Gentleman's Fate

What on earth is everyone's problem with this movie? It has some awkward movement but so did most movies of this era before Hollywood developed its amazing (and often irritating) slickness. The story is kind of a goofy fantasy as are most movies from since they day they were born to the present moment. This is a really fun movie with a great cast. Anita Page and Marie Provost were great bad girls, especially Provost as the gangland superflooze. George Cooper and John Miljan were very entertaining bad boys. But Louis Walheim was the real gem of the piece, sort of a cross between Shrek and Marie Dressler dressed like a guy. As for John Gilbert , I can see how how this may have been a form of career sabotage because he wasn't able to be nearly as gallant as his public wanted to see him. But he demonstrated great range and his chemistry with the whole cast and particularly with Walheim and Page was wonderful. The dialogue was good and the much of the shooting was visually interesting. Of course it doesn't hurt to be a big fan of pre code gangster movies, Hollywood history, and Depression Era cultural history.

Gentleman's Fate is okay, nothing more. To maintain momentum it repeatedly lurches off into another plot tangent, peters out and then lurches again until it finally lurches to a blah finish. It begins with the dapper and handsome Mr. John Gilbert as a pampered Park Avenue- type playboy rising uncharacteristically at 7:30am to declare that he is finished playing the field and determined to marry and settle down with pretty Leila Hyams. Just as he is proposing to her to the strains of "Little White Lies" on the radio over morning coffee against the skyline of the Big Apple, the phone rings, and here is the first lurch. The caller is his wealthy, powerful, Italian-accented "guardian," suddenly informing him that his biological father is dying in Jersey City and wants to see him. He is directed to the "Ritzi" hotel, a dive where he discovers he has a biological brother (played by Louis Wolheim who looks absolutely nothing like Gilbert, an irony which the script is forced to address momentarily) and a gangster father succumbing to a bullet wound from a mob fight. The dying father gives Gilbert an emerald necklace which he in turn passes on to his fiancée, but soon she finds out that it had been stolen from a friend of hers. When she realizes her fiancée is not what she thought, she breaks the engagement, and in a fit of disappointment, Gilbert joins the mob and learns the bootlegging trade. Just when he has mastered it, another lurch. Anita Page shows up as the moll of a rival gang sent to spy on Gilbert's gang, but she switches loyalties, falls in love with Gilbert, and…. I won't go on, lest I spoil the plot for those who haven't seen the film. Marie Prevost provides comic relief, such as she can, as a Ritzi denizen who spends her time uttering inanities while feeding her face with whatever foodstuffs are available.

The photogenic and refined Gilbert is called upon to enact various states including carefree, exuberant, poetic, romantic and passionate, drunk and angry. He is good to excellent at all of them. He is eminently watchable. His voice was indeed high pitched, but not extremely so. One can only guess that his molten lover image from the silent days hung over his screen persona to such an extent that audiences expected more depth from the vocal chords. There is no logical reason why Gilbert should be cast in this role. Antonio Moreno, perhaps, or maybe even Ricardo Cortez, but Gilbert? Clearly, MGM was out to sabotage him and to his credit he stood up and did justice to the thankless task presented to him.

JOHN GILBERT reveals himself to be a credible actor, with a range not demonstrated in some of his other earlier films. He's the son of a dying gangster who ends up getting involved with bootleggers after falling in love with a society girl.

The plot is all over the place with little twists here and there but it seems more like a jumbled mess than a coherent story. But Gilbert rises above the inadequacies of the plotting and gives a persuasive performance as the unhappy bootlegger.

Anita Page and Marie Prevost play gangster molls with some silly dialog for comedy relief. Prevost says something like, "What would this world be without bootleggers?" to demonstrate her lack of sophistication.

It's watchable, mainly to watch John Gilbert with his piercing eyes and handsome demeanor tormented by the fact that his fiancé decides to run off and marry another man. Ironically, in real life, Greta Garbo left him waiting at the altar.

Earlier this morning I was watching a movie on TCM from 1931 - "Gentleman's Fate". It was the first "talkie" that John Gilbert did after reigning as the matinée idol of the "silents", and the fateful movie that revealed his nasally throated voice, sadly. Yet, it was a great teaching on how movies struggled with sound after being quiet for many years.

The awkward moves and scene flows of each actor, and no music rising or lowering under scenes, made for an interesting movie.

In my opinion though, the best part in the whole flick was when a character was coming down the stairs obviously intoxicated.

The "dame" who sees him is cracking and eating walnuts and asks,

"Hey. Are you plastered?" In which he replies, "Plastered? Sistah ... I'm Stuccoed!" Another character enters the scene as the drunkard leaves. The "dame" reaches out her hand to offer the cracked walnuts and says, "...nuts?"

He looks at the drunk struggling to climb back up the stairs, looks back at her and just nods..."...yes".

Ya just can't get dialog like that anymore! Loved it.

This and many other early talking pictures (especially "Downstairs") disprove that the notion that John Gilbert's career in films was cut short because he could not translate well from silents. Too many times I have heard that his voice was poor and this led to his MGM contract being dropped. However, once again, Gilbert turns in a very good performance in "Gentleman's Fate"--and his voice, though not booming, was quite nice.

The film begins with Gilbert playing the life of a spoiled playboy. Apparently his father died when Gilbert was a child but he left his kid with an ample inheritance. However, out of the blue, Gilbert learns that his father is NOT dead but is dying. So, Gilbert rushes to see him and learns that his father is a mobster--and his fortune came from bootlegging. After his dad really dies, Gilbert's brother (who he just met--played by Louis Wolheim) tells him that he is more than welcome to continue receiving his allowance and he should return to his old playboy life. However, rather inexplicably, Gilbert insists he wants to go into the family business. Not surprisingly, this ultimately leads to disaster--just like the way all gangster films of the age ended (such as in "Little Caesar", "Scarface" and "The Public Enemy").

While not a great film, "Gentleman's Fate" is quite entertaining. And, while Gilbert is good, I think the best performance is from Louis Wolheim. Sadly, Wolheim died only a few months later--like Gilbert a star who died way too young. And, while I am talking about Wolheim, he was very good BUT casting him as Gilbert's brother was odd. Gilbert, for want of a better word, was a pretty man. Wolheim, however, was one of the ugliest men in Hollywood and his face and build were the opposite of Gilbert. Odd....but considering the fine acting, I could suspend disbelief on this one.