Chained

Chained was the fourth film that paired Clark Gable and Joan Crawford, the fourth of eight. It's basically a piece of romantic fluff with no great strain on either star. Clark Gable was the leading man Joan did the most films and vice versa.

Crawford is the well kept mistress of Otto Kruger who would like to marry her, but his wife Marjorie Gateson won't let him go without breaking him in alimony and child support. After making that abundantly clear to Crawford and Kruger, Joan goes off on a South American cruise where she runs into rancher Clark Gable who has a nice size spread on the Pampas.

Nothing terribly original in Chained, it's your basic romantic triangle film. What got me about it after seeing is how terribly terribly civilized everyone is behaving, even Gateson after a fashion. There are few enough Hollywood films where Kruger's character would invite Gable to have breakfast with him and Joan knowing full well he's there to take her away.

Anyone who's familiar with Hollywood romances in the days of the big studios knows full well how this is going to turn out. Chained is a pleasant enough romance to satisfy the fans of Gable and Crawford.

Sparkling with stardust and glitter from the gowns and jewelry, "Chained" is romantic fluff from the Golden Age of Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Elegant Diane Lovering is the mistress of wealthy shipping magnate Richard Field, a middle-aged man, whose wife refuses him a divorce. After a confrontation with his wife in front of Diane, Field sends Diane off on an ocean voyage to think about their future together. Bad idea, because Mike Bradley, a handsome wealthy ranch owner from the Argentine, is aboard the liner, and the predictable sparks ignite.

Ah, the problems of the super rich are many in this glossy bauble. Joan Crawford as Diane parades sequined gowns and various hairstyles, while she ponders, suffers, and weeps glycerine tears and weighs her alternatives: wealth and social position in New York or wealth and a hunky husband in Argentina; either way, she eats and dresses well, while outside the movie theater Americans endured the Great Depression. Undeniable star power propels this short light-weight drama. Stunningly photographed by George Folsey and directed by Clarence Brown in gowns by Adrian, Crawford glows as the epitome of 1930's movie glamour. Clark Gable as Mike is equally glamorous and bigger than life; his instantly likeable personality and legendary looks captivate.

Beyond the two above-the-title stars, the supporting cast is more than capable to carry the gossamer-thin storyline; led by Otto Kruger as Gable's rival for Crawford, the character players include Stuart Erwin as Mike's buddy, Una O'Connor as Diane's maid, and Akim Tamiroff as a gourmet chef. Future star Mickey Rooney is hard to miss in a brief stint in the ship's swimming pool. Escapist entertainment like "Chained" distracted audiences from the pain of the Depression in the 1930's. However, contemporary viewers may chuckle at the whimsical problems amid the excessive wealth displayed on screen: lunch at the Colony, lodging at the St. Regis, luxury liner suites, vast haciendas, and cavernous apartments. Despite the predicable feather-weight story, MGM had stars that merited their stardom, and Crawford and Gable were at the pinnacle. For them alone, "Chained" merits watching.

The love triangle was and is a popular movie theme, so when Clark Gable and Joan Crawford are part of it, you can expect some good entertainment. They have very good chemistry together, perhaps because they were reportedly lovers offscreen. The third leg of the triangle is suave Otto Kruger, who never gives a bad performance, and there is also Gable's best friend, Stuart Erwin, who is there mostly for comic relief. I enjoyed the shipboard romance, which was neatly combined with some comedy, and included scenes with a young Mickey Rooney before his Andy Hardy days. I was surprised at the ending, which seemed to go against the Code.

Even if you took out the typical yet entertaining love triangle between Gable, Crawford and Otto Kruger, you'd still have a film that offers fun each time you see it. Personally, I'd never miss a film with Gable playing the tall-dark-and-handsome heartthrob who gets the girl in the end... his natural talent for the quick-witted quips was (and still is) what attracts us men to him and his manly, muscular physique to our women. Isn't he what all of us guys want to emmulate?! Crawford, although I hate her with a passion, is an actress who I can't deny has a great flair for acting. And when it comes right down to it, how can anyone hope that Kruger would win over a man as perfect as Gable? It's the typical boy-gets-girl, happily-ever-after ending that was so popular in the thirties that audiences ate up and some still do today. It's a cute little farce worth watching every once in a while.

Diane Lovering (Joan Crawford) is about to win the lottery by wresting away ocean liner CEO Richard Field (Otto Kruger) from his harridan spouse who refuses to give him a divorce. Needing more time to convince his wife otherwise he sends Diane on a lengthy cruise replete with maid and a stateroom the size of a small cafeteria. On board she meets Mike Bradley a rancher in Argentina who attempts to romance her. After slowly wearing Diane down she resolves to return to the states and break it off with Field but when she sees what the tycoon has sacrificed for her she goes through with the marriage. Wealthy beyond her wildest dreams and loved by a decent man she is still nagged by her decision when she bumps into Bradley at a gun store a year later.

Gable and Crawford never looked better in this above average entry of their numerous teamings together. In more than one scene we are treated to cinematographer George Folsey's cameras warm embrace of the handsome Gable and radiant Crawford offering concrete evidence of the icons they were and remain. The star wattage however is dimmed by the rational and civil discourse displayed by Field who maintains decorum throughout even in the face of possibly losing his new wife to Bradley. In addition Diane for a good chunk of the film has to check her passion as she attempts to keep Bradley at arm's length. But whether in conversation or a clinch these two sharing the screen together constantly reinforce Norma Desmond's Sunset Boulevard declaration about pictures with matchless chemistry.

Crawford, more restrained, sophisticated and understanding than in most of her roles gives one of the better performances of her career. Garbo director Clarence Brown might have had some influence in toning her performance down but for the most part he maintains a steady framing of the two leads struggling with coitus interruptus.

Otto Kruger as Field is decent and noble in the face of the calamity he faces, maybe too much to the film's detriment. Stu Erwin is annoying as Mike's flunky while Oona Mundsin as Diane's maid casts more glances than dialogue. There are brief moments of ethnic insensitivity with some at the expense of Akim Tamiroff who nevertheless gets the biggest laugh in this otherwise well mannered and tame romantic melodrama that succeeds solely on the merit of its well showcased charismatic leads at the top of their game.