Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

mmallon4 The Divorce of Lady X stands out above other screwball comedies for three reasons. Firstly it's one of the few screwball comedies filmed in Technicolor which also helps the superb miniature work at the beginning of Trafalgar Square, even if there are a bunch of empty buses driving. Second, it's the only British screwball comedy I've come across to date. Its fun watching typical screwball situations with an entirely British cast, set in Britain with very British lines of dialogue ("You got marmalade all over your newspaper"). All in all, it's a very British affair.Third and by far most importantly in what has to rank as one of the most bizarre of pre-stardom roles, it stars Laurence Oliver. Yes, the master of Shakespearean tragedy, perhaps the most respected and dignified actor of the 20th century as a stuffy gent who at first is delightedly full of himself but soon gets into all sorts of crazy shenanigans at the mercy of a screwy dame. Merle Oberon plays one of the most manipulative characters I've seen in any film (and just for the record, that improvised cape made from a bed sheet she wears is such a brilliant touch) and yep, Oliver goes head over heels for her despite all the anguish she causes him, plus her telling him she previously has had four husbands. Of course all this is made believable, both by the abilities of these two actors but also because of the film's sexual tension and undertones.In fact the film's first act is just one big farcical sequence centered around the sexual politics of the time; the fact that an unmarried man and woman sleeping in the same room was considered scandalous. Of course as film critic Andrew Sarris defines the screwball comedy genre, "a sex comedy without the sex".

didi-5 In rather wishy-washy Technicolor, this comedy of manners which the US did so well, and the UK less so, puts Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon together (they would make a good team in Wuthering Heights as well) as the couple who set off on a mistaken identity trial where Olivier's barrister thinks he is arranging the divorce of Oberon's husband because of her staying in his hotel room ...It is a story that's been done a lot, and often better than this, but the playing of the leads means there is a certain amount of comedy and a bit of a mischievous spark from Oberon, who knows she has to catch this particular fish, but hatches an elaborate plan to do so.

Flippitygibbit I loved the dialogue above all - the sharp and witty banter between British 'icons' Olivier and Oberon, and even the playful back and forth between Morton Selten as Lord Steele and H.B. Hallam as his long-suffering butler, Jeffries. Binnie Barnes was also superb as Lady Mere; her accent might have slipped, but she definitely had the right attitude for her character! The use of colour was also a plus, particularly with the wonderful outfits. I think Merle Oberon would have done better without the continuous close-ups - though she did have a certain magnetism, she doesn't quite hold up to such inspection - and Olivier was definitely better suited to the stage: indeed, that is probably where he thought he was, judging by the delivery of some of his character's lines. The improbability of the story aside, 'The Divorce of Lady X' is a wry 'snapshot' of its era: gender, class, morality - even weather (it's very hard to believe that London had smog so bad that people were unable to travel, but it did happen).

marxi Spoilers Ahead Weak and tiresome story of wealthy woman and a conceited barrister who meet because she needs a room on a foggy night. The woman deceives the barrister telling him she is married when she is not and she thinks she is quite clever. She enlists acquaintances to help her with this gag and of course they all find this nonsense hilarious. Too bad the audience won't! Then, as you might have suspected, the barrister and the woman fall madly in love.Even Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon with their high brow acting techniques can't bring any life to this muddled and insipid film. 70/100.