
Private Lives
1931, Comedy, 1h 24m
5 Reviews 50+ RatingsYou might also like
See More




Where to watch
Rate And Review

Verified
-
Super Reviewer
Rate this movie
Oof, that was Rotten.
Meh, it passed the time.
It’s good – I’d recommend it.
Awesome!
So Fresh: Absolute Must See!
What did you think of the movie? (optional)
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer
Step 2 of 2
How did you buy your ticket?
Let's get your review verified.
-
Fandango
-
AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew
-
Cinemark Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Regal Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer
Rate this movie
Oof, that was Rotten.
Meh, it passed the time.
It’s good – I’d recommend it.
Awesome!
So Fresh: Absolute Must See!
What did you think of the movie? (optional)
How did you buy your ticket?
-
Fandango
-
AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew
-
Cinemark Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Regal Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You haven’t finished your review yet, want to submit as-is?
You can always edit your review after.
Are you sure?
Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers.
Want to submit changes to your review before closing?
Done Already? A few more words can help others decide if it's worth watching
They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating.
Done Already? A few more words can help others decide if it's worth watching
They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating.
The image is an example of a ticket confirmation email that AMC sent you when you purchased your ticket. Your Ticket Confirmation # is located under the header in your email that reads "Your Ticket Reservation Details". Just below that it reads "Ticket Confirmation#:" followed by a 10-digit number. This 10-digit number is your confirmation number.
Your AMC Ticket Confirmation# can be found in your order confirmation email.
Private Lives Photos
Movie Info
Amanda (Norma Shearer) and her new husband, Victor (Reginald Denny), are on their honeymoon in Switzerland. As luck would have it, in the same hotel in a nearby room, enjoying his honeymoon, is Elyot (Robert Montgomery), Amanda's ex-husband, who just married Sibyl (Una Merkel). When Amanda and Elyot cross paths they realize they still care for one another. They quietly rendezvous, only to start bickering, leaving them both to wonder if being apart is just as impossible as being together.
-
Genre: Comedy
-
Original Language: English
-
Director: Sidney Franklin
-
Producer: Irving Thalberg
-
Writer: Noel Coward, Hanns Kräly, Richard Schayer
-
Release Date (Theaters): wide
-
Release Date (Streaming):
-
Runtime:
-
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp., Loew's Inc.
-
Sound Mix: Mono
Cast & Crew

Norma Shearer
Amanda "Mandy" Chase Prynne

Robert Montgomery
Elyot "Elly" Chase

Reginald Denny
Victor Prynne

Una Merkel
Sibyl Chase

Jean Hersholt
Oscar

George Davis
Bellboy

Sidney Franklin
Director

Noel Coward
Writer

Hanns Kräly
Writer

Richard Schayer
Writer

Irving Thalberg
Producer

Rudolf Friml
Non-Original Music

Herbert Stothart
Non-Original Music

Ray Binger
Cinematographer

Conrad A. Nervig
Film Editing
Critic Reviews for Private Lives
Audience Reviews for Private Lives
-
Feb 28, 2017'Private Lives' starts simply enough, with Norma Shearer together with her new husband after having been divorced from Robert Montgomery, and him together with his new wife. As fate (or playwright Noel Coward) would have it, they happen to end up spending their honeymoons in adjoining suites. I suppose you can imagine what comes next as their love is rekindled, but what happens beyond that is a little bit of a surprise. It feels like a 1931 version of 'Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?', though without the same weight. Shearer is natural and plays 'exasperated' well, but she overacts at others times, and Montgomery is similarly uneven. They do have some level of chemistry, and the best scene that has them worked up to near violence (her hitting him over the head with a record, him slapping her, her running to the couch to bury her head and kicking her legs) is probably the best of the movie, but even that has an air or ridiculousness about it, meaning it hasn't aged terribly well. Their co-stars, Reginald Denny and Una Merkel are bland and unappealing. The theme is timeless, the difficulty of staying happy in relationships, and the danger of thinking the grass is always greener. There are some nice moments, such as when Shearer is expounding on the wonders of travel, saying she loves "arriving at strange places, meeting strange people, and eating strange food", and then Montgomery quips, "yes, and making strange noises afterwards". It is also risqué in some parts, such as this exchange early on: Denny: He struck you once, didn't he? Shearer (smiling): Oh, more than once. Denny (concerned): where? Shearer (smiling and raising an eyebrow): Several places... For every element I found I liked, there was an equally unappealing element, and in this case I suppose Montgomery's line that "certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs" later in the movie is that. It's not awful, but the movie gets tedious with all of the bickering, and I found myself happy when it was over.
Verified