Untamed

Untamed is a dusty old creaker that has the distinction of being Joan Crawford's first talkie after years of mostly forgettable silent films. The plot is about an oil heiress named Bingo (Crawford) raised in the jungle by her father. She's pretty much a wild child though nothing like Tarzan. More like a hillbilly or something I guess. She's uncouth, as the kids might say. Anyway her father is killed and his two friends (Holmes Herbert and an overacting Ernest Torrence) decide to take her to New York to become civilized. On the ship she meets Robert Montgomery and falls in love. Being this is Joan's first talking picture, I'll cut her some slack. Her acting in the dramatic scenes was pretty bad but she does better with the comedy. Overall, a curio but nothing more. If you're a die-hard fan of Joan's, check it out. Otherwise you're not missing anything.

One of the first MGM soundies full of music, dance, drama and Joan Crawford! The early Crawford personality emerges as a feisty, likable, love-of-life character and she is wonderful! She is so different from her later 50's and 60's roles. If you have not viewed any of Crawford's silent movies or the early soundies, you should consider it. You can see the emergence of her acting abilities and even peg some of her acting characteristics that she carried with her throughout her entire 50 year career. Ernest Torrence is an engaging father figure, a marvelous character actor. Robert Montgomery (who appeared with JC six times) is the love interest torn between culture and animal. Lloyd Ingraham appears as the Crawford character's father early on. A must-see for film lovers interested in viewing early sound films.

Untamed (1929)

** (out of 4)

After her father is murdered, Bingo (Joan Crawford) gets taken away from the South American jungles and heads to New York City. Even though she pretty much grew up as a wild child, her father's friend (Ernest Torrence) is given control of her and he objects when she falls in love with a poor boy (Robert Montgomery) so the two kids must prove that they're right for one another. This early talkie from MGM is about as predictable as it can get and it's highly doubtful that the viewer isn't going to know what's coming from around each corner so this film is pretty much just for Crawford fans who must see everything the actress did in her career. The entire film has a pretty strange vibe to it because when we first meet the Bingo character she's doing some crazy tribal dance and you really think that she's some wild child that you'd expect to see in a Lon Chaney film. After no time she settles down to be quite normal and this here is never really explained but Crawford's performance was pretty interesting. She was somewhat over-the-top in a good way while playing the wild child but she settled down during the section portion of the film and in the end she's the only reason to watch this thing. It's rather amazing to see how well she transformed into a sound star and you have to think that she was among the best to do so. Montgomery isn't too bad in his part but the screenplay does him no favors. Torrence is a tad bit all over the place but I still enjoyed watching him. At just 85-minutes the film is a little creaky in spots and there's no doubt that the pacing is a bit off. Still, Crawford fans might want to check it out but others should stay clear.

From her first scenes looking bronzed as a Tahitian as she sings and dances on the beach at night, to the porcelain aristocratic beauty she presents later in the film, Joan Crawford shines in a role that she seems born to play. The film combines melodrama and comedy to bizarre contrast, and features a number of choice supporting performances (and accents!) Young and handsome Robert Montgomery plays the object of Crawford's affection, and such is the level of her love that when she is told that "the woods are full of men like him", she replies, "take me to the woods." This film also might show her earliest use of a Crawford trademark prop, the revolver.

"Bingo" is exactly the word! This film hits all the right spots and its not all about Joan Crawford, who simply sparkles. I fell totally in love with her character!

It is not by accident that IMDb lists 107 films by Director Jack Conway between 1912 and 1948. This was his 72nd film according to that chronology and his expertise shows. I found it thoroughly engrossing and continuously entertaining. I laughed aloud often -- some really great gags and a fine early sit-com.

I don't know much about the writer Charles E. Scoggins, but co-writer Sivia Thalberg is credited with 15 films and is the sister of Irving Thalberg. That ought to tell you this film deserves close attention. Don't allow yourself to think of it as "cornball" and just engross yourself in it. You won't be disappointed.