For years I had an aversion to old movies, which were any black & white movies. From what little clips I saw here and there I had images of a lame plot, bad mood setting music, and gross overacting to make the plot seem more dramatic than it was. In other words, I had thoughts of "Christopher Strong."
This was a stupid movie with a stupid ending.
"Christopher Strong" is a typical 1930's movie regarding rich people. They attend parties until dawn, speak with stuffy accents, and are always fooling around. There's always a mistress or a lover. It's so common that it's just accepted and it would be bad manners to quarrel about it. Us commoners are too unsophisticated to understand.
In this tripe Sir Christopher Strong (Colin Clive) began the movie as a faithful husband who was fully devoted to his wife, Lady Elaine Strong (Billie Burke). His fidelity was a rarity. In fact, it was so rare that his daughter, Monica (Helen Chandler), used him for her scavenger hunt when the guests at yet another swanky party were told to find a man who'd been married more than five years and had remained faithful. Monica dragged her dutiful father to the party where he lectured all the partygoers about the happiness monogamy brings.
The participants were told that they could also find a woman above the age of twenty-one who'd never been in love. And that's where Lady Cynthia Darrington (Katharine Hepburn) comes in. She was brought to the party where she met Christopher Strong and I don't need to even tell you what happened next.
The two fell in love and kept the whole matter a secret because their relationship would positively destroy Christopher's wife. What a selfless gentleman.
Meanwhile, Christopher's daughter, Monica, was openly and happily seeing a married man named Harry (Ralph Forbes). Her prude and "old fashioned" parents forbade it and took her to Paris to take her mind off of the forbidden fruit known as Harry. But what you must understand is that we were supposed to view the Monica/Harry relationship favorably. Why? A.) Because his wife was never shown and B.) Harry and Monica were so happy together. That adds up to the fact that he was miserable with his wife who must've been a miserable person if Harry, this wonderful guy, didn't love her anymore. It was one of Hollywood's weak tricks of establishing which characters are to be admired and which are to be despised.
In Paris Monica met a guy named Carlo (Jack La Rue). Carlo was smooth and quick to profess his love for Monica which was an easy way for her to forget Harry. They did what young people do (even in the 30's) while Christopher and Cynthia sneaked around doing the same thing.
I bring up Monica in Paris because that incident led to her becoming one of the most pathetic creatures I've ever witnessed.
Harry eventually divorced his nameless and faceless wife which made him available. He wanted to marry Monica but he heard about her tryst with Carlo and decided better of it.
Before I go into Monica's response to the news that Harry gave her the kybosh, I have to say what a hypocrite Harry was. It went totally unmentioned that he'd been cheating on his wife yet had the nerve to be upset with his side chick for hooking up with someone. Harry was painted as a decent guy who was denounced by only "old fashion" Elaine.
Back to Monica.
There was a two month period Cynthia and Christopher separated. He knew he was wrong so he did the right thing before things got deeper between the two. For reasons unknown Monica hunted down Cynthia to proclaim that she was going to commit suicide because Harry wouldn't marry her. I don't know if it was the melodramatics of it or just because I think it was a small-minded response to rejection, but I hated no one more than I hated Monica in that moment. She was so utterly weak and pathetic that it drove me to want to commit a violent act. I wanted to end her life just so I wouldn't have to see her face or hear her sorry voice again.
Cynthia talked her out of the suicide by telling her that Harry would come around and profess his love for her and then she'd be happy again.
I'm married and I love my wife, but there is no way that I'm attaching that much value to her love and acceptance. I value and respect myself far too much to let another person dictate whether or not I'll be happy.
As for Cynthia and Christopher, they reunited with all of the oaths and proclamations of love everlasting and love unparalleled and feelings indescribable. They vowed never to part ways again, and Cynthia went one step further. She was a renowned aviator, yet she vowed never to fly again just to appease Christopher. She was willing to give up her one true passion just so her lover could feel safe knowing she wasn't doing something unsafe.
Their affair went on for months until the easily predictable happened. She got pregnant. Cynthia was on her way to tell Christopher of the wonderful news, but before she could tell him she was chastised by Monica.
Monica and Harry, now married and legit, saw Christopher and Cynthia in a restaurant doing what they did most: stating their unequivocal love for one another. Monica told Cynthia she saw them and that she was ruining a happy home.
Cynthia: "What about it? You both must have very short memories."
Translation: "Monica, you were dating a married man not too long ago, so who are you two to lecture me?"
Monica: "Well at least I didn't take Harry away from a woman who was an angel whom he always loved."
Translation: "it's OK to be a homewrecker if the dude didn't love his wife anymore or if she's not an 'angel.' "
The hogwash that was coming out of Monica's mouth wasn't the least bit digestible. Didn't she even hear herself. People will say anything to justify their bad acts compared to someone else's bad acts. Just say you don't like it because it's your mother being cheated on and kill all the extra noise.
In any case, the lecture worked. Cynthia felt guilty and decided not to tell Christopher about his unborn child lest she harm an "angel."
What she did instead, though, was so much worse and so much more pitiful.
She killed herself.
And I knew she would! That's the Hollywood answer to a disturbing love triangle. Kill one third of the triangle and then you can have a drama free ending with the remaining two.
Instead of surreptitiously moving away, or breaking it off with Christopher in strong terms, she killed herself.
I loathed this ending for two reasons.
1.) It didn't fit her character. She was a gregarious woman full of life and adventure. She was strong and unapologetic about what she did, yet her affair with Christopher reduced her to a sappy wuss who couldn't cope. Or perhaps she thought her suicide was the noble thing to do, but even still it didn't fit her character.
2.) It's weak. Like I said, Hollywood does that. They take the easy way out of things with deus ex machinas, easy changes of heart, or suicides when it fits. And by suicide I also mean those actions a person takes which he/she knows has a high likelihood of death.
This movie was tragic, and not in the Shakespeare way. It was a pretentious stuffy movie devoid of any value. There was nothing to be gleaned from this heaping pile whatsoever. I don't watch movies to be irked, angered, or riled up. If I want to feel any of those emotions I'd just watch the news.
Free on Odnoklassniki.
This was a stupid movie with a stupid ending.
"Christopher Strong" is a typical 1930's movie regarding rich people. They attend parties until dawn, speak with stuffy accents, and are always fooling around. There's always a mistress or a lover. It's so common that it's just accepted and it would be bad manners to quarrel about it. Us commoners are too unsophisticated to understand.
In this tripe Sir Christopher Strong (Colin Clive) began the movie as a faithful husband who was fully devoted to his wife, Lady Elaine Strong (Billie Burke). His fidelity was a rarity. In fact, it was so rare that his daughter, Monica (Helen Chandler), used him for her scavenger hunt when the guests at yet another swanky party were told to find a man who'd been married more than five years and had remained faithful. Monica dragged her dutiful father to the party where he lectured all the partygoers about the happiness monogamy brings.
The participants were told that they could also find a woman above the age of twenty-one who'd never been in love. And that's where Lady Cynthia Darrington (Katharine Hepburn) comes in. She was brought to the party where she met Christopher Strong and I don't need to even tell you what happened next.
The two fell in love and kept the whole matter a secret because their relationship would positively destroy Christopher's wife. What a selfless gentleman.
Meanwhile, Christopher's daughter, Monica, was openly and happily seeing a married man named Harry (Ralph Forbes). Her prude and "old fashioned" parents forbade it and took her to Paris to take her mind off of the forbidden fruit known as Harry. But what you must understand is that we were supposed to view the Monica/Harry relationship favorably. Why? A.) Because his wife was never shown and B.) Harry and Monica were so happy together. That adds up to the fact that he was miserable with his wife who must've been a miserable person if Harry, this wonderful guy, didn't love her anymore. It was one of Hollywood's weak tricks of establishing which characters are to be admired and which are to be despised.
In Paris Monica met a guy named Carlo (Jack La Rue). Carlo was smooth and quick to profess his love for Monica which was an easy way for her to forget Harry. They did what young people do (even in the 30's) while Christopher and Cynthia sneaked around doing the same thing.
I bring up Monica in Paris because that incident led to her becoming one of the most pathetic creatures I've ever witnessed.
Harry eventually divorced his nameless and faceless wife which made him available. He wanted to marry Monica but he heard about her tryst with Carlo and decided better of it.
Before I go into Monica's response to the news that Harry gave her the kybosh, I have to say what a hypocrite Harry was. It went totally unmentioned that he'd been cheating on his wife yet had the nerve to be upset with his side chick for hooking up with someone. Harry was painted as a decent guy who was denounced by only "old fashion" Elaine.
Back to Monica.
There was a two month period Cynthia and Christopher separated. He knew he was wrong so he did the right thing before things got deeper between the two. For reasons unknown Monica hunted down Cynthia to proclaim that she was going to commit suicide because Harry wouldn't marry her. I don't know if it was the melodramatics of it or just because I think it was a small-minded response to rejection, but I hated no one more than I hated Monica in that moment. She was so utterly weak and pathetic that it drove me to want to commit a violent act. I wanted to end her life just so I wouldn't have to see her face or hear her sorry voice again.
Cynthia talked her out of the suicide by telling her that Harry would come around and profess his love for her and then she'd be happy again.
I'm married and I love my wife, but there is no way that I'm attaching that much value to her love and acceptance. I value and respect myself far too much to let another person dictate whether or not I'll be happy.
As for Cynthia and Christopher, they reunited with all of the oaths and proclamations of love everlasting and love unparalleled and feelings indescribable. They vowed never to part ways again, and Cynthia went one step further. She was a renowned aviator, yet she vowed never to fly again just to appease Christopher. She was willing to give up her one true passion just so her lover could feel safe knowing she wasn't doing something unsafe.
Their affair went on for months until the easily predictable happened. She got pregnant. Cynthia was on her way to tell Christopher of the wonderful news, but before she could tell him she was chastised by Monica.
Monica and Harry, now married and legit, saw Christopher and Cynthia in a restaurant doing what they did most: stating their unequivocal love for one another. Monica told Cynthia she saw them and that she was ruining a happy home.
Cynthia: "What about it? You both must have very short memories."
Translation: "Monica, you were dating a married man not too long ago, so who are you two to lecture me?"
Monica: "Well at least I didn't take Harry away from a woman who was an angel whom he always loved."
Translation: "it's OK to be a homewrecker if the dude didn't love his wife anymore or if she's not an 'angel.' "
The hogwash that was coming out of Monica's mouth wasn't the least bit digestible. Didn't she even hear herself. People will say anything to justify their bad acts compared to someone else's bad acts. Just say you don't like it because it's your mother being cheated on and kill all the extra noise.
In any case, the lecture worked. Cynthia felt guilty and decided not to tell Christopher about his unborn child lest she harm an "angel."
What she did instead, though, was so much worse and so much more pitiful.
She killed herself.
And I knew she would! That's the Hollywood answer to a disturbing love triangle. Kill one third of the triangle and then you can have a drama free ending with the remaining two.
Instead of surreptitiously moving away, or breaking it off with Christopher in strong terms, she killed herself.
I loathed this ending for two reasons.
1.) It didn't fit her character. She was a gregarious woman full of life and adventure. She was strong and unapologetic about what she did, yet her affair with Christopher reduced her to a sappy wuss who couldn't cope. Or perhaps she thought her suicide was the noble thing to do, but even still it didn't fit her character.
2.) It's weak. Like I said, Hollywood does that. They take the easy way out of things with deus ex machinas, easy changes of heart, or suicides when it fits. And by suicide I also mean those actions a person takes which he/she knows has a high likelihood of death.
This movie was tragic, and not in the Shakespeare way. It was a pretentious stuffy movie devoid of any value. There was nothing to be gleaned from this heaping pile whatsoever. I don't watch movies to be irked, angered, or riled up. If I want to feel any of those emotions I'd just watch the news.
Free on Odnoklassniki.