Heart at a crossroads
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Heart at a crossroads |
| Original title | The easiest way |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 74 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jack Conway |
| script | Edith Ellis |
| production | Hunt Stromberg for MGM |
| music | Charles Lawlor |
| camera | John J. Mescall |
| cut | Frank Sullivan |
| occupation | |
| |
Herz am Scheideweg (OT: The Easiest Way ) is a 1931 American film with Constance Bennett in the lead role. With its open portrayal of extramarital relationships, the film is typical of the lax handling of the censorship regulations before the Production Code came into force .
action
Laura Murdock grows up in great poverty and without a solid school education. Her parents are alcoholics who live off what their children earn. They have already married their daughter Peg to the driver Nick and now they are hoping for Laura. She earns some money as a saleswoman in a department store, where one day she receives an offer to work as a mannequin. Laura made the acquaintance of Elfie, a former model, who explains to her how a young, good-looking woman can achieve wealth and material security: The easiest way to luxury is horizontally ("The easiest way to luxury is horizontal"). Laura internalized this advice and without much ado or ado becomes the lover of William Brockton, the owner of the model agency. Her sister Peg, who lives poorly but happily with her Nick, condemns Laura and her immoral lifestyle. Nick, who has high ethical standards, throws Laura out of the house because she is unsuitable for his little daughter.
A short time later, Laura falls in love with the reporter Jack Madison, who is soon sent abroad for some time. Laura promises to leave Brockton and wait for him. However, things don't turn out as simply as Laura hoped they would. Instead of generosity, Willard responds with a court order to hand over all the gifts and demand the additional rent for the apartment in which Laura has lived free of charge. Without any savings of her own, Laura has to go back to work in the department store. At the same time, her mother becomes terminally ill and no one has the money to buy the drugs. So Laura returns to Brockton, who pays the treatment costs in return for appropriate consideration. At that moment Jack comes back to New York and misunderstands the overall situation. Everything goes wrong, both Jack and Brockton leave Laura and in the end the young woman stands burned down and without a roof over her head in front of her sister Peg's door on Christmas Eve. They both embrace and as if by a miracle Jack appears a short time later in the apartment. Laura publicly repents of her sins in the presence of everyone, Jack forgives her and they both marry.
background
Herz am Scheideweg is based on a play from 1909 about guilt and atonement and was actually completely out of date in 1931. MGM decided to film the material again and saw it as the ideal vehicle for Constance Bennett . Bennett had only recently become a major star with Common Clay . She came from a famous dynasty of actors and had been a household name in the silent film days before she suddenly ran away with a millionaire in 1925. After the divorce in 1929 she returned to Hollywood and was able to build on the friendship with both Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg . MGM toyed with the idea of getting Bennett on a long-term contract, and at the crossroads tested Bennett's potential at the box office.
The film is best known today for one of the first appearances by Clark Gable , who played Bennett's brother-in-law. The role was small, but the test screenings were sensational for Gable. Encouraged by the positive response, Gable got a long-term contract with the studio and by the end of the year, after appearing in a total of 12 films, was already MGM's biggest male star.
The Easiest Way is like the common law typical of the genre confession movie , which during the Great Depression mainly attracted the female audiences. Most of the films revolve around the problems of women who get into trouble through a love story with a man of weak character. In the end, the women end up on the streets to feed themselves and their children or family. Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet or Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus varied the subject matter. Often the women also became the lovers of older men or pursued unworthy occupations in order to survive: Barbara Stanwyck in Shopworn , Tallulah Bankhead in Faithless or Helen Twelvetrees in Unashamed . Most women tried to hide the illegitimate origin of their children: Kay Francis in I Found Stella Parrish and Give Me Your Heart , Irene Dunne in The Secret of Madame Blanche , Ruth Chatterton in Madame X, and Frisco Jenny or Ann Harding in The Life of Vergie Winters .
Theatrical release
The cost of production was $ 310,000. The film was reasonably successful at the box office, grossing $ 654,000 in the United States, with a further $ 249,000 coming from foreign markets. With a cumulative total box office income of $ 903,000, however, the studio was only able to post a meager profit of $ 193,000 in the end.
Web links
- Heart at a crossroads in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Easiest Way at Turner Classic Movies (English)
Literature on the subject
- Mark A. Viera: Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood. ISBN 978-0810944756 .
- Mick LaSalle: Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood. ISBN 978-0312284312 .
- Thomas Doherty: Pre-Code Hollywood. ISBN 978-0231110952 .
- Lea Jacobs: The Wages of Sin: Censorship and the Fallen Woman Film, 1928-1942. ISBN 978-0520207905 .