Smilin' Through (1932) :
Brief Review -
Two eternal romances explained very well with one of the most tragic scenes of the time. Even though the film is titled Smilin', I believe there was hardly anything to smile at. It was more of a tragic romance for its time, or quite possibly all time. I wasn't aware that one of the biggest conflicts from one of the most popular romances, "Love Affair" (1939)-some people know it because of its remake, "An Affair To Remember" (1957)-was actually taken from this Sidney Franklin flick. Even that goes back in time, as Sidney himself remade his own silent film of 1922. Remember that accident thing from Love Affair? Why Terry couldn't see Michel and had to conceal her disability? Well, that was picked right from here-with a gender switch. Smilin Through has multiple layers to the characters and the love story. If I can say so, it was one of the rare films to have the three leading actors in a double role (Leslie Howard was a single character, but divided into two age groups). The film is about Kathleen, who falls in love with a young soldier, Kenneth, but her uncle, Sir John, forbids her because Kenneth's father killed his soon-to-be bride, Moonyean, on their wedding day. Kathleen still goes on to meet and fall in love with Kenneth before he is sent to War for four years. After his return, Kathleen is devastated by his rude behaviour and mourns her lost love. Now here comes redemption for Uncle John, who has been attempting salvation for years to meet his dead love. The screenplay does a nice trick here, as we see a happy ending and a sad ending coming together and leaving us with mixed feelings. Leslie Howard has played a part that other young fellas might have rejected for pride. He put them all to shame. Norma looks lovely, and Fredric is fine in both roles. Franklin did not have to do much except remove some dated chunks, and he did exactly that. A big triumph for a remake, and what a tragic cobweb of love stories it was for its time.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
