Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

rickrudge Chained (1934)This is one of those early romantic movies Clark Gable and Joan Crawford used to do.Diane Lovering (Crawford) is the unapologetic mistress of a New York shipping magnet, Richard Field (Otto Kruger). Richard would love to divorce his wife Louise (Marjorie Gateson) and marry Diane, but Louise likes her lifestyle too much the way it is, and threatens to take Richard's two sons away where he would never see them again.Richard feels guilty about this and buys Diane an ocean cruise to Argentina to ease her pain, his guilt, and to give her time to think about whether she wants to stay in this kind of arrangement the way it is or not. On the ship she meets Mike Bradley (Gable) who has a South American cattle ranch.Naturally, they fall madly in love with each other, but Diane's loyalty to Richard keeps her from sealing the deal until she talks with Richard first. When she arrives back in New York, she finds out that Richard is divorcing Louise, despite never seeing his kids again. Diane resigns herself to marrying Richard and sends Mike a quick Dear John letter.Later, Diane bumps into Mike while shopping downtown and discovers that she still loves Mike more than Richard. What now?

morrison-dylan-fan Despite having heard her name a number of times,I have somehow never got round to seeing Joan Crawford in a film!,which led to me searching around on Amazon UK for a film that would allow me to finally break my non-Crawford watching chain.The plot:Meeting up with her long-term lover Richard I. Field,mistress Diane Lovering starts to hope that she is about to become part of Field's cruise ship business empire,thanks to Field announcing to Lovering that he is finally going to divorce his wife Louise.Despite having hardly seen his wife for over a year,Field's plans are left in tatters,when Louise reveals that she won't divorce him,due to the doors that have opened since she has gotten the 'Mrs.Field' title.Desperate to heal the sadness that Lovering has suffered from his failure to get a divorce,Field arranges for Lovering to go on a cruise ship of his,which will allow her to go on an all expenses paid South American cruise.Spending time on her own thinking about Field,Lovering soon catches the attention of a wealthy ranch owner called Michael 'Mike' Bradley,which will lead to Lovering wondering if she is really chained to Field's love.View on the film:Teaming up for the 4th (of 8) times,Clark Gable and Joan Crawford each give excellent performances,with Gable showing a devilish side which contains real warmth,as Bradley finds himself getting closer to Lovering.Walking round the cruise ship with a dazzling elegance,Crawford places Lovering's concern for Field right at the heart of the character,thanks to Crawford showing a real charm in the largely improvised scenes she shares with Gable,which along with showing the characters flirtatious side,also displays Lovering's fear of someone getting hurt.Taking the character in an unexpected route,Otto Kruger gives a masterful performance as Richard I. Field,as Kruger keeps away from dipping in sleaze,to instead give Field a genuine sense of sincerity,as Field finds himself unable to stop the chain that he has with Lovering from breaking.Filmed just after prohibition had been lifted in the US,director Clarence Brown displays the wealthy world that the character's inhabit by covering the movie with lashings of booze,which are joined by glamorous tracking shots which show Crawford's beauty and also show the beauty of the luxury cruise (something that only the very rich could afford at the time) that Lovering is on.Sadly not being able to match the glamour that Crawford gives the movie,or the stylish tracking shoots that Brown uses,the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, John Lee Mahin and Edgar Selwyn keeps away from looking at the seedier aspects of the title,which leads to no real sparks being allowed to set off between Lovering and her would-be lover's,that cause this chain to break apart far too soon.

funkyfry *******SPOILERS********Fairly standard story -- Crawford is a "career gal" in love with her boss -- the exquisitely dapper and gentlemanly Kruger -- or, at least, she thinks she is until a shipboard romance with Argentinian rancher Gable gets in the way. The only gimmick here is the audience's expectation that Kruger will go mad or seek some kind of revenge (you can even imagine Lon Chaney in the role), but he doesn't. The chemistry between Gable and Crawford is the picture of passion, although they are not aided by the tepid dialogue ("the sun of love will always shine on us" and such stuff), and Kruger and Crawford present a believable picture of a marriage based on respect instead of love.

nickandrew Rather dull and tiresome romantic triangle once again pairing Gable and Crawford. Joan plays a socialite who falls for dashing Gable on a cruise, but she has husband Kruger waiting for her back home. One highlight is trying to spot a young Mickey Rooney early in the film, playing in a swimming pool.