In 1917, following America's entry into World War I, a young soldier named Bill Pettigrew meets Daisy Heath, a famous Broadway actress. In order to impress his army buddies, Bill pretends that Daisy is his girlfriend, even though they are only casual acquaintances. They do not believe him, and hoping to expose his deception take him to see the play in which Daisy is appearing so that he can introduce them at the stage door. To their discomfiture, however, Daisy decides to go along with Bill's story and pretends to be his girl. Bill and Daisy begin to spend more time together, and he falls deeply in love with her. There is, however, a complication in that Daisy already has a boyfriend, Sam, who becomes increasingly jealous of her friendship with Bill.
For most of its length, "The Shopworn Angel" resembles a romantic comedy, the sort with a storyline about two very different men in love with the same girl. I suspect that a few years later, following America's entry into World War II, it would have been made as such with Bill, the simple but patriotic young farm boy, returning from the war a hero to claim Daisy's hand ahead of the wealthy, cynical Sam. (Although Sam is of military age, he seems keen to avoid serving in the forces). In 1938, however, most Americans were keen to avoid involvement in the looming European conflict, and a film which took an overtly patriotic approach to war might not have done well at the box-office.
The mood of the film therefore changes abruptly at the end from one of romantic comedy to one of tear-jerking melodrama. Although Daisy is in love with Sam, she marries Bill immediately before his departure for France, in the belief that this will give him a brief period of happiness. Ah well, you've got to be kind to be cruel. Daisy and Sam never seem to have considered what might have happened if Bill had returned from the war alive. When he is killed, they both seem heartbroken, although my rather cynical thought was that his death was actually a rather convenient way out for them. "Broadway Star Greets Returning Hero with Divorce Papers" is not the sort of headline that would have done much for Daisy's career.
The fact that Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart made four films together in as many years suggests that someone obviously thought them a good screen couple. They were to be good in "The Shop Around the Corner" (I have never seen their other two films, "Next Time We Love" and "The Mortal Storm"), but here there is no chemistry between them at all. Sullavan's Daisy comes across as patently insincere, and Bill as a complete booby for believing that she could possibly be in love with him. (Bill, incidentally, is supposed to be from Texas, something stressed several times in the dialogue, but Stewart, a native of Pennsylvania, makes no attempt at a Texan accent, sounding exactly the same as he does in all his other films). Stewart was actually a year older than Sullavan, and it might have been better had a younger actor been cast as Bill to emphasise the contrast between the naive young soldier and the more mature, worldly-wise actress.
Like another reviewer, I was struck by the lack of effort to give the film a period feel; the clothes and hairstyles are much more those of the 1930s than of the 1910s. These things changed more quickly in the early twentieth century that they do today; there would have been a much greater difference between the fashions of 1917 and 1938 than between those of 1991 and 2012.
I must admit that this film was largely a disappointment to me. James Stewart made some of his best films in the late thirties and early forties ("Mr Smith Goes to Washington", "Destry Rides Again", "The Philadelphia Story"), but "The Shopworn Angel" is not in the same class. Indeed, with its corny, sentimental story, its sub-standard acting and its abrupt change of mood near the end it must rate as the weakest of his films which I have seen. 4/10
For most of its length, "The Shopworn Angel" resembles a romantic comedy, the sort with a storyline about two very different men in love with the same girl. I suspect that a few years later, following America's entry into World War II, it would have been made as such with Bill, the simple but patriotic young farm boy, returning from the war a hero to claim Daisy's hand ahead of the wealthy, cynical Sam. (Although Sam is of military age, he seems keen to avoid serving in the forces). In 1938, however, most Americans were keen to avoid involvement in the looming European conflict, and a film which took an overtly patriotic approach to war might not have done well at the box-office.
The mood of the film therefore changes abruptly at the end from one of romantic comedy to one of tear-jerking melodrama. Although Daisy is in love with Sam, she marries Bill immediately before his departure for France, in the belief that this will give him a brief period of happiness. Ah well, you've got to be kind to be cruel. Daisy and Sam never seem to have considered what might have happened if Bill had returned from the war alive. When he is killed, they both seem heartbroken, although my rather cynical thought was that his death was actually a rather convenient way out for them. "Broadway Star Greets Returning Hero with Divorce Papers" is not the sort of headline that would have done much for Daisy's career.
The fact that Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart made four films together in as many years suggests that someone obviously thought them a good screen couple. They were to be good in "The Shop Around the Corner" (I have never seen their other two films, "Next Time We Love" and "The Mortal Storm"), but here there is no chemistry between them at all. Sullavan's Daisy comes across as patently insincere, and Bill as a complete booby for believing that she could possibly be in love with him. (Bill, incidentally, is supposed to be from Texas, something stressed several times in the dialogue, but Stewart, a native of Pennsylvania, makes no attempt at a Texan accent, sounding exactly the same as he does in all his other films). Stewart was actually a year older than Sullavan, and it might have been better had a younger actor been cast as Bill to emphasise the contrast between the naive young soldier and the more mature, worldly-wise actress.
Like another reviewer, I was struck by the lack of effort to give the film a period feel; the clothes and hairstyles are much more those of the 1930s than of the 1910s. These things changed more quickly in the early twentieth century that they do today; there would have been a much greater difference between the fashions of 1917 and 1938 than between those of 1991 and 2012.
I must admit that this film was largely a disappointment to me. James Stewart made some of his best films in the late thirties and early forties ("Mr Smith Goes to Washington", "Destry Rides Again", "The Philadelphia Story"), but "The Shopworn Angel" is not in the same class. Indeed, with its corny, sentimental story, its sub-standard acting and its abrupt change of mood near the end it must rate as the weakest of his films which I have seen. 4/10