Forsaking All Others

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...

I have to imagine that in order for MGM to justify using two of their top leading men with Joan Crawford, their parts in Forsaking All Others would have to have been built up considerably. The original Broadway production of this comedy that ran 110 performances in 1933 starred Tallulah Bankhead and it was strictly her show. As if it would have been any other way.

I have to give Joan Crawford credit on this one. Unlike her later film Susan and God where she tries to imitate Gertrude Lawrence with accent and all, she wisely does not try to do a Tallulah impersonation. She creates her own character here and it's a good one. She's got both Robert Montgomery and Clark Gable after her, but she chooses early on and in the end she finds out she chooses wrong. In fact the only impersonation Crawford does is one of her Grand Hotel co-star Greta Garbo.

Both Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery settle into familiar stereotypes for them. Gable is another reporter character like he is It Happened One Night and Montgomery is an irresponsible playboy like he was in a gazillion films.

Montgomery and Crawford are set to be married, but Montgomery leaves her at the altar and runs off with his demanding mistress Frances Drake. But Crawford has Gable's shoulder to cry on for most of the rest of the film. By the way, Drake gives a performance that's a case study in canine feminus. She makes Joan Collins in Dynasty look like Maria Von Trapp. Drake dominates in whatever scene she's in. No way that Tallulah Bankhead would have let that happen on stage.

Charles Butterworth and Billie Burke are also on hand and young Rosalind Russell on her way up has a small part as one of Crawford's friends. Nothing new in Forsaking All Others, but the ground is familiar enough.

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.

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.