Amor Proibido

Anne Harding is "Vergie", who gets caught up with married man John Shadwell (john Boles). Lon Chaney Junior is in here as Hugo. The film opens with a funeral march down main street, and Vergie appears to be in prison, and... suddenly we're in flashback ! was Shadwell just her lawyer, or was it more than that? Shadwell is running for congress, and obviously a scandal would hurt his chances and career. and this all takes place before, during, and after WW One. there's a baby, that pops up out of no-where, and is being raised by Shadwell. It's a love story where Vergie must love him from afar. she watches it all from the sidelines. and to make things interesting, This was all on the "verge" of the film code, so they could only say so much in the film. in another year, it would be forbidden to even show such human issues and talk about such things. The truth all comes out when the baby is grown up and about to be married. Pretty good story! it all comes back full circle by the end. an old time story, told right before the production code white-washed everything. shows on Turner Classic. Directed by Al Santell.

1934's "The Life of Vergie Winters" was an RKO vehicle for fading early talkie star Ann Harding, well cast as an unselfish woman, Virgie Winters, foolishly cast aside by her former lover John Shadwell (John Boles), who was told by Vergie's father Jim (Edward Van Sloan) that she intended to marry his assistant, good natured Hugo McQueen (Lon Chaney Jr.). Marrying on the rebound to Laura (Helen Vinson), whose father offered Vergie's father $10,000 to assure that the wedding take place, John later returns to Vergie to proclaim his true love, after she has made a success selling hats to ladies in a millinery shop. Vergie does not want any scandal attached to John's name as his rise in politics is swift and assured, John's wife only interested in the prestige of being Mrs. John Shadwell. Vergie even goes so far as to give up her love child with John, sending their newborn daughter off to Washington to live with her father, remaining ignorant of her parentage throughout childhood (future Nancy Drew Bonita Granville enjoys a showy bit as the young Joan Shadwell). Only at the end, after John attends his daughter's wedding, does he attempt to make a clean break from his clinging spouse, who has known about his affair with Vergie for many years, and refuses to grant him a divorce. Everything that female moviegoers would expect from such a story is present, right through to the expectedly downbeat finale, so it's up to the cast to offer their own interpretations to carry off various subplots (a bit too many I should think). Appearing uncredited is Walter Brennan, whose timely bit of spying precipitates Vergie's fall from grace with the town gossips, as well as the unmistakable Edwin Maxwell, cast in his usual role as orator (I guess John Carradine was unavailable). Speaking of Carradine, his future co-star Lon Chaney is present in the 6th billed role of Hugo McQueen, still billed under his real name, Creighton Chaney (this was only his 8th film), a nice change of pace though on screen (until the very end) for only the first 15 minutes (still at his original studio, RKO). Ann Harding's performance in the title role is certainly acceptable, but the film was not the hoped-for box office success she anticipated, the newly enforced Hays code preventing such adult frankness in future movie projects.

This is a pretty good melodrama, mostly believable and with pretty good characters. Most of the time it maintains a decent balance, only occasionally becoming a bit too sentimental or heavy-handed. The main character's career as a milliner is worked into the story in some useful and interesting ways.

Ann Harding plays Vergie, who is in love with a married politician played by John Boles. A few of the developments and characters' attitudes reflect the era in which the film was made, but the primary dilemmas faced by the two leads would be largely the same in any setting. There are quite a few secondary characters, and some are extraneous, but some of them are good additions to the story. The supporting cast includes some good character actors (and watch also for an uncredited but amusing appearance by Walter Brennan).

It moves fairly quickly, and the story has enough to hold your interest and make it worth a look if you're interested in a somewhat sentimental story.

Back in the early 1930s, Hollywood had a rigid production code...at least in writing. However, studios routinely ignored it and stories that were very risquee were common....and a few even featured nudity. Because there was no rating system and anyone could attend any movie, there were a lot of valid concerns about the sorts of tales coming to local theaters. Instead of using a rating system, groups like the Legion of Decency called for sanitizing movies and getting rid of 'objectionable material'. At first Hollywood ignored this and similar groups...until attendance dropped as a result of these protests. So, reluctantly, in July, 1934 a new, tough Production Code was enacted...eliminating not just truly objectionable material but even things which normal folks didn't mind seeing in movies at all. Now, gay characters, adultery plots, unpunished violence and even the word 'pregnant' were removed from scripts...all in the name of decency. One of the last films to slip in to theaters before the Code was "The Life of Vergie Winter"...a film condemned by the Legion and which features a pro-adultery plot!

Vergie (Ann Harding) is in love with married John Shadwell (John Boles) and vice-versa. However, John is interested in a career in politics and having a mistress would destroy any chance at his getting elected. And, once she becomes pregnant, things get even more complicated! What's next? See for yourself...just understand that it heavily romanticizes adultery. Overall, a film which not only offended folks back in the day but is a genuinely poor movie because it is so simpering and sappy....to the point where it all just seems ridiculous.

Okay, I know this is a dated, old fashioned film, made transcendent by the always radiant Ann Harding. Would a woman today sacrifice herself the way Virgie did? I very much doubt it. But it's idealization of such sacrifice really touched me...perhaps because I know how unrealistic it is to expect such behavior today, or even then. Still. I love this film. I'd never seen it before today, March 29, 2015, thanks to who else? TCM, of course. I thought I'd seen every Ann Harding movie ever made... again, thanks to TCM...but they must have made a zillion movies during the 30s, because almost every week, new one turn up...new for me, that is. Bless you TCM...and bless you Ann Hadding, wherever you are...