‘Honor Among Lovers’ or — Deceptively Casual?

What’s initially fascinating about director Dorothy Arzner’s ‘Honor Among Lovers’ (1931) is how actively the film appears to be avoiding easy melodrama, emotional histrionics or contrived conflict to the point where we might start asking ourselves where the drama’s going to possibly come from. Everybody behaves so rationally and believably it’s as though they’re real human beings! But that’s also part of this film’s many charms.

Julia Traynor (Claudette Colbert) works for successful Wall Street trader Jerry Stafford (Fredric March). Jerry is madly in love with Julia, which is understandable considering the sparks that fly between these two. The thing is Jerry also seems to love every woman he knows so when this admittedly charming Lothario suddenly kisses Julia with no warning she decides getting married to her boyfriend, Philip Craig (Monroe Owsley), is the more sensible option. Philip might only be a lowly stockbroker compared to the wealthy Jerry but he’s dependable and doesn’t go around offering his secretary diamond bracelets and invitations to join him on expensive cruises.

When Jerry discovers that the woman he desires is now completely out of his reach he behaves like a child, convincing us that Julia has made the right decision. Although there’s a couple of unanswered questions left hanging around like a spurned lover: did Julia marry Philip out of love or as a way of permanently protecting herself from what she really desires? And, more importantly, did she have to make a decision at all?

The film plays out as a series of ellipses — a day becomes a week becomes a year — so we get the chance to see the consequences of Julia’s choice unfold as well as allowing us to identify which of these characters has the potential for growth and those who’ve allowed their true nature to slowly reveal itself.

Yet it’s all still rather sensible and honourable. Jerry even feels guilty for being so petulant with Julia so throws Philip some work his way which helps this recently married couple get a leg-up in society. Whenever these two rivals meet there’s a noticeable absence of stagey theatrics so it always feels like we’re watching grown-up adults interacting which, in turn, makes the movie incredibly compelling because we’re never quite sure, as in real life, where all this is going to go.

When the inevitable moment of crisis does finally occur it hits with a jolt, although it’s not as jolting as the betrayal of trust that soon follows which might just be the most astonishing example of one character throwing another under the bus I’ve ever seen. From that precise moment on the right decision becomes not only crystal clear but totally irreversible.

‘Honor Among Lovers’ is an extremely deceptive movie because it’s executed with such seemingly easy effortlessness it’s not immediately apparent just how carefully controlled everything Arzner is doing. Look at the way we’re introduced to Colbert: it’s a straight forward shot of a secretary entering a boardroom meeting but the way Arzner’s camera gently focuses on her perfectly informs us that Julia is our centre of attention in this sea of business men. She might also be the one with the real power.

Another great example is when Julia and Philip are at restaurant and the camera moving between the diners deliberately passes by them, only returning to the couple as a sort of laid-back afterthought.

Yet this relaxed, unforced feel never comes to tipping into inertia or the blasé but simply allows us to pay attention to the actors, their transferring of emotional information and the reading of possible intentions.

‘Honor Among Lovers’ is a wonderful romantic drama with Gertrude Purcell’s excellent script having some sharply critical digs at masculinity and male power, Capitalism, integrity, the possibility of maturity, the folly of social climbing, conformity, sexual honesty and the danger of greed. The performances are great with Colbert and March having real chemistry together and there’s even a brief, but very funny, early appearance by Ginger Rogers.

There’s a reason Dorothy Arzner has her fans, and it’s because of films like this.