Everything for your happiness

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Movie
German title Everything for your happiness
Original title Possessed
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1931
length 72 minutes
Rod
Director Clarence Brown
script Lenore J. Coffee
production Clarence Brown for MGM
music William ax
camera Oliver T. Marsh
cut William LeVanway
occupation

Alles für dein Glück (Original title: Possessed ) is an American feature film from 1931 with the screen couple Joan Crawford and Clark Gable . The film is a good example of the lax handling of the applicable censorship regulations before the Production Code came into force .

action

The young factory worker Marian Martin is dissatisfied with life in poverty and lack of prospects. One day she is standing at the level crossing and sees the luxury class wagons glide past her. When the train comes to a stop, she gets to know Wallace Stuart, an aging playboy. He advises her to understand her body as capital and to use it as profitably as possible. According to Wallace, there are two types of people. Those who sit in and look out and those outside who look in.

Marian has learned the lesson and leaves her family that evening to find happiness in New York City. Without much ado, she becomes the lover of the seedy millionaire and politician Mark Whitney as soon as she arrives. He gives her the name and personality of a Mrs. Moreland, reputedly the wealthy ex-wife of a magnate, and openly establishes her as his mistress, complete with her own apartment, servants and jewels. Marian is secretly hoping for marriage, but Mark, who has already been divorced once, shows little inclination to step in front of the altar again. Things take an unwanted turn when Marian's ex-fiancé Al comes to town to blackmail Mark. Just as Mark is running for the office of district attorney, the other side launches a scandal and asks, "Who is Mrs. Moreland?"

Marian, who loves Mark, explains at a public meeting who is behind the name and that she would do without Mark for the good of politics. In the end there is a happy ending.

background

Joan Crawford had achieved fame in the silent film days as an actress of fun-loving girls in shallow romances. At the beginning of the 1930s she was able to further consolidate her status as a star by changing roles to becoming a heroine of tearful melodramas. Most of the time Crawford was seen as an ambitious woman who copes with the adverse circumstances on her own and thus creates social advancement and / or stubbornly fights for her happiness with a man against all prejudice.

Possessed is a typical example of the confession tales genre popular during the Great Depression . The focus is on a young woman who has to answer the question for herself whether values ​​such as virtue and morality will continue to exist in times of economic uncertainty. Or whether the pursuit of money does not justify every means, including the price of sexual willingness. The topic has been discussed in numerous films and most aptly Constance Bennett in Herz am Scheideweg (The Easiest Way) , also from 1931, summed up the cynical attitude towards life of many women:

"The easiest way to luxury is horizontally."

Crawford and Gable had worked together on Errwege des Lebens and Laughing Sinners earlier in the year , but it was only in Alles für dein Glück that Gable got the status of a Leading Man , the official male lead. Within a few months, Gable had risen from minor actor to most sought-after star in Hollywood thanks to his overtly flaunted sexuality and the sometimes brutal way he treated women. After the success of Alles für dein Glück , Crawford and Gable were to make five more films together as a popular screen couple. Everything for your luck is a good example of how lax film studios were before 1934 and when the Production Code came into effect . Crawford and Gable live together quite openly without a marriage license, and none of the numerous guests who receive the two discusses their cohabitation. In contrast, in the UK the film ran into significant censor issues. The studio had to re-shoot a few scenes that made it clear that Crawford and Gable never come to extremes.

Crawford sings How Long Can It Last at a piano party and repeats the chorus in three different languages, including German. This leads one of the guests to comment:

"Where are we here, on Ellis Island "

The film is based on the play The Mirage and was filmed in 1924 under the direction of George Archainbaud with Florence Vidor and Clive Brook .

Theatrical release

The film came into national distribution on November 21, 1931. At $ 378,000 to produce, it was an average expensive MGM production. He made a very substantial sum of 1,030,000 US dollars in the USA, which was an indication of the great popularity of Joan Crawford with her fans. With overseas revenues of $ 492,000 and a cumulative total income of $ 1,522,000, the studio ended up making a hefty profit of $ 611,000. Compared to the other stars of the studio, only Greta Garbo was of a higher economic value.

Reviews

Mordaunt Hall wrote in the New York Times on November 28, 1931 :

"Thanks to the right direction from Clarence Brown, attractive sets and a well-written script," Possessed "[...] is satisfactory entertainment. […] The familiar topic about a small town factory worker who becomes the lover of a wealthy New Yorker is presented with new ideas, which leads to some surprises but not excitement […] There are many interesting little details in the course of the The plot and the finale are really exciting. Miss Crawford delivers an excellent performance again and Mr. Gable is pleasantly restrained. "

James R. Quirk found in Photoplay:

“A lot of luxury, a lot of charm, a lot of light talk about courage and marriage and what women want - that's Possessed , and you won't be bothered by the basically old-fashioned story and the homely dialogues […] It's Joan's best work Crawford since Paid and Clark Gable is the man of the hour anyway. If Joan wasn't so good, he would have stolen the film. "

literature

  • Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk : The Complete Films of Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1988, ISBN 0-8065-1078-1 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk, William Schoell: Joan Crawford. The Essential Biography . University Press, Lexington, KY. 2002, ISBN 0-8131-2254-6 .
  • Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Through Clarence Brown's able direction, handsome settings and a fairly well-written script, Possessed […] is a gratifying entertainment. [...] The familiar theme or a small-town factory girl who becomes the mistress of a wealthy New Yorker is set forth with new ideas which result in surprises if not in a measure of suspense. […] There are many interesting minor details put into the sequences and the final episodes are pictured in a stirring fashion. Miss Crawford adds another excellent performance to her list and Mr. Gable delivers a portrait that is nicely restrained.
  2. ↑ Lots of luxury; lots of charm; lots of smooth talk about courage and marriage and what women want - that's Possessed, and you really don't care if the story is old and some of the lines a little shopworn… It's the best work Joan Crawford has done since Paid, and Clark Gable - he's everybody's big moment. If Joan weren't so good, he'd have the picture.