Norma Shearer

The Women (1939)

[8] Norma Shearer (The Divorcee) fronts an all-star, all-female cast in George Cukor’s adaptation of Clare Boothe Luce’s The Women. Shearer plays a happily married woman of privilege who learns through the gossipy grapevine that her husband is having an affair with another woman, played by Joan Crawford. Shearer struggles under the dueling influences of her mother (Lucile Watson) and her so-called ‘friends’, which include …

The Divorcee (1930)

[6] Norma Shearer, ‘the First Lady of MGM,’ won her Academy Award for The Divorcee. Shearer plays against Chester Morris, happily married until she discovers Morris had a fling with a floozy a few months in the past. While he’s away on a work trip, her despair sees her into the arms of another man. When the couple try to reconcile their indiscretions with each …

Strange Interlude (1932)

[2] This laughably bad melodrama is based on a Eugene O’Neill stage play about a woman who cheats on her mentally ill husband in order to have a kid who won’t end up in the looney bin. Clark Gable and Norma Shearer give insanely over-the-top theatrical performances. I was reminded of Jon Lovitz’s ‘Actor’ skit on Saturday Night Live. The movie is also littered with …