Verkaufte Liebe

Joan Crawford made two films, both with the title; "Possessed." This is the 1931 version (the other was made in 1947) and the two stories are nothing alike. Clark Gable is in this one, and it's a delight to see the two superstars together. (Supposedly, they were having a torrid affair at the time this was filmed).

I am not a Joan Crawford fan, but I have come to appreciate her acting, especially in her early career. This film, released in 1931, shows her promise as an actress (not to mention Gable, who always displayed a magnetism that lit up the screen). Joan would star in another film titled "Possessed" in 1947, but they are two different stories. In this pre-Code story, adapted from a play, she is Marian Martin, a small-town girl who works in a box factory, but is determined to get ahead, though she sees no prospects locally.

A train passing through town slows and stops in front of her. Through the windows, she sees highlights of the high life, the life of the big city, promising wealth and romance. It is a wonderful scene. As a result, she makes her way to New York City, where she meets Mark Whitney (Clark Gable), a wealthy, unmarried attorney who immediately likes her no-nonsense honesty. They become involved, but he has no plans to marry her.

Crawford is vivacious and convincing in the role, showing a wide range of emotions. The film spotlights her beauty and her talent. In one scene, she sings in French, German and English. The song is "How Long Will it Last?"--an appropriate choice. The script is intelligent and the directing is clever and inventive.

There is only one section of the film that did not ring true, but it sets up a scene that is the dramatic climax of the film. As a whole, this film is well worth seeing.

If you want a film to epitomise The Great Depression then this is for you. Although Warner Brothers are associated with pictures showing the plight of 'the little people' this superbly made, well acted MGM film focuses on just one young woman's struggle which because her character is so richly written and believable, it gives an authentic insight into the reality of the early thirties. Unlike a lot of films from 1931, this one takes you to what seems like a real place.

Joan Crawford may not be the world's most likeable actress but you'll not be able to tear your eyes from her in this. Her character is beautifully written with a naturalness that's fairly uncommon in 1931. She is unusually honest with an authenticity you'd associate with films made decades later but she is still most definitely a person who could only exist in the early thirties.

What also makes this so much better than some of its contemporaries is the high class direction. Although not one of Hollywood's best known directors these days, Clarence Brown was an astonishing filmmaker. A few months earlier he had made another of 1931's best films: A FREE SOUL. There's no stagey acting with a static cast awkwardly reading their lines in order. Brown makes everything flow just right. Watching this, something made so well, you'll wonder so many early talkies were so utterly terrible.

The story centres on Crawford's character Marian who decides to quit the humdrum of factory life in a nameless nowhere for the big city. She's not the usual sweet and innocent pure young thing about to get corrupted by a callous cynical millionaire: she knows exactly what she needs to do and she wants to do that. The only way for a girl like her to survive in the big city, she is told, is to hook a man, a rich man. This is exactly what she sets out to do and although it's not smooth sailing, she finds a good sugar daddy (and a young one) in the form of Clarke Gable, who himself is on top form. His character is not the lazy stereotype rich man so often seen in early talkies. He and also loveable anti-hero Wallace Ford are both as complex and layered as anyone in a modern film.

Overall, the naturalistic acting, imaginative direction and properly written characters make this picture entertaining, insightful and fun.

Excellent soaper with a Joan Crawford billed above the soon-to-be superstar Clark Gable. The possibility of upward mobility afforded to women, especially at this time during the Great Depression, remains a theme of interest today. Women can play on men and get upward mobility but there is often a price to be paid -- and Joan pays it in this movie.

Excellent photography makes the best of the stars and Adrian's dressing of Joan. Notable train sequence in beginning of film has the poor Joan facing the possibility of the good life if she is willing to defy convention and joint those "inside the car." Gable teaches her how to act and she becomes a refined, but kept, woman. He refuses to marry her for all the "right" reasons but in the end, Joan is affected by society's opinion of women in her station.

Grandstand speech sequence at the end of the film is a bit too unbelievable but my wife was moved to tears when she saw it. One of Joan's better films. Recommended.

Possessed (1931)

A wonderful Joan Crawford film not to be confused with her second, completely unrelated, also wonderful movie of the same title (yes) from 1947. This one, to be sure, also stars Clark Gable, and it dates from the years when Gable and Crawford had an intermittent, steamy affair. The chemistry is good, the filming excellent (and sometimes breathtaking), and the overall story a lively pre-code, Depression-era tale of succeeding.

But success at what cost? That's the key. You love Crawford's rise, and her methods are sincere even if not as sweet and homespun as the first scene would imply. It's not that she's corrupted, but that she discovers the excitement of the big city, and the truth that there really is sincerity there as much as in the little town she came from.

Gable represents every girl's dream, of course. He's suave, warm, funny. And rich. Their interactions are natural throughout, and the pace lively (as most of the famous pre-Code films are).

The filming is excellent, including a somewhat famous long take of Crawford, near the beginning, watching a train slowly amble by as a parade of different scenes unfolds through each window. It's worth seeing just for that scene alone (if you like great cinematography, and the aura of old Hollywood).

Clarence Brown is the uncredited (!) director here, and he's terrific. See "A Free Soul" made at the same time for another (even better) film showing off his ability to make dialogs crisp and true. (He's more famous for his many movies with Garbo, but he did a slew with Crawford.)

If you think there is a predictability here, you're going to be partly wrong. See this one, not because it's a classic, but because it's very very good, and forgotten. You will have trouble finding a good version, however. The one I found was on iTunes and it was so terrible (harsh tones, highlights so washed out you couldn't see their faces in many scenes) I don't recommend it. (I wrote to complain and got a quick refund, an apology, and a promise to look into it. I don't know if that fixed the problem, however, in Spring 2014.) Anyway, find a good copy somehow. Do it.