I tend to rate early talkies far higher than the average IMDb rater does because i love pre-code films and i make an effort to view them from within the mindset of their own era. Thus it is not uncommon for me to rate a pre-code drama at 8, 9, or even 10, while the averaged IMDb rating is only a 6 or 7. Not so with this stinker.
First, Mary Astor: Great performance, covering about 16 years of elapsed time, expressive gestures, beautiful line readings. Just a gem, as always.
Second, Kenneth MacKenna: His teeth are grotesque, his character is disgusting, and his line readings are filled with his teeth.
Third, Lilyan Tashman: Please. No. She is a terrible ham actress. As IMDb reports: "Tashman is alleged to have been romantically involved with Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo and Kay Francis, and to have gotten into physical altercations with Lupe Velez, Constance Bennett and Alona Marlowe, during her time as an actress in Hollywood." It shows. Also, per IMDb: She was "charged with assault in 1931, when she beat actress Alona Marlowe after catching her in husband Edmund Lowe's dressing room." And THAT, my friends, makes her performance in this role, one year later, bizarre.
Fourth, Tommy Conlon: A young actor who is charismatic and sincere. He works very well with Mary Astor, less so with the teeth-faced MacKenna.
Fifth: Everyone else: A small cast, filled out with a lovely assortment of character actors, all doing their usual fine turns.
Sixth: Mary Astor co-authoring a book on American folk songs ... that was a delightful surprise.
I hated this movie. I wanted Mary Astor to rise up and shoot Kenneth MacKenna in the teeth with a pearl-handled derringer. The fact that i am telling you that she did not do so constitutes a spoiler. So be it.
First, Mary Astor: Great performance, covering about 16 years of elapsed time, expressive gestures, beautiful line readings. Just a gem, as always.
Second, Kenneth MacKenna: His teeth are grotesque, his character is disgusting, and his line readings are filled with his teeth.
Third, Lilyan Tashman: Please. No. She is a terrible ham actress. As IMDb reports: "Tashman is alleged to have been romantically involved with Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo and Kay Francis, and to have gotten into physical altercations with Lupe Velez, Constance Bennett and Alona Marlowe, during her time as an actress in Hollywood." It shows. Also, per IMDb: She was "charged with assault in 1931, when she beat actress Alona Marlowe after catching her in husband Edmund Lowe's dressing room." And THAT, my friends, makes her performance in this role, one year later, bizarre.
Fourth, Tommy Conlon: A young actor who is charismatic and sincere. He works very well with Mary Astor, less so with the teeth-faced MacKenna.
Fifth: Everyone else: A small cast, filled out with a lovely assortment of character actors, all doing their usual fine turns.
Sixth: Mary Astor co-authoring a book on American folk songs ... that was a delightful surprise.
I hated this movie. I wanted Mary Astor to rise up and shoot Kenneth MacKenna in the teeth with a pearl-handled derringer. The fact that i am telling you that she did not do so constitutes a spoiler. So be it.