Jennie Gerhardt

This Paramount adaptation of a Theodore Dreiser novel (whose "An American Tragedy" Sylvia Sidney had starred in two years previously) gives Sidney another juicy role in a well filmed melodrama, a classic "women's film". Donald Cook is also excellent as Jennie's life-long love and Edward Arnold too, in a smaller but key role. My only disappointment was that Mary Astor, who makes a vivid impression, has a relatively nothing part to play and her screen time is limited. Rarely seen, like many early Paramount films, try to catch this if you see it, especially if you are a fan of big, weepy 1930's female star vehicles, ala "Stella Dallas" or "Back Street".

This is probably one of the better movies you'll never see. It's a poignant "old timey" movie about a poor girl who falls in love with a Senator. She finds herself pregnant but in love with him and about to marry, but fate intervenes in tragedy. This is one that used to be shown on AMC, but probably will never be aired again, which is a shame. Ms. Sydney is hauntingly beautiful and Mr. Arnold as her lover is very good. Maybe if your lucky, TCM or another station will air this gem and you'll see what I mean.

Sylvia Sidney is a poor girl who gets a marriage proposal from retiring senator Edward Arnold, but only on condition that she have some real feelings for him. While she's considering this, her father, H. B. Warner, tells her that's she's disgracing him by thinking about marrying a senator, so she doesn't. Instead she gets a job as a housemaid, and hooks up with scion Donald Cook, who's also madly in love with her. His father insists he dump Miss Sidney, so they get married and run off to Europe.

I'm sure the novel by Theodore Dreiser made more sense when it was published in 1911, but as it stands, it's a Pre-code movie meant to run Miss Sidney through the wringer, but not have her cry. She's excellent of course, but as it exists, it simply seems to be thoroughly mean-spirited, and only reinforces my belief that the weeper queens of Hollywood needed to be in more comedies.

Fast-paced film based on a novel by Theodore Dreiser, story centers on Jennie Gerhardt (Sylvia Sidney), a poor girl who gets a job scrubbing floors in a hotel. She catches the eye of a middle-aged senator (Edward Arnold) and become his lover. Tragedy intervenes and changes the course of her life.

After she moves to Cincinnati, she gets a job as a maid in a wealthy household and catches the eye of the maverick son (Donald Cook) but the family opposes his marrying a common maid. They set up housekeeping and are happy despite the secret Jennie hides from him.

When he eventually learns the truth, he bolts and marries another woman (Mary Astor)but they are never happy. Jennie continues her life until another tragedy occurs and she is reunited with her true love but it's too late for happiness.

Sidney, Cook, Astor, and Arnold are all terrific here, and the supporting cast is also very good: H.B. Warner and Louise Carter as Jennie's parents, Greta Meyer as the cousin, Walter Walker as the tycoon, and Dorothy Libaire as the acid sister.

Sylvia Sidney is stunningly beautiful in this film. Hard to find but well worth the search.

Unfortunately even with its superb acting and outstanding direction from Marion Gering, it's impossible to condense Dreiser's 900 page epic into 90 minutes. As so often with screen adaptations, it ends up simply telling us what happens without telling us why it happens. Sylvia Sidney is fabulous but the role she's given doesn't have enough depth for us to get to know her well enough to care.

A year earlier Sylvia Sidney starred in Paramount's first Theodore Dreiser adaptation, AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY. Whereas that exemplified "creaky, crappy 1930s melodrama," this is professionally made and beautifully crafted....but still as miserable as hell.

Theodore Dreisler's naturalistic and depressing tragedy was given the glossy Paramount treatment - naturalism was completely jettisoned, the social inequality aspect was toned down but the misery was ratcheted up to eleven transforming it into nothing more than a formulaic weepie. Were this made by Warners, maybe it could have been a little more punchy, gritty and realistic but God help us, they might have shoehorned Hugh Herbert in there so perhaps it's for the best that it wasn't.

This is directed by unsung genius Marion Gering and stars his favourite actress Sylvia Sidney so there's no question that it's not superbly made. The way Mr Gering conveys so much narrative with imagery or with an expression on Miss Sidney's face is extraordinary but this is not one of his best. Unfortunately the story, particularly the diluted adaptation he had to work with is just too shallow, too rushed and tried too hard to be simply a tear jerker. Without depth it feels contrived and is difficult to engage with on an emotional level - which is the one thing a tear-jerker needs to do.

Being it's a period piece, it doesn't have that characteristic early thirties atmosphere but it's a good example of the escapism which pulled the audiences in to the picture houses back then. Such relentless misery like this was so popular during The Depression because however terrible the lives of those watching were, at least they weren't as bad as Jennie Gerhardt's. If this wasn't so well made and perfectly acted (unlike the dreadful AMERICAN TRAGEDY) it would just be another mushy, pointless melodrama. As it is, it's very watchable but at the end of the day, it's still a mushy, mindless misery-laden melodrama.