Her Private Affair

Her Private Affair (1929)

** (out of 4)

Based on a failed Broadway play, this early talkie features Ann Harding as the wife of a judge (Harry Bannister) who has an affair with a lawyer (John Loder) who then begins to blackmail her. She's willing to pay and goes to his house to do so but he forces himself on her so she kills him. An innocent man is eventually arrested and the woman must fight her conscience on what to do. It always amazes me when I watch these early talkies that so many were taken from plays that either bombed on stage or were forgotten about by the time sound films came into play. Perhaps their rights were cheap? Either way, this isn't the worst early talkie out there but I doubt very many, if any, will find any true charm or need to view this. I think the only groups this film could be recommended to are fans of Harding or those who want to see all the early films to use sound. There are many problems with this film but we'll start with the most obvious, which is the bad sound quality. It's funny but after the first five minutes the film was already starting to bore me but I kept myself going by looking for the items that were hiding the microphones that the actors were speaking into. In a lot of cases they were quite obvious. Back to the actual film, the story itself is rather bland and predictable as this type of moral tale was popular in countless silent movies. It's rather obvious how everything is going to play out, although I'll give the film some credit for throwing in a nice little twist at the end. As far as the performances go, they're all rather bland and that includes Harding. I had heard from a few people that they liked her here but I found her to be all over the place with some of the blame probably deserving to go to the director. There are moments where it appears she has no idea where to turn so she just fidgets on screen. Bannister comes off rather weak and too laid back for his role, which doesn't help things. The movie runs a brief 71-minutes but there are plenty of sluggish moments that make it hard to sit through. Those curious about the early sound techniques might want to give the film a look but others should stay clear.

A society wife who hasn't had an affair accidentally kills a man who claims he isn't trying to blackmail her. The only way Ann Harding's character could look guiltier than she does in this hysterical nonsense is if she was stood over the body with a smoking gun in her hand. Intensely irritating from beginning to end, the only (brief) bright spot is Elmer Ballard's turn as the murder victim's half-mad batman.

I'm so fond of Ann Harding, one of the early talkies' most revered actresses at the time, and now, sadly, virtually forgotten. She had a certain stillness and contemplativeness rare for the time, and usually she's so subtle, yet so expressive. But not in this rickety filmed play, where, for the only time I've ever seen, she overacts. But then, Vera, her character, has so much to overact about. Facing marital discord with her eminent judge husband (Harry Bannister, married to Harding at the time), she went off to holiday in Italy and became involved, though not to the point of Doing It, with a rotter lothario. Now, back in Vienna, he wants blackmail money, and she ends up unintentionally murdering him. The contrivances and coincidences just pile up: She just happened to leave an opera ("Carmen," which we see a bit of; Pathe appears to have spent some money on this one) to see the rotter as some friends were trying to run into her during intermission, and the man accused of the murder just happens to have her husband as the judge, and she convinces her faithful lawyer friend (John Loder, rather dashing) to defend him (before his good friend the judge her husband), but he never suspects a thing, and she just happens to faint on hearing the verdict, and the cleared suspect just happens to be her waiter on New Year's Eve, and her husband just happens to overhear a vital conversation between her and the suspect, and on and on until the end. Fairly ridiculous, but entertaining, and while I prefer the subdued Ann Harding, this hyper one's fun to watch.

This film begins with a relatively wealthy woman by the name of "Vera Kessler" (Ann Harding) being blackmailed by a notorious womanizer named "Arnold Hartmann" (Lawford Davidson) for a relatively innocent romance the two of them had while she was on a vacation in Italy. Naturally, not wanting her husband to find out, she agrees to meet with him at his apartment to discuss payment. However, when he decides he wants more than just money, things immediately spiral out-of-control, which ends up with her accidentally killing him with a nearby revolver. Yet, as terrified as she is over what has just happened, her feelings of guilt multiply exponentially when an innocent man is subsequently accused of this crime--and things go from bad to worse after that. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this is one of those films that people may need to make certain allowances for, due in large part, to the time period in which it was produced. To that effect, not only was the picture quality rather poor, but there were also some scenes in which the sound quality wasn't that good either. Even so, I thought Ann Harding made up for it with a relatively solid performance and for that reason I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly above average.

...and I didn't even like it. I watched this because Ann Harding had a starring role, and I had never seen a performance of hers from this early in her career. However, if you are coming to this film expecting the Ann Harding of "Double Harness" be prepared to be disappointed.

This film is better than some early talkies in the fact that the players move and speak naturally. It is worse than many others because there is little depth in the performances - they could all be cut out of cardboard as far as motivation goes. Compare this film to "The Dance of Life" from the same year - 1929 - and see what I'm talking about. This is the time-honored tale of the penitent wife who has strayed, with Ann as the wife, Vera Kessler. However, the man with whom she has strayed is portrayed as such an outlandishly capitalistic gigolo it's hard to believe he would have bothered to put down his adding machine long enough to do the deed for which he is blackmailing numerous women. Then there is the gigolo's roommate who seems to be doing his best Renfield imitation minus the compulsive consumption of insects, supposedly from being shell-shocked during World War I. Why the gigolo keeps this insane fellow around is not really explained.

Vera decides to pay the gigolo the blackmail money he demands, not because she fears her husband would leave her, but because she doesn't want to hurt him. However, when they meet, an argument takes place and she winds up shooting and killing the man in self defense. She runs away and avoids detection, but now she has two sins on her conscience - her infidelity and the fact that an innocent person has been arrested for the killing she committed.

My assessment - this film is worth watching for its historical value only.