Divorce American Style (1967)

After 17 years, things have got too predictable and stale. They argue, they visit a marriage counselor, Richard (drunk) visits a prostitute. They split up. After meeting other people, they ... See full summary »

Director:

Bud Yorkin

Writers:

Robert Kaufman (story), Norman Lear (screenplay)

Stars:

Dick Van Dyke, Debbie Reynolds, Jason Robards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dick Van Dyke	...	Richard Harmon
Debbie Reynolds	...	Barbara Harmon
Jason Robards	...	Nelson Downes
Jean Simmons	...	Nancy Downes
Van Johnson	...	Al Yearling
Joe Flynn	...	Lionel Blandsforth
Shelley Berman	...	David Grieff
Martin Gabel	...	Dr. Zenwinn
Lee Grant	...	Dede Murphy
Pat Collins	...	Pat Collins
Tom Bosley	...	Farley
Emmaline Henry	...	Fern Blandsforth
Dick Gautier	...	Larry Strickland
Tim Matheson	...	Mark Harmon (as Tim Matthieson)
Gary Goetzman	...	Jonathan Harmon

Storyline

After 17 years, things have got too predictable and stale. They argue, they visit a marriage counselor, Richard (drunk) visits a prostitute. They split up. After meeting other people, they are re-united at a night club where they realize that their marriage was better than their divorce.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | divorce | alimony | prostitute | dancing | 

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Taglines:

Is Marriage Dead?

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 June 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Divorce à l'américaine

Filming Locations:

Topanga Plaza Mall - 6602 Topanga Plaza, Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

National General Production Inc.,Tandem Enterprises Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.

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Goofs

When the lady hypnotist turns toward the audience in the nightclub, a puff of cigarette smoke goes in reverse.

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Quotes

Dede Murphy: So, since when do men grow up? They just grow old. You know what I call this apartment sometimes? Boys' Town.

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Crazy Credits

SPOILER: Opening credits (and the musical score) begin when a conductor - having just walked across a field and set up a music stand - raises his baton, gives a downbeat, and "cues" the sounds of husbands and wives arguing from the houses in the neighborhood below. At the end of the picture, the conductor again appears in the field above the neighborhood and begins conducting the final musical score through the closing credits (and drowning out the sound of arguing).

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Connections

Referenced in Silk Stalkings: Divorce, Palm Beach Style (1996)

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Soundtracks

Let's Fall in Love
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by Ted Koehler
Sung partially by Pat Collins

User Reviews

weird movie with a few excellent moments

the comedy of this film falls entirely flat (hurr durr divorce edgy hurr) there are a few moments which make this worth the watch. van dyke of sitcom fame plays rob petrie, corrupted, and seems terribly comfortable in the role. debbie reynolds is interesting in her own way, as the slightly daffy housewife. jason robards, jean simmons and van johnson are also very entertaining and darkly funny in their respective roles. as a character study it's great, as pseudo-experimental 60s film with nifty camera tricks, it's a failure. all of which makes you wonder if they had put all these great actors in a room with one another, with a script, a rolling camera and no direction, there might have been a happier result.

I enjoyed watching the various characters, especially the men, walk a moral tightrope of sorts; curiously, van dyke's character seems to maintain an air of decency despite it all. i wondered briefly if it were purposeful that the problems the characters identified in their marriage weren't the true ones after all; debbie on one hand seemed to have entirely unrealistic expectations about human behavior, while her husband seemed somewhat unimaginative and even intellectually stunted. "women need to stop crossing the lines between the sexes," what??

seems to work best when it lets the story tell itself; otherwise unbearably clever, with a touch of hubris even.