Untamed

Both leads were perfectly cast in the silly romance Untamed. Joan Crawford played a wild gypsy, who, after being exposed to civilization for the first time, still acts like a savage beast. Robert Montgomery plays a refined society playboy who falls for Joan's beauty and tries to kindly educate her with better manners. She tries to scare off female competition, and Bob tells her she just can't go around threatening to punch people in the nose. "Why not?" she asks.

In her early, very pretty days, Joan eats up her scenes with energy and hilarious melodrama. The film itself is very dated, so I can't imagine anyone wanting to watch it unless they're a fan of the cast. Nowadays, it's looked at as misogynistic to try and tame a woman's wild impulses and get her to act like a "lady". But in 1929, it was very funny to watch the glamorous Joan Crawford embarrass herself in polite society. Give this movie a watch if you like her early days, and you'll be rewarded with a couple of dance numbers, as well as a song from Robert Montgomery!

"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.

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.

Yet another one of those late 1920s - early 1930s "a poor man cannot possibly marry a rich woman because everyone will think he's doing it for her money only" movies. It's a bit of inconsequential trivia, and overlong to boot (85 minutes), but it's fun to watch a young, beautiful Joan Crawford as a fiery Latin America wildcat - cum - New York society girl, and Robert Montgomery already shows in this early role why he was one of the best leading men of his era. The film does feature one sequence that I've never seen before: an impromptu boxing match (complete with ring and bell) in the middle of a high-society party! And although the ending is predictable, the means by which we get there are not. ** out of 4.

Untamed is famous for being Joan Crawford's first talkie, a curiosity. I had heard it was only a mediocre film by both fans of Crawford and those who really do not care for her. I was surprised that I liked it so much considering these reviews; Untamed is a good quality early talkie and a bright spot in Crawford's early career.

Crawford plays "Bingo," an untamed girl from the jungles of South America whose father dies, leaving her with a large oil inheritance. Some old friends of the family escort her to New York where she is to live in luxury, but they are startled when she abruptly falls in love with Robert Montgomery. They convince her that there are hundred of men like him in New York; she goes there to find that she yearns for him more than ever. She finds that he misses her too and the two plan to get married, until Crawford's uncle meddles again. The end of this film is quite shocking, and there are plenty of moments to entertain throughout.

Unlike her later 1930s films, Crawford is wild and free here, sort of like a Trilby yet to find her Svengali. Her personality is radiant and she acts much more like a savage than a society girl. This pre-code film has her kicking her legs up to throw up her skirt, sleeping in a man's room, seeing him before he is dressed, drinking large quantities of alcohol during Prohibition, and condoning violence, an unladylike characteristic. Montgomery is terribly handsome in this film, a great romantic lead for Crawford. Perhaps this is the reason they starred in several other films together. The two sing several times here; neither has an outstanding voice, but the music helps add some realism and entertainment to the screen.

Overall, this is not only a curiosity, but a great early film. It does not suffer from the slow pacing, static camera, wordy dialogue, and loud silences that other early talkies did. Be sure to give it a proper chance.