A Bill Of Divorcement (1932)

After 15 years, a man (John Barrymore) returns unexpectedly from a mental asylum on Christmas day to his family. In the interim, his wife (Billie Burke) has divorced him and his daughter (Katharine Hepburn) barely remembers him. Based on the play by Clemence Dane and directed by George Cukor. After a fluid and cinematic opening shot, the play's creaky proscenium origins are very much in evidence. It's a masochistic film and its dubious theory that insanity is passed down through children no longer passes mustard. Barrymore is very good in a performance that is nicely restrained and when he "overacts", it fits in perfectly with his character's tendency to overexcite himself. Hepburn is fine but you'd never guess from her performance here that she would end up being one of cinema's greatest actresses for the next 50 years. While it holds one's interest for most of its mercifully brief running time (1 hour and 9 minutes), it's just an icky piece of self sacrificing melodrama. For Hepburn fans only. With David Manners, Elizabeth Patterson and Henry Stephenson.