... birth control, not so much. And thus the dilemma of this film. At a seaside resort Martin Boyne (Fredric March) meets 17 year old Judith Wheater (Mary Brian) as she is trying to corral her younger brothers and sisters. There are at least half a dozen of them, I had trouble counting them all. It turns out Martin knows the parents - Cliff and Joyce Wheater (Huntley Gorden and Lilyan Tashman). But he didn't know that they had previously divorced, remarried others, then divorced and remarried again, and in each union there were children. And now the Wheaters are arguing again and the many Wheater kids do not want to be separated when the Wheater parents inevitably divorce.
Martin agrees to get all of the parties together - and that includes all of the ex-spouses, their spouses, and future Wheater spouses, and try to figure out a way for all of the kids to stay together. But it is futile as they start sniping at each other and eventually lose interest in the entire conversation as they have a polo match to go to.
The complicating factor is that Judith is falling in love with the older Martin, but Martin has a dragon lady of a fiancee to which he is devoted. On Judith's side, though, is the fact that she and Martin are the only real adults in the room.
It appears Judith has spent her entire life caring for her younger siblings and has not even been properly schooled, because early on she writes Martin a note and misspells common words badly. The film makes a point of showing you this, so it must have meant something.
This was a unique concept for a film - I don't think I've seen anything quite like it before - parents of means who act like children having lots of actual children and emotionally neglecting all of them. But it does suffer from some common early talkie problems such as scenes that go on too long and the necessity of having a rather static camera. What is great about it is seeing the furnishings, clothing, and manners of the well to do at the end of the roaring 20s. Also, even a little of Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman go a long way.
Martin agrees to get all of the parties together - and that includes all of the ex-spouses, their spouses, and future Wheater spouses, and try to figure out a way for all of the kids to stay together. But it is futile as they start sniping at each other and eventually lose interest in the entire conversation as they have a polo match to go to.
The complicating factor is that Judith is falling in love with the older Martin, but Martin has a dragon lady of a fiancee to which he is devoted. On Judith's side, though, is the fact that she and Martin are the only real adults in the room.
It appears Judith has spent her entire life caring for her younger siblings and has not even been properly schooled, because early on she writes Martin a note and misspells common words badly. The film makes a point of showing you this, so it must have meant something.
This was a unique concept for a film - I don't think I've seen anything quite like it before - parents of means who act like children having lots of actual children and emotionally neglecting all of them. But it does suffer from some common early talkie problems such as scenes that go on too long and the necessity of having a rather static camera. What is great about it is seeing the furnishings, clothing, and manners of the well to do at the end of the roaring 20s. Also, even a little of Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman go a long way.