The depiction of marriage in old movies is often complex. During the Golden Era of Hollywood, the Motion Picture Production Code required that the state of matrimony must be upheld at all times. While the difficulties and challenges of marriage could be shown, stories were not allowed to mock, ridicule, or disrespect the basic concept of traditional marriage. By extension, infidelity was not a forbidden topic, but it had to be handled very carefully. To create some dramatic tension without wading into the complicated waters of depicting adultery, many Golden Era filmmakers opted instead for stories about jealousy, misunderstandings, and false suspicions.
The Story
Paula (Carroll) and Vincent Doane (MacMurray) have been happily married for five years. However, she is growing suspicious of the amount of time her husband has been spending with a potential client for his advertising firm, Mr. Fraser. She has caught him in many little falsehoods during his two weeks working on the case, so she suspects that Mr. Fraser is a woman. It turns out that she is right, but it’s not what she thinks. Margot Fraser (Louise Allbritton) is the head of Mesdames Cosmetic Company, a lucrative account Vince is trying to secure for his firm in hopes of becoming a partner and getting a raise. However, he is reluctant to tell Paula the truth because the beautiful young widow was his fiancée before he married Paula. The woman ended up leaving him for the wealthy old Mr. Fraser. Although he isn’t interested in Margot anymore, she has her sights set on him.The Scene
As Paula finishes packing for her trip to Reno that afternoon, Eve comes in and greets her warmly. She announces that she’s going over to the railroad office to pick up Paula’s ticket. Paula reminds her not to be late. Making a final effort to save her friend and brother’s marriage, she asks, “Are you sure you want me to pick it up?” Paula hastily replies, “Of course, I’m sure. Why do you ask?” “I just wanted to make sure you’re sure,” Eve replies. Turning to her frankly, Paula says, “Look, Eve. I know what I’m doing. I could never be happy again with Vincent. I’d never trust him.”Its Significance
Suddenly getting an idea, Eve tells Paula she’ll be right back and rushes out of the apartment. She hurries over to Vincent’s apartment and encourages him to confess to an affair with Margot. After their conversation, she believes that the only thing that can make Paula forgive her husband is his open admittance to a sin he didn’t commit. Unfortunately, the idea doesn’t work as planned.Eve’s plan doesn’t work because, although she said she could have forgiven Vincent anything if he’d been honest, she doesn’t want to hear that he spent a weekend with Margot. She was angry enough when she just suspected him of infidelity. Ultimately, the only thing which restores Vincent to Paula’s good graces is Margot’s honest admission that nothing happened between them.
What Paula said was true. She just wanted the truth, but after she had caught Vincent deceiving her multiple times, she couldn’t believe anything he said anymore. She had to hear his name be cleared by another person, who had nothing to gain by the admission.
Honesty and Trust
This story shows the dangers of telling half-truths “for a good cause.” There certainly are times when it’s tempting to tell “a lie that brings a smile” instead of “a truth that sheds a tear.” However, ultimately, honesty is the best policy, since the truth often comes out at a later time. As Vincent discovers, an innocent situation can seem very tawdry when it’s been purposely misrepresented. If Vincent had told Paula the truth about the situation with Margot in the first place, she wouldn’t have liked it, but she would have known that he was being completely honest and upfront with her about the uncomfortable assignment.However, this scenario also demonstrates the importance of trust, understanding, and not jumping to conclusions. Vincent is afraid to tell his wife the truth about a business assignment because of how he thinks she will react. From her behavior later in the film, his concern wasn’t unwarranted. Honesty is the best policy, but we need to also be careful to receive the truth with an open mind and trust if we want others to feel comfortable being honest with us.
