Runtime: 76 minutes
Directed by: Clarence Brown
Starring: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Wallace Ford, Frank Conroy, & the tremendously named Skeets Gallagher
From: MGM
I had my subscription to the Criterion Channel paused for a month-now I am subscribed again and I figured it would be wise to take advantage of their current tribute to Joan Crawford. Despite her being a huge star from the Golden Age of Hollywood, someone who was white-hot for a few years in the 30's and despite having some down periods she would reinvent herself a few times and act until the early 70's. Of course there's the elephant in the room concerning Mommie Dearest and how two of her adopted children claimed she was an absolute terror who-among other things-flipped her gourd over wire hangers. Then again, her other adopted children refuted those claims and plenty of her pals did the same... at least for my sake I'll presume she wasn't an abusive human being with a possible undiagnosed mental illness as portrayed in the book and-camp classic-film starring Faye Dunaway.
Anyhow, I chose this as it was an early talkie in the Pre-Code era where she starred w/ Clark Gable, something that happened 8 times in the decade. It was a simple romantic drama where Joan played Marian, a lady working in a small town's factory and has a schlub boyfriend who usually acted like a heel. She meets a drunk rich guy on a train at its stop in town and she gets invited to New York City. From there, she is not only a bold independent lady but she is an admitted gold-digger... and the movie does not demonize her for her views. She meets Clark Gable whose character does fulfill the money requirements but because he's divorced he does not want to put a ring on it for a second time, causing the expected issues. As I saw someone else say on Letterboxd, he was rather clean cut here rather than a womanizing rascal.
It is not the most spectacular Pre-Code drama I have ever seen by any means-that said, it was a fine 76 minutes which has some other familiar faces (Wallace Ford and a guy whose name I'll never not snicker at, Skeets Gallagher), some lovely outfits worn by Joan and she even sings in English, French and German in one scene... the two big stars are the highlight and it was a treat to see them separately & on screen together. The last five minutes or so were quite stirring so this at least ended on a high note. Now, I'll happily examine more of Crawford's filmography in the future.
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