This is a typical soap opera of today, the one I (or rather my other half, and other of the gender) devour on TV. Man - crushed to pulp between two of the opposite gender and camp - mother and wife - and in fact the next gen, though infant, the daughter. Plot wise, on today's standard, it has nothing new to offer, though I don't know of those times - I haven't in fact come across any of this viciousness earlier to it - may be except one or two - like 'Way Down East' - but even that wasn't this vicious, and there was a reason, if the old man in that was.
Looking at the characters - there are four major players - The wife, husband, Mother-in law and wife's seducer, and a couple of major-minor characters - Mother-In-law's brother, and the Husband's cousin, who is the seducer's wife.
Of all these characters - there is only one angel (naturally the wife) and all other are in opposing camp. Some are willingly - the Mother-In law and her brother, the uncle - due to hatred of the mesalliance, the cousin, due to snobbery, and the cousin'e seducer husband - due to call of the flesh, and one, the husband, unwillingly, having been completely brainwashed against the wife. I won't find anything against the plot - though a soap, if there was one. But unfortunately for that to pull through the characters should be believable. The roles can become believable only when the actors portraying the roles integrate into it.
Unfortunately in this movie - except Nancy Carroll, no one could. I could only give an 'attempt to' credit to the husband, portrayed by Arlen - though not very convincingly. But all other - probably didn't get over the hang-over of Silent times - and acted as if in Theater - through limbs rather than the face - and the major culprit in it was the second most important character in the movie, the Mother In law. Even John Litel, the cousin-in-law wasn't too convincing as the one who was coveting the heroine and ready to go to any extent (I wonder what happened to him, after he was rebuffed? he simply went out of the movie radar) Whatever stars are there are for Nancy, she looked, acted, and convinced me to be angelic - and half of a star for plot - that isn't unconvincing - if it became so - it was due to the other actors, who added to the negative marks. Watchable for those who liked Nancy, after all she has more than half of screen time, otherwise, just one of the mediocre - or a notch below movie.
Of all these characters - there is only one angel (naturally the wife) and all other are in opposing camp. Some are willingly - the Mother-In law and her brother, the uncle - due to hatred of the mesalliance, the cousin, due to snobbery, and the cousin'e seducer husband - due to call of the flesh, and one, the husband, unwillingly, having been completely brainwashed against the wife. I won't find anything against the plot - though a soap, if there was one. But unfortunately for that to pull through the characters should be believable. The roles can become believable only when the actors portraying the roles integrate into it.
Unfortunately in this movie - except Nancy Carroll, no one could. I could only give an 'attempt to' credit to the husband, portrayed by Arlen - though not very convincingly. But all other - probably didn't get over the hang-over of Silent times - and acted as if in Theater - through limbs rather than the face - and the major culprit in it was the second most important character in the movie, the Mother In law. Even John Litel, the cousin-in-law wasn't too convincing as the one who was coveting the heroine and ready to go to any extent (I wonder what happened to him, after he was rebuffed? he simply went out of the movie radar) Whatever stars are there are for Nancy, she looked, acted, and convinced me to be angelic - and half of a star for plot - that isn't unconvincing - if it became so - it was due to the other actors, who added to the negative marks. Watchable for those who liked Nancy, after all she has more than half of screen time, otherwise, just one of the mediocre - or a notch below movie.