Madame consent

I have been married nearly 32 years. And, if my wife had cheated on me, I certainly would NOT have handled it the way Anne did in "The Lady Consents"...in fact, I can't imagine anyone handling it quite this way.

When the story begins, Dr. Talbot (Herbert Marshall) is trying to ride a very unruly horse he owns. He isn't very successful and a brash lady (Margaret Lindsay) insists she can tame the horse. Seconds later, she's unconscious and the lady awakens a bit later, bruised but otherwise fine. Then, out of the blue, the pair kiss...which is odd since the Doctor is married. He then informs the lady...and tells his wife (Ann Harding) as well. The wife, ever the understanding woman, says he shouldn't worry about it. However, soon the Doc and this new woman are a number...and the wife doesn't do anything...hoping this affair will run its course. Well, it doesn't and soon the Doc and his wife divorce so that he can marry this new woman. Will it all work itself out or not?

It seems very tough to believe the wife's actions in the film. She not only isn't angry, but excuses her husband's infidelity and informs him that what's most important is that HE is happy! She even goes so far as to say "He didn't want to fall in love with her...those things just happen"! Could this get any worse? Yep, the ex-wife goes to the wedding...just to show everyone how 'civilized women behave'! Very restrained and 'sophisticated' but hardly realistic.

So is this any good? Well, the acting certainly is and it's hard to hate any film with actors like these. But the story is a disappointment in many ways. It's not just that the wife is ridiculously understanding and decent, but that you also KNOW that the Doctor can't be happy with the new wife since it's a film made under the Production Code. And, the Code was strongly against adultery and insisted it had to be punished...eventually. So, the new wife ended up being extremely selfish and clueless. Odd, however, that the script somehow absolved the husband of his misbehavior despite all this.

By the way, I really liked Edward Ellis in the film as the Doctor's father. While clearly a supporting player, he was very enjoyable to watch and was the unofficial voice of reason throughout much of the story.

Really, how much of these noble suffering roles could Ann Harding take without puking? It isn't simply a matter of typecasting; often typecasting, particularly for stars in the studio period was simply a matter of finding a good compromise between their talents and the sort of vehicle the public would accept. And assuredly, Miss Harding could carry this sort of superior suffering with a great deal of class.

I suppose the way to handle this is the way director Stephen Roberts did: make sure that the supporting actors are amusing. Edward Ellis, best known for his role as the eponymous murder victim in THE THIN MAN is utterly charming as Harding's father-in-law, and Walter Abel's cohort of tipsy gamblers are also amusing. This was a strength of Mr. Roberts' directing. It is a pity he died the year this was released as Hollywood lost a talented director in him.

In terms of story, this seems like a cross between THEODORA GOES WILD and THE WOMEN. If you're not overloaded on Ann Harding movies you should enjoy it greatly. Even if you are, the supporting talent makes it worthwhile.

This doesn't really get off to a very good start. "Michael" (Herbert Marshall) is determined he can ride an unruly stallion - but ends up in the dirt. He offers the horse for sale only for champion sportswoman "Gerry" (Margaret Lindsay) to volunteer. He declines her suggestion, she gets on anyway and ... into the dirt she goes too. Except - of course - it's so abundantly clear that neither actor actually went anywhere near the real horse! That rather sets the tone for this pretty routine drama that is underpinned by a mischievous story of a love triangle between the two and his wife "Anne" (Ann Harding) but is let down by some mediocre writing and precisely no chemistry on screen between anyone - even the horse. The production is basic and the dialogue overly plentiful as the story seems to lose it's way between farce and melodrama. Marshall could be charming, and he does try here, but his theatrical delivery together with the static camerawork and the slightly clunky, episodic, nature of the drama impede it's flow too often to give this any sort of cohesion. Maybe "Anne" thinks he will work it all out of his system, or maybe she just doesn't care about her husband's infidelities and would rather just play snooker. Sadly, I'm not sure I really cared either.

...but a pretty good effort considering it was early in the production code era. Ann Harding plays Anne Talbot, elegant beautiful wife of Dr. Michael Talbot (Herbert Marshall), esteemed physician. He and his wife seem to get along well together, neither ignores the other, it seems like a perfect marriage. AND YET, when Gerry Mannerly (Margaret Lindsay)comes along, a bold brash sportswoman who goes after what she wants, Dr. Talbot becomes mush in her hands. When he abruptly kisses her on their first meeting, he even tells his wife about it. She treats it like a joke. Not because she doesn't love Michael or see his worth, but because that is the kind of easy going and trusting wife she is. Bad choice on Anne's part.

Dr. Talbot falls in love with Gerry, and asks Anne for a divorce. Yet Anne is the one who moves out into a rather cramped apartment, Anne is the one who refuses alimony, and when shrewish Gerry invites her to the wedding, she goes.

As soon as the "I dos" are said in Dr. Talbot's second marriage, Gerry begins to change everything. She throws out all of the old furniture and puts in new furniture. Out with Michael's old friends and in with hers, even out with Michael's dad, who still adores Anne. As for being the supportive wife of a doctor in an era when doctors' wives were supposed to understand the unpredictability of a doctor's schedule, nothing comes before Gerry's social life.

In the meantime, Ann still lends a shoulder to her ex when he needs one, although she is being relentlessly pursued by a rather drab fellow whom she considers a friend and nothing else (Walter Abel as Stanley Ashton).

Ann Harding here is playing the kind of person for whom love is a two way street and she is getting run over in both directions, yet she is nothing but smiles. Herbert Marshall, usually playing the clear headed guy acts like a complete idiot when it comes to Gerry's obvious manipulation and throwing away such a great bird in hand in Anne. The biggest problem I had with this film was figuring out his motivation. How could he allow himself to be duped like this when he could definitely not say that the grass was greener?

The best performance here is given by Margaret Lindsay, usually playing the good girl over at Warner Brothers, but in this film is a completely unlikable and even transparent villain in a totally believable performance. Honorable mention has to go to Edward Ellis as Jim Talbot, Michael Talbot's no nonsense dad.

How can anything good come out of this in the production code era that demands a just ending? Watch and find out, mainly for the performances.

To be frank considering their performance it could have been a bit more, but all others except Margaret pulled it all down, and the worst was the direction. The plot is not too unpredictable - there is a happily married couple in the midts of which thoroughly ruthless- probably cruel and sadist is a correct term to add to that - and scheming woman Jerry lands up and in her first meeting itself alienates the husband from wife. Well with that type of husband, I don't suppose any wife would like to go back for future and likely repetible mishaps of this kind, but being under code and also to have the soap coefficient she does. How to manage the current wife into becoming ex-wife is too silly to think of, as was anyway her scheme to become a wife itself. The woman is a celebrity (as introduced), a champion sportswoman - and quite definitely socialite - and must be one of means too,, though not told explicitly, but to be mocing around, playing those championships do cost money. And with her media exposure, and popularity, and looks, one could hardly believe when she said "I didn't marry you for money, or looks" is understandable "But you are the best I could get my hands on" is certainly not, and then trying to prove her a gld digger when she left him, for his alimony payments ? Unbelievable of course one have to think of his first wife-about to be third one and her situation, since he would have to still pay alimony to one of the wives, the second one in this case. It won't have been so bad considering Ann, unfortunately typecast into soaps of this type - there and a couple of good performances by Lindsay and Ellis but all others were quite thoroughly rotten, including Abel as the constant suitor, they weren't convincing, and almost wooden, including Herbert.