MovieChat Forums > Small Town Girl (1936) Discussion > Why 6 months?

Why 6 months?

posted 14 years ago by dylansmom-1
2 replies | jump to latest

I know he wanted to stay married for 6 months so he wouldnt worry about her taking some of his money in court. I thought that was only if they consumated the marriage anyway? I thought if there was no sex the woman couldnt take him for anything.

Even if I am wrong and you dont have to consummate the marriage to take him for all he is worth (Or half anyway) I never really understood why them being married 6 months made it to where she couldnt take him to court for hundreds of thousands as he put it.

I have heard of marriages lasting years and the wife still takes him for half of what he has. So 1 night and getting annulled or 6 months and getting divorced doesnt seem to matter. It doesnt make sense why he thought he had to stay married to her 6 months to keep that from happening, I dont remember him really explaining that.

[–] donfemia 14 years ago

Mass. is not a community property state. She wouldn't be able to get half of all he has. She could only get what she got during the marriage, not even a part of his income if he didn't share. Although alimony would probably be granted till she married again.

[–] VelvetTigress 10 years ago

In the movie, his father took him aside and advised him to stay married for six months for the sake of minimizing the scandal, career damage, and damage to the family name and honor that would come about if people discovered he'd married a woman while in a drunken stupor.

At one point, he mentioned that she could take them for a lot of money, but his worry was that she'd blackmail him by refusing to grant a divorce unless he paid out.