Never get married the first time

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Movie
German title Never get married the first time
Original title Forsaking All Others
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1934
length 84 minutes
Rod
Director WS Van Dyke
script Joseph L. Mankiewicz
production Bernard H. Hyman for MGM
music Herbert Stothart
camera George J. Folsey ,
Gregg Toland
cut Tom hero
occupation

Never Marry the First Time (OT: Forsaking All Others , alternative title: A heart is to be given away ) is an American film with Joan Crawford , Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery in the leading roles. The film is a good example of the excellent production values ​​that MGM had available.

action

Mary Clay, daughter from a very wealthy family, is about to marry millionaire Dillon Todd, whom she has loved from childhood. Only hours before going to the altar, Jeff Williams, Mary's best friend, comes back from Europe, where he has made a lot of money. Jeff, who has secretly loved Mary for years, wants to propose to her. He rushes to the stately home of the Clays and finds the whole house in an uproar. When Mary brings the news to him, Jeff is emotionally hurt, but remains silent about his feelings so as not to spoil her day. He secretly sends Mary a huge bouquet of cornflowers and personally assures her of his eternal friendship. At that moment the news bursts in that Dillon ran away with a showgirl. Both married in Atlantic City. Deeply hit, Mary and her aunt Paula withdraw to the family's luxurious estate in the Hamptons to get over Dillon's betrayal.

After a few weeks, Jeff believes his chances are good to finally propose to Mary the longed-for proposal. He is about to open up emotionally when Aunt Paula rushes into the intimate get-together and announces that Dillon is single again, that the marriage is annulled and that he deeply regrets his mistake. Mary immediately invites him to spend the weekend with her. Jeff blames Mary for being childish and immature, and just a good beating with a hairbrush would help bring her back to her senses. Mary disregards all concerns and things take their course. Dillon compromises Mary and they both want to run away when Mary finally realizes who she really loves. She hurries after Jeff and stands in front of his door with a hairbrush in hand. They both eventually get married.

background

Joan Crawford was still in the silent film days as an actress of exuberant girls, so-called flapper in a series of light romances achieved fame. 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.

After 1933, the actress specialized in portraying wealthy women who experience romantic entanglements between two men and end up finding true happiness, preferably in the arms of Clark Gable . Like the actress's other two films from 1934, Sadie McKee and In Golden Chains , never marry the first time is a case in point of these laboriously produced films. Crawford lived through the emotional crises in a never-ending sequence of spectacular costumes by MGM chief designer Gilbert Adrian with constantly changing hairstyles and in front of opulent studio sets, all of which were designed by Cedric Gibbons . The camera work immersed the scenes in a luxurious, softly drawn aura of prosperity and solidity using the soft skylight preferred by MGM. The high standing of Joan Crawford in the internal studio hierarchy is also demonstrated by the fact that, with Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery, she is joined by two of MGM's most popular male stars.

In retrospect, the actress was realistic about the value of the undertaking:

“[It] wasn't a very good movie, but Clark was there again, as was Bob Montgomery. Insignificant, but pleasant. "

Theatrical release

The film was nationally distributed on December 23, 1934. A budget of $ 392,000 never turned weddings into averagely expensive MGM production the first time . The film grossed a very substantial sum of 1,399,000 US dollars in the USA, an indication of the continued high popularity of Joan Crawford with her fans. With foreign revenues of $ 800,000 and a cumulative total result of $ 2,199,000, the studio was able to realize a high profit of $ 1,132,000 in the end. Never Marry First Time became Crawford's most financially successful film to date.

Reviews

Most of the critics were benevolent of the stars.

The industry journal Variety was impressed by the leading actress in its review:

“Miss Crawford is one of her best portrayals. It always remains believable. The ironic moralizing that often characterizes her films is largely absent here. The film basically only offers another variation of the eternal love triangle. "

The lexicon of international film names the film several decades apart

"[A] a fast-paced love comedy full of slapstick elements that offers pleasant entertainment."

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. ↑ Others wasn't a particularly strong picture, but there was Clark again, plus Bob Montgomery. Forgetful but pleasant.
  2. ↑ Forsaking All Others . In: Variety . January 1, 1935, p. 18 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed May 30, 2019]): “On the performance end, it is one of Miss Crawford's best. She is believable throughout. That tongue-in-cheek moralizing which often marks many of her sagas is largely missing. This is just a semi-rowdy, semi-drawing room eternal triangle. "
  3. ↑ Never get married the first time. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 30, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used