-But the Flesh Is Weak

C. Aubrey Smith and Robert Montgomery star in But The Flesh Is Weak which is a screen adaption of one of Ivor Novello's plays The Truth Game which was one of his minor works. Major enough however to get a respectable run of 107 performances in 1931 during the middle of the Depression. Probably because the author himself starred on Broadway during the run.

Ivor Novello was as Noel Coward, a one man creative force. Wrote, composed, acted in many of his own works. It might have really been worthwhile to see him in this, but Hollywood being what it is demanded a movie box office name. So Robert Montgomery as he did with Noel Coward's Private Lives filled the bill for MGM again.

No music in this one, Smith and Montgomery are not a pair of the most heroic of people, they're a father and son pair of con artists who prey on wealthy women of different generations. As it inevitably does, true love enters the picture, but some overwhelming financial considerations may have to take precedence.

C. Aubrey Smith cast against type, usually he's one of the most righteous of individuals on screen gets the acting honors here. At all costs he has to keep up appearances. The highlight is him making one too many passes at the gaming tables. If you remember in the Frank Capra film A Hole In The Head, Frank Sinatra gets caught in the same trap trying to impress Keenan Wynn at the dog track. It worked out in different fashion for both men.

It takes a considerable amount of charm to make these characters likable and Montgomery had that even in his worst films. I doubt we'll see a remake in these times of But The Flesh Is Weak. It's an interesting between the World Wars period piece though.

A 1930s movie with Robert Montgomery and C. Aubrey Smith - how cool is that? Not very, as it turns out. Smith and Montgomery are father and son scoundrels who live off wealthy women. At first they are somewhat charming and their close relationship is nice to see. Although the Smith character (nicknamed "Senior" by his son) does maintain a modicum of this charm to the movie's end, the Montgomery character, Max, does not. That he soon into the movie shows his arrogance and obvious disdain for women is not particularly surprising but his downright meanness and callousness is. He sexually harasses and stalks Rosine Brown (and the script makes it clear that she loves it!). At the end of the film she says something like "I didn't know you loved me until you hit me." Maybe I misheard this line as by then I had lost interest in this movie but I don't think I did. The only interesting and positive character in the film was that played by Heather Thatcher, Lady Joan Culver. She, of course, is used and completely humiliated by Max. What makes this a truly horrid movie is that those watching it in the 1930s evidently thought it was an amusing romantic comedy.

This features all the contemptible cliches that can mar a romantic comedy: 1) Love at first sight. At the mere sight of a pretty girl, the hero drops the more interesting one he has and immediately proposes marriage. 2) Unwanted attentions. William Haines could learn some tricks from this character, whose boorish insistence on forcing himself on the gal, even in her bedroom, brings her to hysterical tears. 3) Double standard. Both of them are offering themselves to the opposite sex for money, but, though she seems forced to it ("remember, it's harder for a woman") and he seems to freely choose it, she gets his wrath when she decides to marry Horton (before she's even acknowledged Montgomery as a possible romantic partner), and then she somehow gets his wrath again when HE decides to marry someone else for money (AFTER he spent the night with her and promised to marry her). 4) Battling lovers make a good marriage. Though they've known each other for only a few days, one or both has been mad at the other the whole time. Why should they be any happier later?

All that said, this still has its worthwhile moments. C. Aubrey Smith shines in a significant role as "Senior," Montgomery's dad. The father-and-son scenes are excellent. Asther makes a terrific gigolo, and Kerr plays his classic, amiable dodderer, though not quite at top form. Thatcher is fine as the girl who's not in the running, and the scene between her and Montgomery when he tells her how things are is excellently written and played. As to Nora Gregor, her English is not good, and, intentionally or not, her playing emphasizes the negative aspects of the odious cliches. It remained for Renoir to get a measured performance from her in RULES OF THE GAME.

Here's a pre-code romantic comedy that today seems extremely politically incorrect in its depiction of male/female relations. It's derived from a play by famous U.K. matinée idol Ivor Novello, and he contributed both the screenplay and "continuity" to the film. I would think that female audiences today will find certain scenes and undercurrents offensive in their depiction of the male as the dominate force in a relationship. Anyone today viewing But the Flesh Is Weak would wonder as to the mentality of Novello, and his views on the female gender. I would think that his "hit-her-over-the-head-and-drag-her-away" clichés should had become outmoded even in the 1930's.

Anyway, Novello did rise to the occasion of providing an interesting entertainment, penning some nice dialog and creating some amusing characters. Film centers on young Robert Montgomery and his dad, C. Aubrey Smith, who are two sophisticated men-about-town in London. They are both seeking some rich noblewoman to provide their next supper, and they make the rounds by blending in with upper class society. After charming one difficult and eccentric lady play by Heather Thatcher, Montgomery's character quickly falls in "love at first sight" with a widowed socialite he meets the same evening at Thatcher's house party. Complications ensue, not aided by a catastrophic gambling debt run up by so-called "Senior," C. Aubrey Smith.

I have very high regard for Robert Montgomery, in his ability to be so affable, charming and easygoing. He's one of the great screen actors, and I never miss an opportunity to see one of his films. Just because he's so easygoing and charming usually is what makes him so effective when he become volatile, or even angry. He has a nice showcase here, even if the script seems now very sexist, almost worthy of disregard in that aspect of the plotting, since Novello's writing has Montgomery really and actually forcing himself on the leading lady. He not only refuses to take "no" as an answer, he even slaps her and kicks her out of a moving vehicle! Mongomery's work here shouldn't be dismissed though, and both him and great character actor C. Aubrey Smith make the movie enjoyable. There's a scene early on with them in a small bathroom that's a two-shot containing both actors. Smith goes through some elaborate business in clipping his mustache, but it's all for naught, since right next to him is Robert Montgomery stripping out of his clothes to take a bath. Poor C. Aubrey would have to have been well aware that all eyes would be on Montgomery.

One weak element in the movie is leading lady Nora Gregor, a heavily-accented European import who appears to be out of her depth here. She isn't very pretty or charming enough to cause Montgomery to fall instantly head-over-heels in love with her, and she accomplishes very little to make her character memorable.

Much better is the support from Heather Thatcher, as a monocle-wearing socialite with some eccentric habits, a good heart and designs on Robert Montgomery. She's offbeat and very likable, with her scenes being such highlights in the movie, that it's disappointing the offhand way the film dismisses her character. Nice comic relief comes supplied by wonderful Edward Everett Horton as a rival suitor of Nora Gregor and there's also silent film star Nils Asther who's perfect as a decadent and lascivious European prince.

Pre-code fans will surely get a kick out of But the "Flesh Is Weak." *** out of *****

This film is a fine example, I believe, of the many, many, many mediocre films in which the so-called "bright stars" of the past participated in.

Not unlike today, the VAST majority of Classic Hollywood's film productions were very dull and uninspired affairs; the comedies were often unfunny and the dramas were undramatic. Today, film festivals, universities and cable TV (TCM & AMC) generally display the best of the best from the Golden Years, so today's viewers becomes bias towards imagining that most of Classic Hollywood's films were indeed "classic." That, of course, is far from the truth. "But the Flesh is Weak" is a fine case in point.

It is a slightly enjoyable bit of fluff. Montgomery is well cast, but has little to do and a weak script with which to do it. C. Aubrey Smith is, well, C. Aubrey Smith--good as ever, but no surprises. Nora Gregor tries hard but falls flat. I tried to like her character, but in the end I couldn't see why most men would pant after this girl. Strangely, Heather Thatcher has a much stronger and interesting character, and she nails her "Lady Joan" nicely. When Thatcher was on the screen, I enjoyed the film much more. At times, Thatcher and Ann Harding could be confused as sisters.

So, sit back for a scant 77 minutes (they could've knocked 10 minutes off the running time), and see what a mediocre film from the pre-Code era with a big star was like. Today we pay hundreds of millions of dollars for so much mediocre nonsense on our movie screens, so why not check out this minor film from 1932.

Again, it isn't bad, but it will not receive many accolades.