User reviews

Norma Shearer teams up with Robert Montgomery again in "Riptide" which also stars Herbert Marshall as part of a love triangle. There isn't too much special about this, but the beginning scene, with Marshall dressed as an huge insect and Shearer as a spider is very funny. Having just finished Shearer's bio by Gavin Lambert, it speaks of figure problems she had, particularly with her legs, and how hard she worked at being in shape. It paid off. She is absolutely beautiful in this film.

It's always difficult to realize that evidently, Herbert Marshall was once considered a romantic leading man, but given this movie and "Girls Dormitory," which I saw recently, I guess he was. In this, he sweeps playgirl Shearer off of her feet; they marry and have a daughter. After five years of wedded bliss, he goes on a business trip. While he's away, Norma meets old friend Montgomery at a party. He's always been crazy about her. They get drunk, kiss, and she runs for it. The next thing she knows, he's fooling around outside her window and throws himself off of her balcony. Scandal. Hubby comes home to headlines. Doesn't know if he can believe that nothing went on since the scripts hints that she was a slut while she was single. Marriage strained. Etc.

This kind of story is a little hard to take these days, but Shearer and Montgomery are very good. In comparison to their lively performances, Marshall is rather dull - which is the point, so it's appropriate.

The amazing thing about "Riptide" is an appearance by Mrs. Patrick Campbell, a theater icon. She's excellent as Marshall's aunt. I've often wondered if some of the early stage luminaries were as good as everyone claimed, but after seeing Campbell and the Barrymores in film, they sure were. For this reason and because it's pre-code, "Riptide" is worth seeing.

At the opening, Mary (oscar winning Norma Shearer) and Rexford (Herb Marshall) are getting ready for a costume ball. This was the mid-1930s, just as the film code was getting enforced more strictly, so it's not quite as spicy as it might have been. They get hitched, but then Rex gets sent away on business, and Mary goes to a party with old friend Tommie (R. Montgomery) . Things get steamy, things happen or don't, and now there are injuries and mis-understandings to be sorted out. Can things be set right? age old story of getting to the truth of what happened. it's pretty good. the cast list shows Walter Brennan as the chauffeur; he was doing a mix of credited and uncredited roles right up to the mid-1930s. appeared in TONS of things with john wayne! There is a smidge of humor here, between the sad and serious parts; Skeets Gallagher and Robert Montgomery both have a few funny, clever lines. Bea Tanner Campbell is naughty Aunt Hetty. her imdb bio contains amusing stories, even on her time making THIS film with Norma Shearer. only made 6 films... too bad. she was a lot of fun. It's pretty good entertainment. worth a watch.

This movie may come off dull to some when first seeing. But you have to understand movie & theatre history to appreciate a film like Riptide. For me it was seeing a legendary and famous lady actually acting and speaking in one of her very few films. In this case Mrs Patrick Campbell(Stella Beatrice Tanner Campbell). Like Mrs Leslie Carter, another famous Mrs, Mrs Pat, in her youth, was a famed actress from the theatre of the 1890s and 1900s. Her relationship with writer George Bernard Shaw is legendary amongst Shaw or Broadway Theatre fans. Mrs Pat didn't seem to make any silents and for posterities sake made three or four talkies in the 30s as a novelty of which Riptide is the only one I've viewed. Thank goodness! because at least many of us fans, generations down the road, can get to hear and see what she sounded like and perhaps get a glimpse of her acting and appreciate her legend. This is what's great about film. Preserving the performances of a once famous actress like Mrs Patrick Campbell. If only other theatre Greats had done movies like Mrs Pat. Ie: Maude Adams(the original Peter Pan), Julia Marlowe(famed American Shakesperean actress), John Drew(uncle of the three Barrymores).

This story is a typical Norma story of the day. Much like those that she had played in earlier films of the early 30s. She's caught between two men. In this case Herbert Marshall & Robert Montgomery. She marries Marshall, has a daughter with him and then he's gone away much of the time and she starts to take up with the younger Montgomery. The rest of the film is a series of adventures for Norma as Aunt Hetty(Mrs Pat) and others take her to St Moritz, Monte Carlo etc to help her find herself. Marshall was himself an interesting actor. He, like Ronald Colman and Basil Rathbone had seen action in WW1. In Marshall's case he lost a leg and even though a suave/textured leading man here, as well as in other films, he's walking around ably on a wooden leg. All in all I quite enjoy the treats this film offers. Norma was a very sexy woman with a nice shape. She wears some nice(and Pre-Code) form fitting gowns and looks fetching. Silent screen star Lilyan Tashman makes her next to last appearance in a supporting role as one of Norma's friends. She died soon after this was made. And of course the ultimate treat of this movie, seeing theatre great Mrs Pat Campbell and hearing her act. Wonderful!

She was incredible. This movie quickly jumps forward in time, but the dialogue between Mary (Norma) and Trent was great. If only she had kept making movies and not ended so abruptly.

No movies today compare to Riptide (which was controversial at the time)

A free-spirited young woman named Mary (Norma Shearer) meets a stuffy English aristocrat named Philip (Herbert Marshall) at a costume party. They fall in love and get married on a whim, but are soon a happy husband and wife, with a daughter. However, the wife embarks on an affair with a charming young man called Tommie (Robert Montgomery), despite her initial refusal. The man falls from a balcony to his death, causing scandal for the woman and leaving people wondering if it was an accident, murder, or suicide.

I watched this film a while ago, so I don't remember the exact details. It's pretty much a paint-by-numbers Norma Shearer Pre-Coder, complete with an unwelcome moralistic happy ending at the end. Norma had pretty much entirely grown out of her silent movie mannerisms by this point, so her performance is more palatable than usual (for non-fans) here. Herbert Marshall is his usual, boring, stuffy self, and Robert Montgomery-

I feel bad for Robert Montgomery's characters in his Norma Shearer films. He's always so in love with, and clearly a much better fit for her (and much better looking) than the man she is lusting after (Marshall, Chester Norris, Rod la Rocque, you name it), yet after a quick affair, she always tosses him aside and goes after the dull-as-dishwater leading man she had initially done away with. Ah, morals.

The plot, as I mentioned above, is predictable, and doesn't hold up well today, giving the film a sort of time capsule feel ("Oh, look at the quaint little antique, because after all, film history started with The Godfather!"). All stars have done better, but in this film, they are passable entertainment. The beginning is amazing- Herbert and Norma in insect-man suits (!)- but the film gradually peters out and is rather dull by the time it ends. I hate to say this, but most of Norma Shearer's Pre-Coders haven't held up well.

Yet if you only see one of these "Norma Shearer plays a classy, slutty free soul who ends up with the same guy she ditched in the beginning" films, let it be Riptide. One question, though- why did she often play characters named Mary?

It's a case of "don't leave your wife alone" in Riptide. Herbert Marshall and Norma Shearer are happily married, until he leaves on a business trip. She meets up with an old flame - quite by accident - and manages to resist his charms. That's quite a feat, since the ex-boyfriend is played by the ultimate 1930s playboy Robert Montgomery! But when Herbie comes back, he doesn't believe Norma that nothing happened between them because she "was the kind of girl who didn't stop with a kiss," even when they were courting.

This pre-Code drama is actually quite funny. It makes us giggle now to see what got sneaked through before heavy censorship was put in place; but imagine how hard the audience was laughing in 1934! "He's in bed with his miseries," Norma laughs about Bob sulking in his room after she's rejected him. "With who?" Mrs. Patrick Campbell asks in all seriousness. Euphemisms are used: trembling, fluttering, and volcanos, and in-tact. Norma's loose ways are openly discussed, and her past indiscretions are thrown back in her face when she's caught in an embarrassing situation with Bob. To find out how embarrassing, or whether or not Norma and Herbie can find truth and peace, you'll have to rent this entertaining old flick. I recommend it!

Lord Rexford (Herbert Marshall) and Mary (Norma Shearer) bond over their bad costumes. There is a whirlwind courtship and marriage. Years later, she encounters playboy acquaintance Tommie Trent (Robert Montgomery). A drunken Tommie falls off her balcony and that leads to a media scandal which threatens her marriage.

"Mary! Mary! Mary!" That scene reminds me of being the sober driver while your friends get to be drunken idiots. It's not fun. It's not funny either. Neither lead men are coming off as the hero of the piece. Rexford has the benefit of keeping the family together, but I don't like him either. It's a sign of the times. She needs to be with a man and those are her choices. It's a love triangle of death.

Poor script and overbearing acting by Shearer. You want to shake her and ask "Why can't you just be yourself?" Hopefully, the affected and effete presence she portrays in every film is not the real person.

There is no chemistry here between any of the actors and only the opening scene is funny, but it has no relevance to anything that is to come.

Thalberg should have shut this down as soon as he realized this was bad. Wouldn't reading the script do that?

One of the things I find interesting in these comments are how many people insist that this is a terribly old fashioned story that couldn't be made today. Really? Because while watching this all I could think was that if movies could be said to have a family tree, then I think the movie The Kids Are All Right, which has been praised to the skies for being such a "modern" story, shares plenty of DNA with Riptide. There is a theory that there are really only 36 plots, and every story is just different variations on those 36. I think the key when watching these movies is asking yourself, what is the basic bare bones plot of this story? Can this story be told now and is someone telling it? The answer is almost always yes. It's fun to realize the progression.

There were a couple of really great scenes in this. The bug costume scene in the beginning(that was a seriously skimpy spider costume!) and the scene where she gets drunk with Trent and jumps into the pool. I did wish the film would have followed up a bit more with her husband's secretary, who was clearly in love with her. They just showed him mooning over her the whole movie, but never went anywhere with that. It seemed a bit random. I think if you're not going to do anything significant with something like that, don't include it in the movie.

This film brings up an interesting dilemma...and oddly I haven't seen any movies like it even though it came out in the 1930s. When the film begins, Phillip (Herbert Marshall) meets Mary (Norma Shearer) and they fall in love. Soon they have been married for four years and have a cute kid. Phillip goes abroad on a business trip and during this time, Mary accepts a fateful invitation to travel to Cannes. There she meets up with an old beau, Tommy (Robert Montgomery). Tommy gets drunk and misbehaves and EVERYONE notices. Soon Phillip has heard about it and he starts doubting his wife's fidelity. Even though he says he still loves her, it's obvious he's not sure and this is destroying the marriage. What's next? See the film.

This film is worth seeing for the interesting script and fine acting. But the biggest reason is to see Herbert Marshall dressed up as an Insectman for a costume party. Bizarre is a HUGE understatement! See this film!

Norma Shearer's emotional range and charm is always a delight. Her costumes in shiny silk charmeuse and deep dark velvet translate so well in vintage black and white, and the topic of a woman's "decency" in the 30's and small minds is dramatic and poignant. I love this decade of movies for the history and social culture they often evoke.

New York socialite Norma Shearer (as Mary) clicks with English Lord Herbert Marshall (as Philip) after they shed the weird costumes donned for a "World of the Future" ball. Though "entirely different people," they fall in love. After five years of wedded bliss, Mr. Marshall is called away on a business trip. Lonely in London, Ms. Shearer succumbs to her old ways, and goes out partying with dotty Stella Patrick Campbell (as Aunt Hetty) and prissy secretary George K. Arthur (as Bertie). In Cannes, Shearer meets boozing Robert Montgomery (Tommie), who once pursued her. A misunderstanding leads husband Marshall to believe Shearer slept with Montgomery, and divorce talk follows. Dejected, Shearer is comforted by Montgomery…

As it was released before July 1934, when the Motion Picture Association of America decided to enforce its Production Code regarding appropriate cinematic behavior, "Riptide" was able to show an adulterous woman in a fairly positive light. "The kind of girl who didn't stop at a kiss," as Marshall describes Shearer's character, was successfully replaced by a more ladylike Shearer, after this film. That it's well-produced (by MGM) and "pre-code" doesn't mean "Riptide" is excellent. The story is as silly today as it must have been upon release (when everything was still "pre-code"). Shearer and Montgomery perform well together, but Ms. Campbell (billed as "Mrs. Patrick Campbell") and the rest of the cast are more of a treat.

***** Riptide (3/30/34) Edmund Goulding ~ Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Stella Patrick Campbell, Herbert Marshall

Norma Shearer is a delight in this film, which was the last of her pre-Code appearances. She gives a very natural, charming performance in scenes that call for tenderness, temptation, flirtation, and playfulness, including those with the two leading men (Robert Montgomery and Herbert Marshall), her aunt-in-law (theater legend Mrs. Patrick Campbell), and her adorable daughter (Marilyn Spinner). She's helped considerably by the script which has a lot of life to it, something evident from the beginning, when we see Marshall in a giant 'Insect Man' costume and Shearer in a revealing 'Lady Sky bug' number, get ups designed by Adrian for a "World of the Future" ball. The story degenerates into a bit of a soap opera in its second half, but it had scored enough points with me early on that I didn't mind too much.

One thing that's great about it is its frankness with the sexuality of Shearer's character. From the dialogue, it's clear she's had premarital sex with men before meeting Marshall's character, and has sex with him too. She's content to leave it at a fling, but he wants marriage, a role reversal from what we'd traditionally see. At the same time, she's not portrayed as a tramp, on the contrary, she's sweet, funny, honest, and full of life. When they marry, though, the expectation is that she'll "settle down," which she jokingly agrees to ("From now on, a ring in the nose and a beating every Saturday night, please"). Fast forward five years, and tension comes in the form of Montgomery's character, a friend from her single days who meets her while her husband is travelling, and over drinks makes a pass at her. She rebukes him, but the story makes the newspapers, and between that, Montgomery's persistence, and Marshall judging her, she's torn between the two men from then on.

As I mentioned, it spirals a bit, but watching Shearer deal with the emotions of the character made the film for me. In one fine scene, Marshall throws her past up into her face while suspecting her of adultery, thinking of how she "didn't stop with a kiss" back in the day, calling to mind the double standard of the period. That's a little irritating, but this was the reality in 1934, and Shearer is given the power of choice, without being condemned. Eyebrows are raised by the other characters, but if she goes off with Montgomery's character they and the audience will know it's due to the thrill having faded from her marriage, and that she will survive. As she puts it, "No man is gonna let me or not let me do anything ever again."

The film drew the ire of the Father Daniel Lord, one of the authors of the Production Code, who condemned Shearer for taking the role of a "loose and immoral woman" and her husband Irving Thalberg for casting her in films like these, which in turn enraged Thalberg. Lord (and Joseph Breen's) position were more about keeping women in their place, since the behavior of Marshall's character is the same but there were no comments about a "loose and immoral man." They would soon put the shackles of the Production Code on Hollywood, which makes seeing this last Shearer film before that happened, at a time when she was quite good as an actor, special for me.

The opening scene of this film shows Norma Shearer and stuffy Herbert Marshall dressed up as insects for a costume party. This is the highlight of the film - it's all down hill from there. Marshall marries Shearer, even though she plays a woman whose been around the block a few times. Very big of him. Years pass, then he starts worrying about whether Norma is going to start going astray, especially when handsome Robert Montgomery shows up. As the film drags on, Marshall becomes increasingly irritable and short-tempered, while Shearer stands on her head in an effort to please him and live up to the super high pedestal that he has placed her on. The whole business has no credibility. Herbert Marshall made a living in the early 30's playing guys who comes out second to studs like Clark Gable and the like. And so he should. Marshall is a homely stuffed shirt in film after film, and there's no reason why he should ever be the first choice of the gorgeous actresses he played opposite during this time period.

Lord Rexford (Hebert Marshall) is an English aristocrat visiting Manhattan, and he meets Park Avenue party-girl Mary (Norma Shearer) when they share a ride to a costume party. They hit it off immediately, ditch the party, and start a Vacation Romance.

The Vacation Romance turns serious when the Lord is supposed to go back to the UK and he asks Mary to marry him. It's made clear that they were already having sex and that he knows of her "past" flings with other men. Mary resists at first, worried how he'd feel later on about marrying a woman who has been around a few times, but gives in.

"A ring in the nose and a beating every Saturday night, please!"

A few years later we see that they are still happily in love ... or perhaps I should say -nauseatingly- in love because they lay it on thick when they get all lovey-dovey.

The Lord has to go away on a business trip to the US and can't take Mary, so he leaves her with his Aunt Heddy who lures her away to Cannes for the duration. It's there that she runs into an old flame, Tommy (Robert Montgomery), and things get complicated. They get drunk and exchange a kiss. That gets Tommy's engines going and he goes after Mary even though he knows she is married!

What follows is a bit of comedy, a bit of melodrama, and a lot of business about Mary's scandalous past (and present).

"In New York you were the kind of girl who didn't stop at a kiss!"

It's an interesting story with some great actors and clever dialogue.

Recommended!

Watching Norma Shearer makes me think of the Hollywood crowd at the time always out on the town or at a party at Pickfair or The Thalberg beach house or next door at Marion Davies place. Somebody always playing piano or singing, entertaining each other. The Rathbones, Lady Silvia, Irene Mayer, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford. Joan Crawford. They might have overacted a bit but it's entertaining. Mrs Patrick Campbell is reason enough to catch this one and she doesn't disappoint stealing the scene even as Norma pushes to keep up with her. For my money it's these Golden Age Hollywood Stars that make these movies interesting.

Riptide is a film that sad to say has not worn well, especially for its stars Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, and Herbert Marshall. It's so old-fashioned that I can't see how a remake could ever be possible from the material.

Park Avenue socialite Shearer and titled English earl Marshall meet in costume sharing a limousine ride to a costume party. Both are in insect costumes and they're pretty funny. On an impulse they marry. Would the rest of the film have been as hilarious as the beginning.

After five years of marriage in which Marshall and Shearer now have a daughter, they're getting in a rut, especially for Norma. So much so she's easy prey for the attentions of old friend and Broadway playboy Robert Montgomery. I think you see where this is all going.

Edmond Goulding directed Riptide and two years earlier he had given MGM Grand Hotel which still holds up as a cinema classic. Goulding's next greatest hit was for 20th Century Fox with Nightmare Alley where Tyrone Power shed his matinée idol image. But in writing and directing this film, Goulding came up short of the standard set by those other films.

Riptide was the fifth and final film that Robert Montgomery and Norma Shearer did, the most prominent being Private Lives and The Divorcée. Those hold up better than Riptide.

It's a terribly old-fashioned type of story that creaks along. Would that it was as good as it started out.

The first scene, with Norma Shearer and Herbert Marshall dressed as insects, is hilarious. The plot is old fashioned, but Norma looks so beautiful that you tend to forget it.

Forget that this is a slushy melodrama. Forget that the acting is in that early 30s style. Forget that this is about over privileged posh people. Just let yourself soak in this enveloping romantic gorgeousness.

A romantic melodrama, certainly one with Norma Shearer is not something I'd normally watch. If like me, you prefer your 30s movies gripping and gritty or realistic and edgy, this is the last thing you'll think you want to see. Just forget what you think you like and watch this because it's absolutely brilliant! Since none of you know me, I can admit to you all that this actually made me cry. I have either lost my mind or this is an outstanding emotional piece of cinema!

The story itself is hardly original, it's just your typical love triangle but it's done so well with so many unexpected twists: and turns. The script is a little over the top at times but the English language has rarely been used so beautifully to evoke such emotion. Although, unless you're a member of the aristocracy, there's nobody in this you think you will be able to relate to, everyone is surprisingly engaging - and that engagement happens instantly. It lasts a little longer than a lot of 1930s pictures but you will want it to keep going, it's very entertaining.

What you will discover, if you didn't already know, is what a truly fantastic actress Norma Shearer was. If you look at photos of Norma Shearer you'll think: the only reason someone so plain as that could be a big star was because she was married to the boss. She is not what you'd call pretty, or even moderately attractive. You can't imagine how someone with her looks could be a romantic lead.....but then she moves, then she speaks and it's it's like you're under a magic spell. You've got to see her in action because it's impossible to describe but this very ordinary looking woman transforms before your eyes into the most sensual and erotic epitome of sex you'll ever see. The level intimacy which she portrays with both Herbert Marshall and Robert Montgomery sometimes makes you feel almost uncomfortable - you feel like you've walked in on something private, something you think you shouldn't be seeing, something very real. The acting is outstanding.

It's directed by Edmund Goulding who also wrote this so he invested all his considerable directorial talent into making his little story as perfect as he could. He seems to be the ideal director to make such a picture about the love lives of the upper echelons of society but despite his outward persona as the archetypal refined English gentleman, he was anything but. This guy was THE party animal of Hollywood hosting parties which were infamous as being virtual orgies. If you've seen BABYLON you'll know what I mean. Whilst watching this you can't help wondering what would be going on in the bar after the filming was over.

Overall, even if you don't think you'll like this, if there's a small pilot light of romance in you, give this a go, it's a beautiful film.

When producer Irving Thalberg fell ill in 1932, he and his wife, Norma Shearer, left Hollywood and went on an extended tour of Europe. Returning to M-G-M in 1933, he produced this film under his new contract and cast Norma in the lead role. It was not the hit Thalberg had hoped for, but the public was grateful to see Norma Shearer again, despite the weak script.