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5.8/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.8/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Week-End Marriage remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have a thing for old movies where people talk at lightning speed and wear suits to breakfast, you'll probably dig this. If you’re looking for a smooth, modern drama, stay away. The husband in this flick is a real piece of work, and watching him squirm is either gonna make you laugh or make you want to throw your remote at the screen.
Loretta Young is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She’s playing the wife who actually has a career, which, in 1932, was apparently enough to cause a national emergency in the household. Norman Foster plays the husband, and man, he is fragile. Every time he loses his job, he acts like his entire personality has been deleted.
There’s this one scene where they’re bickering about money, and you can just see the exhaustion in Young’s eyes. It’s not fancy acting. It’s just her looking like she’s tired of explaining basic reality to a grown man.
The pacing is a bit weird. It feels like someone cut out all the transition scenes with a dull pair of scissors. One minute they’re happy, the next they’re fighting, and there’s no room for the audience to breathe. It’s jarring, but in a way that feels kind of real, I guess. Life is rarely a smooth transition anyway.
It’s nowhere near the poetic, fly-on-the-wall realism of something like People on Sunday. That film felt like a documentary of souls. This one feels more like a stage play where the lights are a bit too bright and the actors are shouting their lines to the back row.
The husband’s pride is the villain here. It’s almost sad watching him try to be a 'man' while he’s unemployed. He’s like a petulant kid who lost his favorite toy. I kept waiting for someone to just tell him to get over himself, but of course, this is a 1932 movie, so he gets a pass.
Also, the ending. I won't spoil it, but it feels tacked on. Like the studio heads decided ten minutes before wrapping that they needed everyone to be happy, regardless of how much sense it made. It’s a bit of a cop-out, honestly.
Still, watching Loretta Young try to navigate a world that wasn't built for her to succeed is worth the price of admission. She has this way of smiling that says 'I know you're an idiot, but I'll deal with it for now.' It’s a vibe. 🥂
IMDb 4.3
1930
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