This is basically a satire on the desire of laymen to act as missionaries for Christian sects, especially 'born again-oriented ones, which is what Susan is so enthusiastic about instilling in her friends, with mostly negative responses. We get the impression that Susan is using her new-found religious doctrine to bolster her natural tendency to be a 'busy body'.
I didn't get the sense from other reviews that this is almost like two minifilms stitched together. The first ends at the 49 min mark, and is generally interesting. Then, estranged alcoholic husband Barie(Frederick March) makes a proposition to estranged wife Susan(Joan Crawford) that they live together in their mansion this summer, with daughter Blossom(Rita Quigley), instead of sending her to summer camp, as usual, so that they will learn to live together as a normal family. He will try to totally abstain completely from alcoholic drinks. If he slips up, he will agree with her divorcing him. She agrees, providing there is no sex. The next nearly one hour is mostly boring, as things go well for them until nearly the end of summer. Then, in about the last 15 min , things get interesting again.
Near the end of summer, Susan announces to Barie that she is going to a meeting of her religious cult in Newport, RI, and that she will give a talk about Barie's 'miraculous' transformation from an alcoholic this summer. Unfortunately, this makes Barie very angry. He announces that they are finished as man and wife, and leaves. Susan thus goes to the train station alone, asking for a one-way ticket. But, after the train leaves, we see her still standing on the platform. She's had a change of heart, and returns home. Meanwhile, Barie has gotten drunk, and is weaving on the road, bound for the house of single friend Charlotte, who is generally known to have a crush on him. Despite knocking down her fence with his careless driving, amazingly, she agrees to accompany him to wherever he wants to go. Next morning, we find them in an inn in upper state NY., Barie not remembering anything about the previous day or night, having drunk more brandy at the inn. He asks her if she will marry him. She says "Maybe". Meanwhile, Susan and Blossom are frantic, wondering where Barie has gone. Friend Iris visits Susan, and complains that her engagement to Mike is over, and he has married another. She blames Susan for telling them that they weren't right for each other. A few minutes later, she admits that Susan was right. Soon, Charlotte walks in and admits that she has been with Barie. Susan cusses her out, calling her a home wrecker. Charlotte excuses herself, saying she found out what she wanted to know, A bit later, Susan goes down stairs to see Barie. Awkwardly, she wishes him happiness with Charlotte. But, Barie says that Charlotte rejected his marriage proposal. The two have an awkward conversation, denoting anticipated reconciliation, not convincing to me, for an apparent happy ending.
A side benefit of reading about the background of this film is that I learned about The Oxford Group': an evangelic group, founded by American Frank Buchman, which was the inspiration for the successful play this film is modeled after. Unfortunately, the film wasn't as well received, and incurred a loss. This group supposedly lived by 'The 6 assumptions', which were as follows: 1) men are sinners 2) men can be changed 3) confession is a prerequisite to changing 4) the changed soul has direct access to God 5) the 'Age of Miracles' has returned 6) those who have changed have an obligation to try to change others(for the better).
We learn how Susan practiced or commanded her friends to practice several of these 'assumptions'. Also, Alcoholics Anonymous was started as a spin-off of the Oxford Group, although it decided it was best if it wasn't officially related to any particular Christian denomination. I have read quite contrasting reports on how helpful AA has been. It's pointed out that, today, there are other, non-religious-oriented self-help organizations that may be more effective, along with medical professionals. Today, we have several drugs that can be of great benefit, that weren't available then.
I didn't get the sense from other reviews that this is almost like two minifilms stitched together. The first ends at the 49 min mark, and is generally interesting. Then, estranged alcoholic husband Barie(Frederick March) makes a proposition to estranged wife Susan(Joan Crawford) that they live together in their mansion this summer, with daughter Blossom(Rita Quigley), instead of sending her to summer camp, as usual, so that they will learn to live together as a normal family. He will try to totally abstain completely from alcoholic drinks. If he slips up, he will agree with her divorcing him. She agrees, providing there is no sex. The next nearly one hour is mostly boring, as things go well for them until nearly the end of summer. Then, in about the last 15 min , things get interesting again.
Near the end of summer, Susan announces to Barie that she is going to a meeting of her religious cult in Newport, RI, and that she will give a talk about Barie's 'miraculous' transformation from an alcoholic this summer. Unfortunately, this makes Barie very angry. He announces that they are finished as man and wife, and leaves. Susan thus goes to the train station alone, asking for a one-way ticket. But, after the train leaves, we see her still standing on the platform. She's had a change of heart, and returns home. Meanwhile, Barie has gotten drunk, and is weaving on the road, bound for the house of single friend Charlotte, who is generally known to have a crush on him. Despite knocking down her fence with his careless driving, amazingly, she agrees to accompany him to wherever he wants to go. Next morning, we find them in an inn in upper state NY., Barie not remembering anything about the previous day or night, having drunk more brandy at the inn. He asks her if she will marry him. She says "Maybe". Meanwhile, Susan and Blossom are frantic, wondering where Barie has gone. Friend Iris visits Susan, and complains that her engagement to Mike is over, and he has married another. She blames Susan for telling them that they weren't right for each other. A few minutes later, she admits that Susan was right. Soon, Charlotte walks in and admits that she has been with Barie. Susan cusses her out, calling her a home wrecker. Charlotte excuses herself, saying she found out what she wanted to know, A bit later, Susan goes down stairs to see Barie. Awkwardly, she wishes him happiness with Charlotte. But, Barie says that Charlotte rejected his marriage proposal. The two have an awkward conversation, denoting anticipated reconciliation, not convincing to me, for an apparent happy ending.
A side benefit of reading about the background of this film is that I learned about The Oxford Group': an evangelic group, founded by American Frank Buchman, which was the inspiration for the successful play this film is modeled after. Unfortunately, the film wasn't as well received, and incurred a loss. This group supposedly lived by 'The 6 assumptions', which were as follows: 1) men are sinners 2) men can be changed 3) confession is a prerequisite to changing 4) the changed soul has direct access to God 5) the 'Age of Miracles' has returned 6) those who have changed have an obligation to try to change others(for the better).
We learn how Susan practiced or commanded her friends to practice several of these 'assumptions'. Also, Alcoholics Anonymous was started as a spin-off of the Oxford Group, although it decided it was best if it wasn't officially related to any particular Christian denomination. I have read quite contrasting reports on how helpful AA has been. It's pointed out that, today, there are other, non-religious-oriented self-help organizations that may be more effective, along with medical professionals. Today, we have several drugs that can be of great benefit, that weren't available then.