It is obvious from the moment that Katharine Hepburn walks towards the stairwell towards her English family home that motion pictures have found an amazing new find. And when she first encounters John Barrymore and says, "I think I am your daughter", there is no doubt about it. While the idea of Hepburn playing a young British lady might seem bizarre, she truly pulls it off. Barrymore, having spent many years in a mental institution (apparently for shell shock),has arrived home just as his ex-wife (Billie Burke) is preparing to marry another man. He has no idea that during the time of his stay, Burke divorced him because he seemed to have no chance of recovery. Now, Hepburn learns from psychiatrist Henry Stephenson that she may have inherited the potential of having a mental illness, or that her offspring might have it as well. She is engaged to handsome (but dull) David Manners and must make a decision of what to do. Burke, too, has doubts about what the right thing to do is, and Barrymore's over protective sister (Elizabeth Patterson) isn't any help.

With the exception of Manners, the entire cast is excellent. You really feel the pain and guilt everyone surrounding Barrymore feels, particularly Hepburn and Burke. Known mostly for his sometimes hammy performances and flamboyant personal life, Barrymore gives a wonderful theatrical performance that works in this case because of the nature of the character he plays. Even Patterson's meddlesome aunt has understandable motivation, which makes her really likable rather than a pain in the neck if played incorrectly.

Nobody will ever confuse Burke's sympathetic wife and mother with her most famous role as Glinda in "The Wizard of Oz" or her later feather-brained matrons. When given a serious role, Burke could deliver a very touching performance and keep the helium like sounds she had in lighter parts out of it. Hepburn's voice, too, is not the imitatable one she had in "Morning Glory" or "Stage Door" (especially every time she had to utter the simple word "really") or the shaky matronly voice of "The Lion in Winter" or "On Golden Pond". She is almost Garbo-like in her looks and demeanor, American royalty on celluloid. No wonder America had a love affair with her on screen for over 60 years!

The film is a very far-fetched tale about a woman whose husband has been insane for about two decades and in an institution. When she decides to finally re-marry, the man escapes and shows up with most of his faculties finally intact (this part is the tough to believe part). Naturally, this throws everything into chaos and it has a HUGE impact on his wife and daughter.

It is very obvious when you watch this that A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT was originally a play. This doesn't severely damage the impact of the film, but it IS a tad static and slow because it's confined just to a few rooms in a house. If you are able to look past this, it is a very interesting and thought-provoking film that offers up an interesting moral dilemma. Also, the film is worth seeing for film buffs because it's Katherine Hepburn's first film--and is A LOT better than some of her subsequent films (such as SPITFIRE and SYLVIA SCARLET). Finally, John Barrymore, as usual, is mesmerizing at times--his performance was the best of the film. The best part of his performance was when he realized his wife was marrying again and he cried and begged her to take him back as her husband (when he arrived he had no idea she'd divorced him and thought they'd pick up where they'd left off years earlier). It's a very moving and intense scene.

Though this is the second screen version of Clemence Dane's play A Bill of Divorcement, it's the version that we all remember because it is the film that gave us the director/actress combination of George Cukor and Katharine Hepburn who would then rack up nine more joint ventures in almost fifty years.

Sad to say the play is an old fashioned melodrama that dates pretty badly and it's not really good screen material with the nearly the whole short 70 minute film taking place on only one set. Neither Cukor or Hepburn have quite mastered the screen technique. But the talent and charm were there and it's no wonder Kate had the lengthy career she did.

Though he enters the film when it's nearly a third over, when John Barrymore comes in, he dominates the proceedings. He's a shell shocked World War I veteran returning home after years in an asylum. By that time his wife Billie Burke is in love with another man, Paul Cavanaugh, and is ready to serve Barrymore with divorce papers, hence the title.

Barrymore seems cured, but it doesn't take much to set his fragile psyche out of kilter. What are both Burke and Hepburn to do as it comes out that insanity is prevalent in Barrymore's family tree?

Though the story is very dated, the power of the performances will keep you interested. Quite a lot is packed into a classic film that has an unusually short running time.