Copyright 17 March 1930 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. New York opening at the Capitol: 13 April 1930. 7,917 feet. 88 minutes.
COMMENT: There has to some kind of special award for a movie as bad as this Warner Archive 10/10 DVD. True, Joan Crawford (the heiress who marries a cowboy on a whim) looks great and acts enchantingly with all the resources she can command. Alas, however, the charismatic Crawford is saddled for most of the action with the deadliest leading man of all time, namely Johnny Mack Brown. I've seen Johnny give some quite respectable performances, but in this movie he is up against a stupid screenplay, a totally unsympathetic director, plus a photographer, a make-up man, a hair stylist, a costumer and a sound engineer who all seem steadfastly determined to make him look and sound like a gormless goof. True, Benny Rubin does try to run Johnny close as the movie's most obnoxious personality, but despite his third billing on M-G-M's advertising material, his role is actually fairly small. Cliff Edwards (who shares a few of Rubin's nauseating routines) has a much larger part-and at least he sings competently! And the frequent songs (all of them handled by Edwards and/or a male chorus) are a reasonably tuneful (if wholly forgettable) lot too. And it's always good to see Ricardo Cortez, even in a mess like this. At one stage, Ricardo doesn't seem to be playing the same character he portrayed earlier in the action, but fortunately the writer soon has him revert to form.
COMMENT: There has to some kind of special award for a movie as bad as this Warner Archive 10/10 DVD. True, Joan Crawford (the heiress who marries a cowboy on a whim) looks great and acts enchantingly with all the resources she can command. Alas, however, the charismatic Crawford is saddled for most of the action with the deadliest leading man of all time, namely Johnny Mack Brown. I've seen Johnny give some quite respectable performances, but in this movie he is up against a stupid screenplay, a totally unsympathetic director, plus a photographer, a make-up man, a hair stylist, a costumer and a sound engineer who all seem steadfastly determined to make him look and sound like a gormless goof. True, Benny Rubin does try to run Johnny close as the movie's most obnoxious personality, but despite his third billing on M-G-M's advertising material, his role is actually fairly small. Cliff Edwards (who shares a few of Rubin's nauseating routines) has a much larger part-and at least he sings competently! And the frequent songs (all of them handled by Edwards and/or a male chorus) are a reasonably tuneful (if wholly forgettable) lot too. And it's always good to see Ricardo Cortez, even in a mess like this. At one stage, Ricardo doesn't seem to be playing the same character he portrayed earlier in the action, but fortunately the writer soon has him revert to form.