Children scheming to bring their divorced parents back together has become a familiar plot for family comedies, especially with the popularity of The Parent Trap and all its subsequent iterations, but 25 years before Hayley Mills played twins, Edith Fellows and Jackie Moran played rivals trying to keep their parents apart in the breezy 1936 comedy And So They Were Married.
At the start of And So They Were Married, which was based on a story by Sarah Addington that appeared in Good Housekeeping, divorcée Edith Farnham (Mary Astor) has just arrived at a ski resort for Christmas vacation with her daughter Brenda (Fellows) in tow. Due to their experience, both ladies have sworn off men, so they are initially hostile to fellow traveler and widower Stephen Blake (Melvyn Douglas), who checks in at the same time they do. Heavy snow has prevented passage on the road leading to the lodge, so with no other guests arriving for the time being, Stephen and Edith are forced to socialize, and soon find themselves falling for each other. When the road clears, Stephen’s young son Tommy (Moran) arrives, and he and Brenda despise each other almost immediately— yet find comradeship in their shared desire to prevent their parents from marrying.
Astor and Douglas share a pleasant chemistry, so viewers expecting more of a romantic comedy sizzle may be disappointed to find that their love affair in And So They Were Married is quite rushed, and after Tommy enters the picture, the narrative shifts more heavily in the direction of the kids and away from the adults. But Fellows and Moran prove to be terrific young stars (as does Douglas Scott, who plays a stuck-up child with a smothering mother who is also staying at the resort) and it’s fun to watch them work through their reluctant affection for each other and come to respect their parents’ feelings. And Christmas plays a major part in these families repeatedly coming together and breaking apart, at one point Brenda and Tommy plucking the giant bulb ornaments from the hotel’s Christmas tree and hurling them at each other in an attempt to prove to their parents just how much they hate each other (and subsequently changing their tune when it becomes clear the future of their Christmas presents is at stake).
And So They Were Married was directed by Elliott Nugent, who had a rather nondescript career but a filmography that showed a penchant for comedy, and he makes good use of the claustrophobic space of the lodge in the first leg of the movie, with characters moving up and down stairs and interacting across the dining room trying to either find each other or avoid each other. At 74 minutes, And So They Were Married wastes no time— in fact, it’s the rare movie that might have benefited from a little more meat— but it’s a lovely and funny gem that’s perfect to cozy up to in the winter months, and one that’s ripe for rediscovery.
And So They Were Married can be found on YouTube. It also airs on TCM. Runtime: 74 minutes.
Katie at the Movies 