SimonJack "Perfect Understanding" is a love story – not a romance, but a story of real love. And, it's about faithfulness and infidelity, jealousy and hatred, and forgiveness and happiness. The story takes place in 1933. The setting is among the wealthy in England and on the playgrounds of Europe. The leads are an American heiress and a landed Englishman who have met and fallen in love. Gloria Swanson plays Judy Rogers, who has come to England after her recent inheritance. Laurence Olivier is the wealthy Englishman, Nicholas Randall, whom Judy has fallen for. He is the nephew of Lord Portleigh (played by Nigel Playfair). Naturally, there's a love triangle in the person of Lady Stephanie Fitzmaurice. She's the woman "destined" for Nick before Judy came along. Yet, she has been married to Sir John Fitzmaurice for some time. The plot has an interesting twist in one of the characters, Ivan Ronnson. Played by John Halliday, he is a world explorer who goes off for years at a time on adventures of discovery. Apparently, he's a friend of Lord Portleigh. Ronnson is an observer of the goings-on. While being a member of the cast, he's always on the sideline -- never in the thick of things. He feels love for Judy. While he adds a philosophical overtone to the plot, he's also a potential third member of another love triangle – being the other man in Judy's life. As filmed in 1933, this movie is a bit heavy with melodrama. It seems to have carried over some of the old techniques of the silent film era that don't serve up well with sound. The first is the heavy musical score and crescendos to emphasize dramatic scenes or spots in the story. The second is the overly long panning, with no dialog, to close-ups of characters – in this case, Judy, for dramatic effect. Some of the technical production is not the best, and the script at times seems unnecessarily and laboriously slow. The acting is very good and a nice look especially at a young Laurence Olivier in only his seventh film. Both he and Swanson give very good performances here, but not exceptional ones. Olivier was age 25 when "Perfect Understanding" appeared on the silver screen. Swanson was old enough to be his mother and about to turn 44. They are a fine match here, but without his mustache, he likely would have had a much more boyish appearance that would have contrasted with the more mature (though quite beautiful) appearance of Swanson. The better significance of this film is that it is a fine morality play. The story shows many things well. The harm that infidelity does to a marriage based on deep love. The hurt, confusion and distrust that come from infidelity. It's interesting in that the greatest jealousy comes from the one who has been the betrayer. Nick becomes incensed with jealousy after he was unfaithful. It is a fine portrayal of dealing with hatred and having love restored through suffering, faithfulness and forgiveness. This film does pack a lot into what seems to be a nice simple love story on the surface. There are some other subtleties here worth mentioning. I wonder about the very release of this movie in 1933. Most the world was reeling from the effects of the Great Depression. That included England and the rest of Europe, as well as the Americas. So, here's a film about the very wealthy who seem oblivious to the world around them, except for how they might enjoy it. How did audiences receive a film like this at that time? Few people in the world would be able to take a honeymoon all around Europe that lasted for many weeks. And then there is the hedonistic lifestyle shown in Cannes on the French Riviera. The wealthy youth in the Cocktail Regatta were a sharp contrast to the reality of life for the vast majority of the world's peoples. Some of the films made about the high life of society in New York and elsewhere during the Depression could be seen as uplifting spirits. They were about good times that the everyday people could dream about or imagine as possible one day. And they usually involved people having a fun time with comedy and romance. Not so this movie and its setting. The movie has some philosophical and other interesting lines. The Quotes section on this IMDb Web page for the film has those bits of dialog. Here's a description of some of the "fun" to be had at the playground for the rich of the day, at Cannes, France. Miles Malleson plays The Announcer for the Cocktail Regatta. He explains the event: "Now the object of the race is suicide. The competitors line up here at the bar. They swallow their cocktails… They swim out to their boats and they start up the motors, with luck. Then they make for… At the raft there, they pick up more cocktails. Ah, yes, they do. Then they head across to the island where, if still conscious, they have yet more cocktails. And from there they head back to the finish here, if there is any. And let there be no moaning at the bar when they put out to sea."

mark.waltz Show me a marriage without fights, and I'll show you a tragic honeymoon where one of the couple suddenly died. That only takes place on soaps or in film noir where one of the two is killed by the other for their fortune. That isn't the case here. The couple is young and healthy, and they are played by two of the biggest legends of the golden age of stage and screen-Gloria Swanson and Laurence Olivier.Making the unrealistic agreement that they will never quarrel, their goal is quickly proved false. Totally happily married couples are bored eventually, and when Olivier goes out of town, a boating accident during a strange ritual causes him to spend the night in the company of the sexy blonde Genevieve Tobin. Confessing all to his trusting wife, he isn't thrilled by the sudden accusation that she spent the night with an aging admirer. This sends them into divorce court and leads to other accusations, debate and a predictable outcome. If it wasn't for Swanson and Olivier, this might have just been another society drawing room/bedroom comedy of manners. It was the very same year that Garbo turned down Olivier in the male leading role in "Queen Christina", but the still to be discovered British stage star lucked out by winning over Gloria. She would only make one more film before a hiatus, becoming sort of royalty and only making periodic stage appearances before entering screen mortality in "Sunset Boulevard ". Still elegant and beautiful to look at, this is a recent rediscovered classic. Swanson is both sweet and feisty, even singing a bit. For those only familiar with Olivier in drama, he proves himself to be an able comedian. A decent script helps it move along nicely, and it seldom lags. But the premise is a farce in fiction, let alone real life and it takes a bit of swallowing to accept some of the plot devices.

JohnHowardReid Perfect Understanding (1932) seems to be the movie that everyone loves to hate. But I enjoyed it – right up to the last quarter-hour or so. I thought Gloria Swanson was in fine form, even though super-lovely Genevieve Tobin had the more suitable role. Admittedly, Laurence Olivier tended to be a bit dull at times, though his boat-racing sequence was a genuine thrill. My only real quarrel was with the climactic courtroom scenes which – although produced on a grand scale – were just too outlandishly ridiculous to be taken seriously. I was also a bit disappointed that John Halliday's role disappears about halfway through. It would have made more dramatic sense to save him for the courtroom climax which needed a steadying influence and now comes across as just too absurdly farcical. Halliday would have given these scenes a believable basis in solid reality. I thought this stratagem was so obvious that I actually kept waiting for his re-appearance, but no such luck. Now I wonder what Halliday was doing in the movie at all. Why go to a lot of trouble to introduce a character into the plot, make a big to-do about establishing his credentials and then drop that character when you most need him? It doesn't make sense! And there's yet another player who is elaborately introduced into the action and then simply dropped – although she is still referred to in the dialogue – namely the super-lovely Genevieve Tobin! Well, maybe it was a case of making a film in haste and repenting at leisure. Available on an excellent Cohen DVD.

MartinHafer "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.