Review of Rebound

Rebound (1931)
6/10
Good demonstration of Ina Claire's acting ability...
11 December 2016
... since this is practically a one person movie derived from a play, and I could tell it was derived from a play just by watching it because it seems to neatly divide into acts and seems somewhat stagebound. By this time motion was not a problem for talking pictures, so technology is no excuse.

Ina Claire plays Sara, the unmarried daughter of a mother who just won't treat her like an adult because she is not married. Sara loves Bill Truesdale (Richard Ames), who in turn loves Evie Lawrence (Myrna Loy) who is being wooed by the wealthy older Lyman Patterson. Oh, and to make this confusing diagram complete, Johnnie Cole loves Sara, who likes him but does not return his affection.

What makes all of these dominoes finally fall one way or the other is Evie eloping with Lyman, a relationship that nobody even knew about. What's worse, Evie was supposed to show up for lunch with Sara and Bill, and her elopement is what causes her not to show up. Bill is heartbroken and he and Sara marry on the rebound.

Bill acts happy with Sara, but then he runs into Lyman and Evie on the street, and suddenly Bill and Evie are spending all of their time together. If Sara tries to bring up the subject to Bill he just says she is being silly. It's clear he is not going to ask for a divorce, nor is Evie, but they are freezing out their spouses from their respective relationships. Meanwhile John is still hanging around, looking for scraps of affection from Sara. Sara has learned to be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.

How does this all work out? Watch and find out. Anything could happen since this is the precode era. This kept my interest in spite of the familiar one-sided romance ground that it trod. Like I said, this is practically a one person film since nobody has significant lines other than Ina Claire. One interesting point it brings up. Early in the film, before all of the hasty marriages, Sara is mentioning how her father is always sending her letters that end with "Never change". She understands what that means after her father explains it to her and after all of the hasty marriages begin to crumble.

I'd watch it for Ina Claire's performance, even if the dialog and the pacing are a bit stilted.
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