Forsaking All Others

This is one of the several movies that Joan Crawford made with Clark Gable, and fortunately quite a few of them (maybe all) have made it to at least DVD-R via the Warner Archive. This is one of the best the two did together. It's a romantic comedy in which Joan plays socialite Mary Clay, who is about to marry lifelong acquaintance Dillon Todd (Robert Montgomery). Clark Gable plays another of Mary's lifelong friends, Jeff Williams. Jeff has been long away from home and decides to come back just to ask Mary to marry him, unaware that Mary is about to marry Dillon. When he learns about their upcoming marriage he decides to keep his feelings to himself, although the look he has as if having been punched in the stomach when he hears the news says it all. Robert Montgomery is playing the usual harmless playboy character here that he did so much of in the early 1930's. It looks like Mary and Dillon's marriage is about to go off without a hitch until one of Dillon's old girlfriends appears on the scene.

This film was released about six months after the precode era ended, so there is nothing really racey going on here. About the most extreme thing you will see is Robert Montgomery in a dress. However, W.S. Van Dyke is the director of this film, and he knew how to combine sexual tension and comedy in an age of aggressive censorship, and this is a fine example of his work. I highly recommend it to fans of films of the 1930's.

A better than average comedy that certainly entertains. Plot is believable and somewhat unusual. Clark Gable returns from Madrid (we are not told what he was doing there nor really what anyone does for a living) in order to propose to Joan Crawford. Clark has secretly loved Joan since they were children but in his absence, Joan has agreed to marry Robert Montgomery who she has loved since they were children. Enter the old flame, Frances Drake, who whisks Montgomery away on the eve of his nuptial leaving Crawford standing at the alter. The marriage does not work and soon Crawford steps out with Montgomery on the side. Gable criticizes and consoles Crawford eventually making plans to return to Spain. Good performances by Crawford (opening shot with cream on her face is in contrast to other stars who preferred glamorous introductions), Montgomery (he really is funny), Gable, Billie Burke (who can do "flustered" any better), Rosalind Russell (does well in one of her early films) and a very droll Charles Butterworth. I never thought Frances Drake was believable as the lower class wife but this can easily be overlooked. Recommended as an evenings good entertainment.

This is one of more than a dozen 1930's films which were blockbusters for Crawford. She is nothing less than hilarious in this film and it paved the way for I Live My Life and Susan and God. She and Gable had major chemistry, although her acting skills made his look inferior, which of course they were. Rosalind Russell and Crawford work very well together.

throughout the film, all the big names are laughing, joking, playing, having a grand ol time, until every now and then some real life adult situations get in the way. liberal use of backdrop scenery. also a lot of getting dressed and undressed. Miss Joan Crawford (Mary) getting spanked. naughty naughty. Billie Burke with the hair curler contraption on her head. all right at the beginning of enforcement of the film production code, with the official card at the beginning of the movie to prove it. Clark Gable (Jeff) and Robert Montgomery (Dill) keep stepping out of the shower. Montgomery in a dress. Fun stuff! Rosalind Russell and Charles Butterworth ("Shemp"... not to be confused with one of the Stooges... has nothing to do with that) thrown in for more wisecracking. Even the butler gets a couple funny lines. Why isn't this shown more often? and why is it rated so low? Catch this one and see Joanie in a glamorous but not over-done over-bearing role.... before she turned to the dark side...

This love triangle comedy is worth tracking down for its great script, which is filled to the brim with humorous wit and colorful dialogue that keeps viewers on their toes. (Joseph L. Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay, based on a stage play.) And it certainly helps to have these lines read by the likes of Billie Burke and Charles Butterworth, whose inimitable comedic talents boost the so-so story.

Robert Montgomery's and Joan Crawford's characters grow tiresome after a while, but the film is saved by the performances of Butterworth and Burke in their sidekick roles. Billie Burke is at her fluttery best. Clark Gable is Clark Gable: solid the whole way through. His character is the most likable of the three leads, but he drops out from the middle of the film.

The plot takes some tedious turns, but the ending is satisfying. I like how the scenes at the end of the film mirror the scenes at the start of the film. While I felt the production overall was uneven, I must say that the script really sparkles in places, setting this overlooked comedy apart from the pack.