Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

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.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

mark.waltz Having left school at the age of 12, Joan Crawford's Marian never learned to spell regret. And as perfect as the are together, her handsome attorney lover Clark Gable doesn't want to marry her to risk finding out her imperfections. It's a perfect relationship, but as much of a lady Joan becomes after leaving her factory town, she desires that quality called respectability. As much of an obvious gold digger she is, she's open about it, and that's what Gable likes about her, tired of the phoniness he's encountered before. But as his reputation grows and his political clout increases, she's a danger to him, something she refuses to be. Almost semi-autobiographical, this parallels Crawford's rise up the ladder from uneducated chorus girl to extra to rising starlet, to by this time, superstar. It's also Gable's first hit, and the sparks fly from the moment she intrudes on Skeets Gallagher's business meeting and wins him over. Earlier, a drunken Skeets advised her to get out of her factory town and board the train to the other side of the tracks. If the sight of her tired mother Clara Blandick doesn't convince her that it's time, it's content suitor Wallace Ford. By the time Crawford has gotten in to deep, she fights the tears back as she's too far in, and her only choice to save him and her self respect is to get out. This plot line sounds like the special dialog added to the Judy Garland speech in the middle of "Dear Mr. Gable". This isn't just your typical Joan Crawford tearjerker. There is something special about this film, for me not just being one of the very first Crawford film I recall seeing on home video, but in its tale of moral struggle and misplaced ambition as well. Crawford isn't just some beautiful ice statue; she has all the right ingredients for super-stardom, and under the direction of veteran director Clarence Brown, reaches it with no yellow brick road to skip down. With this film, her legendary status became assured.

rickrudge Possessed (1931)This is a great pre-code melodrama about a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks trying to make it big. Marian Martin (Joan Crawford) sees how the other half lives from window scenes in a passing railroad car, and resigns to getting some of that, by any means possible. She moves to the big city and becomes the mistress to a successful lawyer, Mark Whitney (Clark Gable). She falls for the dog, but Mark isn't the marrying kind. On top of that, Marian is still not really accepted by rich society anyway. It gets a little preachy, but generally a good movie.This is one of Crawford's best with her showing off her complete range of strong, vulnerable, nice, and bitchy. Gable is his trademarked strong self as far as male romantic leads go, who have previously, traditionally been, well, kind of feminine. Gable's Mark character is a man's man and yet could be romantic, when called for, which made him a favorite with both women and men. Crawford saw this in Clark Gable early on and had him star in a lot of her movies.I think that Possessed was later remade in 1947 with Joan Crawford doing Van Heflin.

atlasmb I am not a Joan Crawford fan, but I have come to appreciate her acting, especially in her early career. This film, released in 1931, shows her promise as an actress (not to mention Gable, who always displayed a magnetism that lit up the screen). Joan would star in another film titled "Possessed" in 1947, but they are two different stories. In this pre-Code story, adapted from a play, she is Marian Martin, a small-town girl who works in a box factory, but is determined to get ahead, though she sees no prospects locally.A train passing through town slows and stops in front of her. Through the windows, she sees highlights of the high life, the life of the big city, promising wealth and romance. It is a wonderful scene. As a result, she makes her way to New York City, where she meets Mark Whitney (Clark Gable), a wealthy, unmarried attorney who immediately likes her no-nonsense honesty. They become involved, but he has no plans to marry her.Crawford is vivacious and convincing in the role, showing a wide range of emotions. The film spotlights her beauty and her talent. In one scene, she sings in French, German and English. The song is "How Long Will it Last?"--an appropriate choice. The script is intelligent and the directing is clever and inventive. There is only one section of the film that did not ring true, but it sets up a scene that is the dramatic climax of the film. As a whole, this film is well worth seeing.

utgard14 Small town factory worker Joan Crawford wants out of her cramped life and doesn't want to marry Wallace Ford. Can't say that I blame her on either count. So Joan heads off to the big city and eventually catches the eye of up-and-coming politician Clark Gable. The two enter into an "arrangement" but over time that becomes problematic for Gable's political career. Enter Crawford's ex Ford to stir things up.Despite all the talk about feminist themes, this seemed like a pretty ordinary pre-Code programmer to me. At the end of the day, it's still another story about how a woman needs a man and marriage to be fulfilled and happy. That's not feminism last time I checked. The chemistry between the leads is nice but the trappings are dry and creaky at times. Joan gets to sing and is good. Why some seem to dislike the sappy ending I'm not sure. Some people just prefer downbeat endings I guess. Personally, I think the ending saves the movie. This is a decent film of its type and time. Not one of the best but OK. Gable and Crawford fans will like it more than most.