A Bill of Divorcement (1932)

David O. Selznick (Nothing Sacred) produced this witty romantic comedy starring screen legends John Barrymore (Topaze) and Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) in her screen debut. After fifteen years in a mental asylum, Hilary Fairfield (Barrymore) has suddenly regained his sanity, escaped from the institution and come home. But a few things have changed in his absence. For one, his strong-willed daughter Sydney (Hepburn) has grown up and is planning to marry. For another, his wife (Billie Burke, The Young in Heart) has divorced him and is planning to re-marry. It’s enough to drive a man crazy – or a woman, for that matter. Especially when Sydney learns it wasn’t “shell shock” that send her father to the asylum, as she’d been told, but family madness – and now she’s sure she’s inherited it. A mixture of comedy, pathos and farce is handled brilliantly by master director George Cukor (The Philadelphia Story).