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Her Cardboard Lover

Production: January 15, 1942 - March 12, 1942 additional scenes shot began April 13, 1942;
Premiere: not available;
Released: June 1942;
Production/Distribution Companies: Metro Goldwyn Mayer/Loew's Inc.;
Runtime: 93 min;
Country: USA;
Language: English;
Color: Black and White;
Sound Mix: Mono (Western Electric Sound System);
Not Available on VHS or DVD;

Cast: Norma Shearer as Consuelo Croyden; Robert Taylor as Terry Trindale; George Sanders as Tony Barling; Frank McHugh as Chappie Champagne; Elizabeth Patterson as Eva; Chill Wills as Judge; Donald Meek as Pawnbroker; Jill Esmond as Lizzie Hartwell; Roger Moore as Simpson, chauffeur;

Production Credits:
Produced by: J. Walter Ruben;
Directed by: George Cukor;
Writers: Jacques Deval, John Collier, Anthony Veiller, William H. Wright;
Gowns by: Kalloch;
Editing: Robert J. Kern;
Music: Franz Waxman, Burton Lane, Ralph Freed;

Reviews:

Photoplay, August, 1942: "If this is to be Miss Shearer's movie swan song, as has been intimated, she leaves us with a very fine performance to remember her by. True, at times Miss Shearer spreads on the histrionics a bit too thick, but the role is difficult and why shouldn't a love frustrated woman be a bit hysterical at times? Anyway, we liked her, and think you will too."

Motion Picture Herald, May 30, 1942: "This undertaking in the zone of sophisticated comedy ranges from boudoir frivolity, such as used to be called continental to knockabout brawling, such as has always been called slapstick. It excels in neither department and serves chiefly as a means of presenting Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, and George Sanders to their fans."

Notes/Trivia:
-This was Norma Shearer‘s last movie.
-By 1942, Her Cardboard Lover had been filmed on several occasions. The first being The Cardboard Lover (1928), starring Marion Davies. The second was, The Passionate Plumber, starring Buster Keaton.
-Reviews were mixed, one even described it as “flat champagne.”
-Norma had turned down Mrs. Miniver (1942) for this film. Miniver grossed over four million , while Her Cardboard Lover bombed at the box office .
-Norma quietly drove herself to the studio, and cleaned out her dressing room early in the morning. The Queen of Metro Goldwyn Mayer had unofficially abdicated her thrown. Norma had wanted to come back on several occasions, most notably in 1946, but nothing ever came of it.