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Child of Divorce

Director: Richard O. Fleischer (Dir) Release Date: 15 Oct 1946 Production Date: 19 Feb--late Mar 1947 Duration (in mins): 62 Duration (in feet): 5,570			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Sharyn Moffett	([Roberta] Bobby [Carter])
	Regis Toomey	(Ray [Carter])
	Madge Meredith	(Joan [Carter Benton])
	Walter Reed	(Michael [Benton])
	Una O'Connor	(Nora)
	Doris Merrick	(Louise [Norman])
	Harry Cheshire	(Judge)
	Selmer Jackson	(Dr. Sterling)
	Lillian Randolph	(Carrie)
	Pat Prest	(Linda )
	Gregory Muradian	(Freddie)
	George McDonald	(Donnie)
	Patsy Converse	(Betty)
	Ann Carter	(Peggy [Allen])
	Arthur Stone	(Keyes)
	William Forrest	(Proctor)
	Sherry Hall	(Court clerk)
	Max Rose	(Deputy)
	Ann Burr	(Ruth)
	Connie Seymour	(Twin)
	Mary Louise Seymour	(Twin)

Summary:

While her father Ray is away on an extended business trip, eight-year-old Roberta "Bobby" Carter and her school friends see her mother Joan kissing a stranger in a public park. Although Bobby refuses to admit to the other children that her mother has a "boyfriend," she is deeply disturbed by what she has witnessed. That night, Ray returns home unexpectedly from his trip and gives the delighted Bobby a toy piano, which plays "Home Sweet Home." After Bobby goes to bed, Joan tries to tell Ray about her affair, but is unable to break the news to him. Later, at a playground, Bobby is again teased by her friends about her mother's behavior. After chasing away her tormenters, the sensitive little girl tearfully asks God to make her parents love each other. Joan, however, continues her affair until a suspicious Ray finally asks her about her frequent absences. Thus confronted, Joan admits that she is love with a man named Michael Benton and wants a divorce. Stunned, Ray rails against his wife and slaps her across the face as a confused and frightened Bobby spies on her parents in the doorway. Upset by Ray's outburst, Joan runs to the park and is followed by a hysterical Bobby. Although Bobby seeks reassurance from her mother, Joan tells her that she is leaving home that night and is taking her away from her father. Later, at her parents' divorce trial, Bobby is asked to testify, but she is unable to condemn either parent. The judge grants the Carters a divorce and gives Joan custody of Bobby during the school year and Ray custody for the summer months. After Joan and Michael marry, Michael attempts to win over his step-daughter, but Bobby continually resists his overtures. Then, just before Bobby is to return to her father, Michael confronts Joan about the situation and suggests that the girl is causing a rift in their marriage. Although Joan implores Bobby to give Michael a chance, Bobby cannot accept her new "father" and tells her mother that she is not sure if she wants to return to her in the fall. Bobby's joy at being reunited with her father is abruptly curtailed, however, when she is suddenly introduced to his fiancée, Louise Norman. After Bobby falls sick with grief, her doctor informs Ray and Joan that she needs more continuity in her life and advises that one of them should assume sole custody of her. As neither parent feels capable of making Bobby happy, the child is sent to a country boarding school. There, on visitors' day, a lonely Bobby waits for the arrival of her parents, who are to visit her separately. After Ray, who has since remarried, cuts short his visit, Bobby is reassured by her wise, young roommate, whose parents also are divorced, that she will eventually "get used to" being alone. Then, as the school's church bells play "Home Sweet Home," Bobby sadly ponders her future and vows that when she grows up and gets married, she will put her own little girl to bed every night.

Production Company:	RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company:	RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Director:	Richard O. Fleischer	(Dir)
	Maxwell Henry	(Asst dir)
Producer:	Lillie Hayward	(Prod)
	Sid Rogell	(Exec prod)
Writer:	Lillie Hayward	(Wrt for the scr by)
Photography:	Jack MacKenzie	(Dir of photog)
Art Direction:	Albert S. D'Agostino	(Art dir)
	Ralph Berger	(Art dir)
Film Editor:	Samuel E. Beetley	(Ed)
Set Decoration:	Darrell Silvera	(Set dec)
	William Magginetti	(Set dec)
Music:	C. Bakaleinikoff	(Mus dir)
	Leigh Harline	(Mus)
Sound:	Earl A. Wolcott	(Sd)
	Terry Kellum	(Sd)
Special Effects:	Russell A. Cully	(Spec eff)
Country:	United States

Source Text:	Based on the play Wednesday's Child by Leopold L. Atlas (New York, 16 Jan 1934).
Authors:	Leopold L. Atlas

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.	30/10/1946 dd/mm/yyyy	LP705

PCA NO:	11518
Physical Properties:	b&w:
	Sd:	RCA Sound System


Genre:	Drama
Sub-Genre:	Domestic

Subjects (Major):	Child custody
	Children
	Divorce
	Family relationships

Subjects (Minor):	Boarding schools
	Dollhouses
	"Home Sweet Home" (Song)
	Judges
	Marriage
	Physicians
	Stepfathers
	Trials

Note:	Richard O. Fleischer (1916--2006) made his feature directorial debut and writer Lillie Hayward her producing debut with this film. Hayward's onscreen credit reads, "written for the screen and produced by Lillie Hayward." Prior to Child of Divorce , Fleischer had directed RKO's This Is America series and other documentary pictures. Some reviewers commented on the documentary-like style of the film. HR announced in 1940 that Dalton Trumbo was writing the screenplay for the picture, which Howard Benedict was to produce, but it is unlikely that any of Trumbo's work was retained in the completed film. In 1935, John Robertson directed Karen Morley, Edward Arnold and Frankie Thomas in Wednesday's Child , RKO's first version of Leopold L. Atlas' play (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40 ; F3.4982). In that version, the main child was a boy. Modern sources speculate that post-war statistics showing an annual divorce rate of 250,000 influenced RKO's decision to remake the Atlas play.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Box Office	19 Oct 1946.
Daily Variety	15 Oct 46	p. 3.
Film Daily	30 Oct 46	p. 12.
Hollywood Reporter	17 Jan 1940.
Hollywood Reporter	30 Aug 45	p. 2.
Hollywood Reporter	19 Feb 46	p. 3.
Hollywood Reporter	15 Oct 46	p. 3.
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest	27 Apr 46	p. 2972.
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest	19 Oct 46	p. 3262.
Variety	16 Oct 46	p. 8.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



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