Review by Gary Tooze

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Second disc DVD

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Description: Almost 15 years after the release of its first publication, Flicker Alley, in partnership with the Blackhawk Films® Collection, is proud to celebrate 50 fully-published titles with the Blu-ray/DVD world premiere of Children of Divorce, starring Clara Bow and Gary Cooper.

The film begins in an American "divorce colony" in Paris after the First World War, where parents would leave their children for months at a time. Jean, Kitty, and Ted meet there as children and become fast friends. Years later, in America, when wealthy Ted (Gary Cooper) reconnects with Jean (Esther Ralston), the two fall deeply in love, vowing to fulfill a childhood promise to one day marry each other. But true love and the most innocent of plans are no match for the scheming Kitty - played by the original Hollywood "It" girl, Clara Bow - who targets Ted for his fortune. After a night of drunken revelry, Ted wakes up to find he has unwittingly married Kitty. This unfortunate turn of events, however, carries with it the traumatized pasts of the three players, whose views of marriage have been shaped as children of divorce.

Sourced from the original nitrate negative held by the Library of Congress, as well as their 1969 fine grain master, this new restoration of Children of Divorce was scanned in 4K resolution, and represents over 200 hours of laboratory work by the Library of Congress in order to create the best version possible. Though some deterioration remains, this is the first time the film has ever been released on home video, allowing audiences to enjoy a rare viewing of classic performances from two of early cinema's most recognizable stars.

Flicker Alley is delighted to reach the milestone of its 50th publication with Children of Divorce. This Blu-ray/DVD dual-format edition features a new score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, and was made possible thanks to the Blackhawk Films® Collection, Paramount Pictures, and the Library of Congress.

 

 

The Film:

The story at the core of Children of Divorce is textbook melodrama, directed with workmanlike verve by Frank Lloyd (and an uncredited Josef von Sternberg), but without the hallmark of a distinct directorial presence. All the better, perhaps, as this allows Bow’s presence to retain center stage, as dutiful medium shots and a handful of tracking shots capture her performance at the expense of cinematographic panache. Lloyd does get in some cute touches, though; when Kitty and Jean walk arm in arm as adults, the scene momentarily dissolves to them as children, sauntering in the same position. Lloyd pinpoints time’s passage as a facet of personality, so that Kitty and Jean’s eventual rift over Ted is consistently deepened by the prior, visual suggestion of their partnership. One would not be remiss to read a lesbian subtext into the film, especially during the prologue, in which little Kitty asks Jean and Ted, who’ve just sworn to marry one another when they’re older: “Who will marry me?” It’s Jean, not Ted, who subsequently comes to comfort her.

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Children of Divorce comes to Blu-ray from Flicker Alley with a remarkably clean and strong image quality. I never found any notable damage and hardly any speckles in the 1080P, single-layered, transfer. Grain textures are consistent. The image is quite light but contrast has some appealing layering exporting impressive detail considering the film's age - certainly better than the greenish/sepia cover might indicate. This Blu-ray appearance is devoid of many of the imperfections we have seen from similar era HD transfers. I think most will be very appreciative of the presentation.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flicker Alley use a linear PCM 2.0 channel (24-bit). The presentation uses a new score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra and it sounds as strong as the video - beautiful depth noted in the violin strings. The Inter-title cards are original English.  My Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

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BOTTOM LINE:
I thoroughly enjoyed Children of Divorce on Blu-ray. Emotion is so deeply expressed and you can't help but empathize with the characters and their lovelorn situations - which seem universal - no mater the era. Silent Era fans should consider this a 'must own' - especially with the included documentary and booklet! We give it a very strong recommendation to that niche. 

Gary Tooze

January 5th, 2017