Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Original Screenplay 1967

The Contenders:

Bonnie and Clyde
Divorce, American Style
La Guerre est Finie
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (winner)
Two for the Road

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Film: Divorce American Style
Format: Turner Classic Movies on rockin’ flatscreen.

Norman Lear was responsible for a lot of edgy television in his day. Lear’s shows were ostensibly comedies, but often had a much harder edge to them especially for the time. So it’s not much of a surprise when a Lear-written screenplay turns out to be edgy, too. Divorce American Style is a comedy, but not the sort of comedy that causes a lot of laughing. This film is like trying something to eat that you don’t quite like by keep trying to see if you’ve acquired the taste. Lear had a way of getting an audience to smile, but smile uncomfortably.

Richard (Dick Van Dyke) and Barbara Harmon (Debbie Reynolds) have been married for nearly a dozen and a half years and the spark has left the marriage. Now all they seem to do is fight. They’re both capable of maintaining a good front when they have guests, but on their own, they bicker constantly and tear each other down. Even an evening designed to bring the two of them closer ends up in an argument. Both get advice from friends to empty the joint accounts and safety deposit box and they discover each other in the act. Before you can say “Doodley-doodle-doop,” we’re in divorce court.