The Matrimonial Bed

The Matrimonial Bed (1930)
Poster showing Florence Eldridge and Lilyan Tashman.
Directed by	Michael Curtiz
Written by	Harvey F. Thew Seymour Hicks (based on the play by André Mouézy-Éon and Yves Mirande)
Starring	Frank Fay Lilyan Tashman Florence Eldridge Beryl Mercer Arthur Edmund Carewe Vivien Oakland James Gleason
Music by	Louis Silvers
Cinematography	Devereaux Jennings
Editing by	Jack Killifer
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	August 2, 1930
Running time	69 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Matrimonial Bed is a 1930 American Pre-Code comedy film produced and released by Warner Bros.. It was based on the French play by André Mouézy-Éon and Yves Mirande. The English version of the play, by Seymour Hicks, opened in New York on October 12, 1927 and had 13 performances.

Pre-Code Sequences

• Frank Fay is discovered in bed with James Gleason and Vivien Oakland assumes they are having an affair and shockingly exclaims: "What kind of a house is this?"
• When Dr. Beaudine (Arthur Edmund Carewe) attempts to examine Frank Fay, Frank assumes he is gay and refuses to take off his shirt. When Dr. Beaudine closes the light in order to hypnotize him Frank Fay exclaims that he was right in his suspicions about him.
• The movie has numerous gay jokes as the hairdresser/husband played by Frank Fay camps up the hairdresser persona to differentiate himself from the personality of the husband. There are lines like - "I may be a hairdresser but that doesn't mean I hold men's hands" And when he asks what manner of person was he as the hairdresser, he is told, "You were gay, a bit dandified."

Songs

• "Fleur D'Amour"

Miscellany

• Dickie Moore makes an uncredited cameo appearance in this film.

Preservation

The film survives intact and has been broadcast on television and cable.

External links

• The Matrimonial Bed (1930) at the Internet Movie Database