Silent movies - A House Divided

Welcome to another short, a film directed and produced by Alice Guy-Blaché, one of the first film directors in the world (please, even if you are not interested in silent movies per se, not even in film history, but in the impact women made - often forgotten or even denied later - have a look at my blog post about her because she's one of those examples.
She made this short in 1913 under the banner of her own studio called Solax.
It's called "A House Divided".

The plot is told quickly (spoiler alert!).
Gerald and Diana are both very jealous. When they suspect the other to have been unfaithful - simply because Gerald got splashed with a bit of perfume by a salesman and because Diana has a pair of gloves lying around that a workman left behind -, their lawyer advises them to stay together, but without speaking to each other, so they start writing each other notes.
During a dinner party, they hear strange noises and Gerald goes to investigate. It turns out to be the maid who had forgotten her key and entered through the basement window.
The couple breaks into laughter and then explains to each other how it came to the misunderstanding about the perfume and gloves. Their lawyer who's a family friend and guest at the party is shocked to see them hugging and reminds them of the agreement, but Gerald tears up the document.

The first thing people usually say when I mention watching silent movies is that they would never make it through one. Fair enough, I hadn't expected myself that I would not only be able to watch a silent movie every week, but also enjoy it so much.
The second thing they point out is the overacting. I used to think the same, but so far there has not been as much overacting in the movies I watched as anticipated.
This short, however ... it's a comedy which allows for things to be over the top, but the gum-chewing secretary (I have a problem with watching people chewing gum) and her mannerisms, for example the way she kept putting her hands on her hips, were a bit much for me.

I just want to be done here and go home. Men, honestly.

What I really couldn't understand, though, was why Guy-Blaché who hung up the sign "Be natural" for her cast let Gerald get through with whatever this is. Even for 1913 that was too much and he reminded me a bit of a fish at times.

You think he's singing along to the piano? Wrong.
That's how Gerald talks, heaven knows why.

According to Fritzi Kramer's blog, trial separations were dominating newspapers at the time as a modern way to avoid divorce.
I know of divorced couples still living in the same house, but on different floors. Good for them if they can make it work. Living in one place and exchanging notes, however, sounds very awkward even after a mere row, but as a trial separation it sounds like a terrible idea if you can't avoid running into each other. Not that there was any doubt that the one here wouldn't be lasting very long 😉
From her smile when Diana showed her the notes, it looked to me as Mother would have agreed with me. Actually, Mother was my favorite character. She clearly didn't take the separation seriously.

Oh, you young people ....

I thought the plot was interesting and the film was fun, but it could have been better with a little less overacting. Still worth investing the 13 minutes!

Source:

Fritzi Kramer: A House Divided (1913) - A Silent Film Review. On: Movies Silently, February 15, 2019