Why Change Your Wife : A Dated, but Brilliant Commentary on Marriage

Long before Gloria Swanson gave the world one of the most iconic performances in all of cinema in Billy Wilder’s (very meta) Sunset Boulevard, she was a thriving silent film star often under Cecil B. DeMille’s masterful eye. As both of their careers were rising at the dawn of the new decade, this film certainly helped to solidify each as some of the best in the business. Why Change Your Wife follows Swanson as the titular wife who is constantly berating and badgering her husband, Robert (played by Thomas Meighan), until he bumps into a model named Sally at a lingerie store while shopping for his wife – hoping a gift might make her happy. Eventually, Robert attempts to fight the “matrimonial resignation to fate” that the opening title cards declare most men are instinctively born with, but not everything goes the way he had hoped – and Gloria Swanson’s Mrs. Gordon sure isn’t giving up on herself either.

It’s a sweet little film made all the better with some solid performances from the main trio – Meighan, Swanson, and Bebe Daniels (who plays Sally). In particular, Gloria Swanson’s transformation from the irksome wife into the one-who-got-away ideal woman of Mr. Gordon’s dream (those eyes...) is a delightful turn and the best female performance I’ve seen so far in the 1920s.

It’s not difficult to see why Swanson was declared one of the pivotal stars of the 1920s and an influence on many actresses over the next century. But that’s not to shortchange Meighan or Daniels who give affective performances that are only one step behind Swanson’s glorious turn. Meighan spends most of the film sighing with defeat or looking worried, but it works to lend the film some comic relief and as a man in a long-term relationship, I can definitely say a lot of his behaviors are not that far off from that of a committed man. Daniels also excels in the first half of the film in a performance that is equally intoxicating as well as sensitive, but the second half of the film changes her character a bit too much that she loses her edge (more the fault of the writer than anything on her part).

The one problem the film is plagued with, however, is that it is a film very much meant for its time. From the misogynist title cards or dialogue that too often discuss the importance of beauty or accessories to define a woman to the many Bechdel tests the film fails many times over, the film would be met with much controversy had it been released today. While I am very much an advocator of equality among all genders, races, lifestyles, etc., I am not going to judge a film poorly based on the standards of its time. Art is only a reflection of the times, and while times have changed, the films stay the same and I will judge them solely off their quality as cinematic works. That being said, the work is still very dated both in its dialogue and in its scenarios.

While all of this may be true, the film still offers a very honest and brilliant commentary on marriage and fated souls that was certainly ahead of its time in that regard (weird; a film both dated and ahead of its time?!). As one title card in the film states: “Matrimony, like a dip in the sea, first stimulates, then chills. But once out of the water the call of the ocean lures the bather to another plunge.” This brilliant line alone is what the film is essentially about. Whether that plunge be with another man or woman, or back into a marriage that has not yet found its ending, it’s always that intimacy which we lost souls search. As someone who has been in many long-term relationships, as well as currently in one, it’s easy to lose the gratitude and fire that once ignited a relationship because we have sat in the water too long. But once out of the water, you’re shaking cold and wishing you could go right back in. The film, while still showing the difficulties of marriage and monogamy, still ends on a note of hopefulness that might open the eyes of some married or committed individuals who may have taken for granted the one thing they should hold most dear. For the commentary alone, however dated it may be, I enjoyed the film and hope to see more of the glorious Gloria down the road as well.


7.5/10