Edge of Divorce (1953) User Reviews

For The Children

[boblipton · 6/10 · 1 June 2020]

Valerie Hobson's marriage to barrister Phillip Friend looks fine on the surface, bu it has been crumbling for years. Finally, they decide to divorce. Miss Hobson agrees to marry family friend Norman Wooland. The children don't like it.

It's an intelligent movie about adults behaving like adults, and children misinterpretting everything. They see the effects on them, on their home, and react in a manner the adults consider bizarre. It's very nicely written and acted, from the adults to the children, to Lily Kann as Miss Hobson's longtime servant. It offers an honest view of the state of marriage and divorce in 1950s England.

Divorce fifties style

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 30 June 2017]

Valerie Hobson and Philip Friend have been bickering away for some years.He treats her much the way he would treat a hostile witness in court.Norman Woodland is a comforting shoulder who is in love with Hobson.Things come to a head one evening when Friend leaves home.They decide to divorce.They have three children who all take it differently.However the son takes it very badly and eventually shoots Woodland with intent to kill him.As a result Hobson and Friend decide to give their marriage another chance,though it is clear that they are only doing this for the sake of the children.Difficult to know how they are supposed to be happy in an unhappy household.Good performances by all the child actors.Both Mandy Miller and Jeanette Scott would go on to greater things.

The same grounds for marriage don't work for divorce or reconciliation.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 18 February 2021]

Decent performances and generally likable characters guide this soapy drama somewhat realistically for most of the film, but in retrospect, it's no better than the hundreds of other films on the same subject. Valerie Hobson runs a perfect household but is completely unappreciated by attorney husband Philip Friend. They peck at each other at parties, bicker in the bedroom and disagree in the dining room. Time to pack in the towel so it seems even though there is no outside party to blame.

A social acquaintance, Norman Wooland, has been in love with Hobson all along and encourages her to end the marriage, and goes out of his way to win her three children over by attempting to spoil them. But with the son really troubled by the situation, things become really bad, especially when he disappears, only showing up with a disturbing intent.

Once you get to know these characters, you do get to care how the story unfolds but one thing is truly clear. This couple needs to figure out something more substantial than staying together for the children sake to try to work out their problems. The long-time housekeeper Lily Kann is perhaps a bit more personally involved than she should be, offering a bit more advice and complaining about the situation than she tolerably should.

Jeremy Spenser, as the son, really takes his character into some supremely dark places. Jeanette Scott as the oldest sister is also very good. As usual, the director and cameraman make really good use of location footage, something the British cinema was quite outstanding with. While the situation with Hobson and Friend certainly warrants some kind of legal action, here, it is approached far too easy to head to the end of the line. When you read about other marriages failing and the things couples go through, this is a far cry from "War of the Roses" so not much is learned from this other than the fact that in this case, the children, not love or marital counseling, control the parents.