When the movie begins, Anna Keremazoff (Ruth Chatterton) marries a rich but very weak twit. His fancy family is not at all happy that instead of marrying a society girl he married some common Russian lady...and the family never makes Anna feel welcome in any way. As for her husband Jimmy, since he's so weak and ineffectual, he does nothing to support his wife and actually eventually sides with them against her. Not surprisingly, Anna is miserable and has a brief affair. What's next? See the film.
Listening to Ruth Chatterton put on a heavy and fake sounding Russian accent strikes the viewer immediately. You can't help but be taken out of the story by this and it's obvious that this is outside her acting range. The stilted dialog sure didn't help either.
If it sounds like I was not thrilled by the movie, you are right. Its long-suffering mother angle was common back in the day (with films such as "Madame X", which ALSO starred Chatterton, being adored by the public)...and my advice is to see one of them instead. This one is just stilted and silly...and almost exclusively due to the silly Russian character.
Listening to Ruth Chatterton put on a heavy and fake sounding Russian accent strikes the viewer immediately. You can't help but be taken out of the story by this and it's obvious that this is outside her acting range. The stilted dialog sure didn't help either.
If it sounds like I was not thrilled by the movie, you are right. Its long-suffering mother angle was common back in the day (with films such as "Madame X", which ALSO starred Chatterton, being adored by the public)...and my advice is to see one of them instead. This one is just stilted and silly...and almost exclusively due to the silly Russian character.