Nice effects though.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

"Perfect Understanding" is a simply dreadful film--very, very dated, dull and filled with folks you really cannot relate to or like. It also features the rather odd romantic pairing of Gloria Swanson and Laurence Oliver--a pairing that doesn't quite work.The film begins with Swanson singing--something you just don't need to hear unless you are a masochist. Fortunately, Olivier's character didn't love her singing either, though otherwise they play rich folks who have nothing better to do than go to parties, travel the world and talk...a lot. And one of the things they love to talk about is their love for each other. However, Swanson's character is apprehensive to marry, as she's afraid that over time their love will fade. So, they agree to marry and stay married until they begin to argue (ooo, how romantic).The biggest problem about this film is that it was the Depression and folks were out of work. So, such a mannered and dull film involving the rich and lazy seems strange--and hard to enjoy. The characters seemed rather one-dimensional and annoying. In particular, Swanson's acting didn't help, though Olivier did a nice job in spite of the film's many shortcomings. Dull and probably not worth your time.

Perfect Understanding (1933) * 1/2 (out of 4) With her star quality fading, Gloria Swanson went to England to produce this melodrama, which when released would just harm her career even more as it failed with both fans and critics. Judy (Swanson) and Nicholas (Laurence Olivier) agree to get married with the "perfect understanding" that they never argue or disagree. All goes as planned until Nicholas takes a trip to Cannes where he falls for another woman. PERFECT UNDERSTANDING is the perfect example of legends doing an awful film. There's really no doubt about it but this thing is just deadly dull from the word go and it never picks up any steam. It's easy to see why the movie was such a disaster when it was originally released but the most confusing thing is why Swanson decided to produce this herself and in England. I mean, this type of melodrama was flowing from every small and major studio in America so going to England really didn't do anything to improve the film. Even worse is that we have so many boring dialogue scenes that just drag everything out that the viewer will be wanting to stick sharp knives in their eyes. Things don't get any better once Olivier does the cheating as we get some pretty boring situations leading to a finale, which is just downright awful. It seems the film wants to return to Swanson's glory silent days because the picture really does look and feel like a silent at times but it's done in such a way that the entire thing just seems old-fashioned and it just doesn't work with the dialogue. Swanson is good in her role but sadly she's not given too much to do. Olivier is excellent in his part but one wishes the great performance was going towards a better cause. PERFECT UNDERSTANDING had pretty much been forgotten for over seven decades until it was brought back up to the surface but sadly, only die-hard fans of the stars should even bother with it.

American expatriate Gloria Swanson is living it up pretty good and meets up with society playboy Laurence Olivier and the two fall in love as it were and get married. But both are used to high living and going their own way. So a Perfect Understanding is reached whereby they do just that and they vow never to quarrel.Well that's easier said than done. And Larry heads off to the continent and the Riviera as he always does partying hearty. Gloria prepares home and hearth. Larry however has mantrap Nora Swinburne chasing him and when Gloria hears about she rebounds and right there is good old John Halliday to catch her.Gloria Swanson as it turned out had a great singing voice and at the closing credits gets to sing a song with the rather ungainly title I Love You So Much I Hate You. Good voice, mediocre song, but she probably had it tacked on to a mediocre film for those who remembered her singing Love Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere from The Trespasser.As for Olivier, up to now I had only seen one of his films before As You Like It. I'm not as hard as he is on himself when he was widely quoted as saying that William Wyler taught him the art of acting on film and that everything he did before Wuthering Heights was garbage. This second one I saw though would validate what he said.Quite frankly the lives of these society twits got about as much interest from me in the 21st century as it did when it was shown in Depression UK and USA. Word of mouth made the public stay away in droves. And the public is always right.

One of five talkies Gloria Swanson made in her early talkie period. This is a forgotten gem of a romantic comedy-drama about "two modernes" whose marriage is not a traditional one but a "perfect understanding." Like THE TRESPASSER, INDISCREET, TONIGHT OR NEVER, and MUSIC IN THE AIR, a solid film with a terrific performance by its star--Gloria Swanson. But along with WHAT A WIDOW (a lost film) this was a flop at the box office after the smash hit talkie debut with THE TRESPASSER in 1929.Swanson plays an American interior designer who marries a wealthy Brit, Laurence Olivier, but only after agreeing to have a perfect understanding of a marriage. After a lengthy honeymoon in Europe Swanson heads back to London to do a few jobs while Olivier stays behind in Cannes. Enter the spoiler: a woman who schemes to break up the marriage. Back in London Olivier admits his indiscretion so Swanson sets out to get even. She can't do it but he believes she did. Divorce proceedings begin. Nothing really new here but the two stars are wonderful and gorgeous and worth every minute of screen time.Co-stars include John Halliday, Nora Swinburne as the spoiler, Miles Malleson, Genevieve Tobin, Miles Malleson (who also wrote the script), and Swanson's then husband, Michael Farmer.Terrific scenes include a "cocktail regatta," which involves cocktails served at various stops during a speedboat race at Cannes! The race is the catalyst in breaking up the marriage. Swanson also sings a nice song, "I Love You So Much That I Hate You." Both Swanson and Olivier look great and the sets and lighting are beautiful in the newly restored print. The plot twist at the end is neat and satisfying.