What a wallow, a Hugh Walpole novel he adapted himself, assisted by the reliable Lenore Coffee, and produced, with needless lavishness, by Selznick during his MGM tenure. Eternal love in its most idealized state, with Robert Montgomery pining for Helen Hayes, until they have an elaborately staged misunderstanding and she marries Otto Kruger, who's not only rich and shallow but goes insane. Meantime Montgomery loses an arm, but their love is unaffected, and when they're reunited the whole 19th century British society rejects and disdains them, even though they're platonic lovers (and lack chemistry). Meantime, May Robson, as Hayes's centenarian-plus grandmother, makes barbed comments on the side, like a very, very old Eve Arden. And the happy ending arrives when Kruger dies. William K. Howard was no great stylist but has some nice, elaborate compositions, and the musical score is suitably slurpy, and some winning MGM stalwarts hover on the sidelines, like Lewis Stone and Henry Stephenson. Montgomery was an awful man, but he's good here, though he doesn't even attempt an accent, and Hayes is... prim. Distinguished it's not, but as an example of large, prestigious studio product of 1935, it's great fun.
Review of Vanessa, Her Love Story
