L'ensorceleuse

Nightclub dancer Joan Crawford marries Melvyn Douglas, despite the disapproval of his brother, Robert Young. When he takes her back to the immense family farm, there are mixed reactions to her; sister-in-law Fay Bainter hates her, but Margaret Sullavan is friendly. When, however, it becomes clear that Young and Miss Crawford lust for each other, things become dramatic.

The first twenty minutes of this, set in the big city, are excellent, with the cocktail set the brothers associate with having many catty remarks to make about La Crawford, and Young certainly plays grumpy well. Once it gets to the country, however, this turns into a Code-compliant, Peyton Place film, and those two simply do not mix well. Everyone does well in their roles, although Douglas isn't given much to do, and only Miss Sullavan is excellent. Crawford had wanted her for the role, and Mayer had tried to talk her out of it, pointing out that Miss Sullavan would steal the show. Miss Crawford responded that she would rather be a supporting player in a great movie than a lead in a stinker. This one is neither, but although I enjoyed it a lot, I don't think it's a very good film.

I always wanted to see this movie. It was one that Joan Crawford wanted to do after so many mediocre movies in the mid-30's. But I just did not like it. It was based on Keith Winter's Broadway hit but it was probably overly sanitized for the post-1933 censors that did not allow characters to have real problems unless they were killed for their human indiscretions. The cast is tops. Youthful Joan , the lovely Margaret Sullivan, the excellent Robert Young, the charming Melvyn Douglas and the superb character actress Fay Bainter. The script just does not properly develop why these characters especially Bainter's are so conflicted. And Joan seems too mannered in that way that made it look like she was just walking through the part. Not one of Joan's classics but watchable nonetheless. Bainter walks away with it though her character's sudden change at the end does not make any sense.

Contrary to most of the opinions I read here, I did not find this film "soapy." I found it, refreshingly, a film for adults. For me, that's all too rare. I think it's about what relationship is, what love is and isn't, and most of all about the experience it takes and the resulting wisdom to build relationship beyond an adolescent understanding of love and attraction. And the great value of the self-knowledge that results. For me, that adult perspective was so refreshing and so rare that it beats out every other consideration. (Especially given the idiotic popular fare we're used to these days which substitutes a junior high school age cynicism for the difficult work of love.) Along with, say, "Dodsworth," for some reason Hollywood in this period was capable of some genuinely mature work for adults. The popular culture could use a little more. With Ogden Nash in the writing credits, I shouldn't be surprised at what I found valuable in this film.

A promising, although hardly unique premise – wicked city woman (Joan Crawford) marries good ol' boy (this time a gentleman farmer, played by Melvyn Douglas) not for love, but because she's sick of her current lifestyle. Of course, plans go awry and this `intruder' into their pat little lives and old family ways unduly disrupts the farmer's whole family.

Unfortunately, The Shining Hour's structure is so episodic and choppy that none of the characters has time to be fully developed. This is a shame, as each of them appears quite interesting in the limited screen time allotted them. A longer running time and more character exploration would have benefitted the film greatly. As it is, every time a new tidbit of information is revealed that may be of interest to the viewer, some obvious plot point takes over and speeds things along toward the ludicrous ending. I was left shaking my head, groaning and shouting `NO!, NO!' at the screen more than once. Horrors.

CAST/PERFORMANCES: Joan Crawford gives a good performance here, and her beauty is almost overwhelming. Melodrama (which this film most definitely is) was her forte, and she excels as wrong-side-of-the-tracks dancer Olivia Reilly, looking to better her stature and improve her social standing through her association with new husband Harry Linden (Melvyn Douglas) and his well-established, none-too-poor family. Crawford comes off very believably in this role, and she's great in it.

Melvyn Douglas does an excellent job as Crawford's husband. I thought he was very adept at both the tender, quieter scenes as well as the angrier ones. As Harry Linden, he is a very sympathetic character who tries to keep everyone happy, and almost loses everything despite his efforts.

Robert Young's character is an enigma, and he plays the complex role of David Linden, Harry's brother, very well. David is a moody individual, and the viewer is never sure how he will act or react next. Young gives a thoughtful, yet strong performance. Having had quite a few roles like this in his younger days, it's unfortunate that he lapsed into mawkish television roles later in his career.

I can't relate at all to the character of Judy Linden, played by Margaret Sullavan. I like her performance, and think she does well with the words she is given to say. She cries well, too, which I always admire in an actor or actress, yet for me the role is too self-sacrificing, and her unbelievable character is the downfall of the entire scenario. Why, why, why???

Fay Bainter is usually better than she is here. I just didn't feel the menace that her character (Hannah Linden) was supposed to evoke, except for the party and fire scenes – those were done very well. Hannah's character seems to be the forerunner of Luz Benedict (played by Mercedes McCambridge) in Giant. There are several similarities between the two. It's too bad that both performances are also somewhat lackluster.

GOOD POINTS, BAD POINTS: If you can ignore the implausibility of the outcome and the fact that some of the action is simply mind-numbingly hard to take, you might consider watching this film. My advice is to give The Shining Hour a chance, because aside from the goofy, terribly abrupt ending, it does have some elements to admire, including some thoughtful dialog and especially the humanity of the characters, which is surely the film's strongest point. However, this ruined potential makes it extra frustrating to watch, so keep all heavy objects out of your reach as you tune in.

The performances in this film are adequate, with standout performances by Margaret Sullivan and Fay Bainter. It is the writing that fell short.

The romance and sexual tension are never fleshed out. In fact, most of it is unbelievable. The film is still entertaining but only because of star power and the snide remarks Bainter flings at Crawford.

Had this not been made during the production code they might have been able to explore the seamier side of it. The way it is handled you just don't care about any of the relationships in the film.

Hattie McDaniel is always a delight to see and always leaves you wanting more.