MovieChat Forums > Divorce American Style (1967) Discussion > Creepy, to be sure, but Robards' charact...

Creepy, to be sure, but Robards' character was pimping his ex-wife

posted 11 years ago by ZolotoyRetriever
3 replies | jump to latest

Kinda' creepy, to be sure, the way he was scouting bowling alleys and such to find a "mark", but Jason Robards' character was basically pimping his ex-wife.

Think about the financial dynamics of the situation: husband Nelson Downes (Jason Robards' character) is on the hook for hefty alimony payments to his ex-wife, Nancy (Jean Simmons). He needs to "sell" her to an eligible male suitor who can hopefully marry her and take care of her, thus getting him, Nelson, off the hook financially in the alimony department. In short, he "sells" her, he gains financially. Call it what you want. Pimping is probably a good word for it, to say the least.

I don't see "pimping of ex-wife" in the Plot Keywords section for this film, but it should be there, it really should.

[–] JoeySanchez3456 10 years ago

Remember he was desperate. No money, broken down car, bad knee and on a cane, finally riding the bus makes you a bit crazy.

[–] Doghouse-6 10 years ago

That's one way of looking at it, but we know two things from the story: Nelson had been unsuccessful with previous "marks," but when he brought Richard Harmon around, Nancy became a very willing participant.

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] mdonln 9 years ago

Nancy's a willing participant. She wants to find someone to date and marry but had never really hit it off with the other guys the way she does with Richard. This was long before online dating so the best way to meet people was through other people.

Besides, doing what he's doing, 'pimping' her out as you call it, is preferable to what a lot of men are doing these days to avoid the financial hardships of divorce. Instead of leaving their wives and going through a messy divorce, they just eliminate them completely.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]