IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022279/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,0
Director: Sidney Franklin
Main Cast: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Reginald Denny, Una Merkel, Jean Hersholt
"A fairly faithful adaptation of the classic Noel Coward stage play (virtually all of the witticisms, notably 'Some women should be struck regularly - like gongs' are left intact, though we truly miss 'You're looking lovely in this damned moonlight').
In Amanda and Elyot, Coward created a pair of joined-at-the-erotic-hip twins; while there was nothing particularly bawdy about them on-stage, they were still rather too frank (and frankly amoral) to totally withstand the censor's shears on film. Fortunately, the filmmakers were sensitive and judicious in their cutting, with the result that most of the humor - and more importantly, the flavor - of the original remains. True, there's a little of the edge missing, but that has more to do with the actors than the adaptation. Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery are slightly too much the movie stars to play the parts with the total honesty that is called for, but their charm, timing, and bearing more than make up for this. Shearer, especially, understands the cadences of Coward's dialogue, but doesn't become enslaved to it. Reginald Denny has Victor's amusing insufferableness down pat, and Una Merkel is a winningly tiresome Sibyl.
The movie has been opened up from the stage play, sometimes to good effect, sometimes to little; however, the settings - especially the glorious Art Deco hotel - are noteworthy.
Private lives is played with such polish and expertise that we're willing to overlook the fact that only one of the four principals (Reginald Denny) is genuinely British." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/private-lives-v39315
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