Vanessa - Seu Drama de Amor

I would say, that I enjoyed this movie, to a certain extent..... Because, it was romantic, touching, and it starred Robert Montgomery...... One of my fave actors, from the golden age...... He, and Helen Hayes had pleasant chemistry in this movie...... Right beside, Joan Crawford, as his best leading ladies....... Their likable chemistry, almost managed to distract me, from how dated, and old fashioned this movie was..... Which is the main reason, why the film didn't succeed in all ways...... Also, there were poor, dull, dated performances, from the miscast actor, who played Ellis, Vanessa's insane husband, and the barmaid woman...... There were some parts, that were unnecessary for the story, and made no effect anyway....... For example, about Robert Montgomery marrying the barmaid woman..... Many situations happened too quickly, like when Vanessa gets angry w/ Benjie, and then forgives him so quickly....... The film could've been stretched longer...... Otherwise, for those who enjoy romance movies, this is worth a look...... I also look forward, to watching other Robert & Helen Hayes movies soon......

Vanessa is an amazing film. Every actor is pitch perfect, the production values are top draw, yet the film fails to entertain. We have an opera with full audience, a garden party with hundreds, a horse parade with thousands, a fort in Egypt, mansions in various locations. This might have been MGM's most expensive film of 1935. We have Helen Hayes, perfect in the role as loving, long suffering, and duty bound. Her scenes with Otto Kruger are exceptional. Few pairings have been more affecting. I've written of Kruger's ability to do any acting task. Here he succeeds brilliantly. Montgomery is usually is a bit shallow for my taste. Here he is properly wild and stalwart. The rest of the cast is populated by wonderful character actors, doing their jobs particularly well, especially May Robson and Henry Stevenson. The large cast includes several favorites, including Violet Kemble Cooper, Ethel Griffies, and Lionel Belmore. Since everyone does their job so well, we must credit the director, William K. Howard, with an excellent job. Checking his filmography, I see no outstanding films, but a few good ones. It is difficult to imagine that MGM would entrust such a prestigious and expensive film to his care. And yet, the film ultimately disappoints. This is clearly the fault of the screen play. For a company like MGM to approve it, reflects badly on the studio. Of course, I'll watch it again, but only to see Hayes and Kruger working so brilliantly together.

The lead players really make this one work. Without Robert Montgomery and Helen Hayes topping the cast Vanessa Her Love Story could have been one weary and dreary Victorian melodrama. For Hayes except for a brief appearance in Stage Door Canteen in 1943, this film marked her farewell to Hollywood and her return to Broadway until the mid 50s.

Montgomery and Hayes seem destined for the altar when a family tragedy for Hayes disrupts their engagement. Montgomery marries barmaid Agnes Anderson who dies along with their child.

Hayes marries Otto Kruger whom she discovers carries madness in his genetics. Montgomery loses an arm, it's hinted that it's in the Sudan with the presence of a young Lord Kitchener in the cast. That finishes him for the service.

Back in the United Kingdom the two rediscover each other but Kruger won't let her go. The two become a notorious item.

Interesting that the three principal cast members of this film are not British. Montgomery and Hayes are Americans and Kruger is from South Africa. The rest of the cast is divided equally between British and non-British players. Of course with Henry Stephenson playing the chronicler of all the events of this story this IS a British story. He's usually the kind of civilized fellow the British like to see themselves as. He's the character of Hugh Walpole, the novelist who wrote the book this film is based on.

Montgomery and Hayes make it all work somehow. I doubt will see a remake of Vanessa Her Love Story, way too old fashioned for today's taste.

"Vanessa, Her Love Story" is a bad film and I can understand why Helen Hayes took a break from movies after making this one. Despite a lush look and wonderful cast, the script is simply a mess...seldom making sense and offering little of interest.

The film begins at the Harries family matriarch's 100th birthday. This is odd, as through the course of most of the film the old lady thrives and she must be nearly 110 by the end of the movie...perhaps even older!! At the celebration you meet the main characters--Benjamin (Robert Montgomery), Vanessa (Hayes) and Ellis (Otto Kruger). Benjamin is a bit of a wild guy and although he wants to marry Vanessa, he wants to sow a few more wild oats and they agree to marry....later. However, just before their wedding, Vanessa's father has a heart attack and accidentally sets the house ablaze. Benjamin arrives to save her but it's too late for the father. Inexplicably, Vanessa blames Benjamin for the fire and tells him she never wants to see him again. All of this is 100% illogical.

Benjamin leaves and soon marries a woman who is unfaithful. He then joins the army and loses an arm. When he returns, he finds Vanessa has married Ellis...a hopelessly paranoid and insane guy whose family hid this from Vanessa. She is miserable, Benjamin is miserable and Ellis constantly assumes his wife is cheating on him and plots to kill her. What happens from here on, see the movie....but I wouldn't bother. The bottom line is that the film looks nice but the plot is hopelessly convoluted and bizarre...and quite syrupy sweet to the point of annoyance.

Helen Hayes and Robert Montgomery are two adorable people in love in the very old-fashioned melodrama Vanessa, Her Love Story. They're young and impulsive and they still believe in love-at least at the beginning of the movie. The beginning is wonderful, as they fall in love and become engaged. Then the drama shows up and turns it into a very heavy movie.

The night before their wedding, there's a fire in Helen's house. She's asleep and groggy, so Bob runs into the burning building and rescues her. He's too late to drag Helen's dad, Lewis Stone, out of the house, and Helen calls off the wedding. She vows to hate him forever, and while drowning his sorrows, Bob falls prey to a scheming barmaid and her father, Donald Crisp. That's not even half of the drama packed into this 75-minute movie, so if that sounds good to you, you'll want to rent this on a rainy afternoon. If you liked Splendor in the Grass, this movie is right up your alley. I'll watch anything with a young, handsome Robert Montgomery in it, so I was very entertained. I've seen thousands of old movies, so an overdose of melodrama doesn't bother me, but if you're not prepared for it, you'll find yourself saying, "Anything else?" halfway through. You'll also get a healthy dose of Helen Hayes, who gives a classically dramatic performance. You can imagine her hitting the back row of a theater, but since the story is so over-the-top, she doesn't really feel out of place.