her divorced parents. Produced by Jesse L. Lasky, E. Lloyd Sheldon, and Adolph Zukor for the Famous Players–Lasky, the film was released on April 25, 1927 by Paramount Pictures.[1]
Jean Waddington (Esther Ralston) and Ted Larrabee (Gary Cooper) grew up together in an affluent society, the children of divorced parents. Most of their friends have cynical attitudes towards love and marriage, but Jean and Ted are more serious. In fact, Jean has fallen in love with Ted, who one day proposes marriage. Knowing, however, that Ted's father was unfaithful to his wife and irresponsible, Jean demands that he prove himself before she accepts his proposal. Soon Ted starts a business and opens up an office in the building where their mutual friend Kitty Flanders (Clara Bow) works. Kitty is also a child of divorce.
One evening, Kitty throws a wild party at work, and Ted takes part in the revelry. At the party, Kitty meets Prince Ludovico de Saxe (Einar Hanson) and is immediately attracted to him. The prince returns her affection, but the prince's guardian Duke Henri de Goncourt (Norman Trevor) prevents them from seeing each other because she is not of their social class. Raised by a mother who insisted that she marry a wealthy man, Kitty soon sets her sights on Ted—even though she knows that Ted and her close friend Jean love each other. One evening, after going on a drunken spree, Kitty tricks Ted into marrying her, even though she does not love him.
Desperately unhappy, Ted assures Jean that he will seek a divorce as soon as possible. Not wanting him to repeat the mistakes of their parents, Jean refuses to marry him if he divorces, and sails off for Europe. The arrival of their baby does little for their marriage, and Ted avoids spending any time with his unwanted wife. Sometime later, Kitty and Ted and their child visit the prince, whom Kitty once loved. Kitty remembers her feelings for the prince and dreams of marrying him someday. When she learns that he can never marry a divorced woman for religious reasons, she poisons herself.
Director Frank Lloyd’s film was deemed commercially nonviable by Paramount publicists. With one million dollars already invested in the picture, studio executives were loath to shelve the production. Josef von Sternberg, recently enlisted as an assistant director at Paramount, was tasked with “salvaging” Children of Divorce by rewriting the text of the intertitles. Von Sternberg, in his 1965 autobiography, reports that he declined the intertitle revision, but assured producer B. P. Schulberg that he could “[reshoot] half the film in three days and turn over a successful version to him.” Schulberg accepted the offer.[2]
As all the stages on Paramount lot were occupied, the remake was executed in a large tent erected for that purpose, with portions of the old set transferred from storage. After “three days and three nights” the director, actors and crew delivered a product that ranked high in box office returns in 1925. Von Sternberg remarked: “An ice-cold million dollars had been warmed up.”[3]
A print of Children of Divorce is located in the collection of the Library of Congress.[4]