IMDb RATING
6.3/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
A famous female flier and a member of Parliament drift into a potentially disastrous affair.A famous female flier and a member of Parliament drift into a potentially disastrous affair.A famous female flier and a member of Parliament drift into a potentially disastrous affair.
Agostino Borgato
- Fortune Teller
- (uncredited)
Lita Chevret
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Sherry Hall
- American Radio Announcer
- (uncredited)
Tiny Jones
- Woman with Organ Grinder
- (uncredited)
Margaret Lindsay
- Autograph Seeker at Party
- (uncredited)
Gwendolyn Logan
- Bradford
- (uncredited)
Miki Morita
- Japanese Radio Announcer
- (uncredited)
Paul Ralli
- Tango Dancer
- (uncredited)
Zena Savine
- Elaine's Maid
- (uncredited)
Pat Somerset
- The Second Bobby
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen this movie was made, Colin Clive was 33; Billie Burke, who played his wife, was 49; and Helen Chandler, who played their daughter, was 27.
- GoofsAt the end of the film, the newspaper headline telling of Cynthia's death is accompanied by text that begins to recount the news, but changes into nonsensical wording after a few lines.
- Quotes
Lady Cynthia Darrington: I wouldn't have loved you if you'd been a usual man. And you wouldn't have loved me if I'd been a woman who didn't take this kind of thing seriously.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Hollywood the Golden Years: The RKO Story: A Woman's Lot (1987)
- SoundtracksNearer My God To Thee
(uncredited)
Music by Lowell Mason (1856)
Lyrics by Sarah F. Adams
Played by an unidentified organ grinder
Featured review
An interesting role for Hepburn early in her career
This film is Katharine Hepburn's second film and her first in a starring role. In her first film, 1932's "A Bill of Divorcement", Billie Burke had starred with Hepburn fourth billed. Here the situation has reversed itself, and Hepburn supplants Burke in more ways than one. Hepburn plays Lady Cynthia Darrington, a member of the British gentry whose family has lost its money. As a result, she pursues aviation for both her love of it and for money to try and restore the family fortune. She has forsaken love up to this point in her life, and as the result of a human scavenger hunt at a party attended by one of her friends, she winds up at the party because she is a virgin, and Christopher Strong (Colin Clive) winds up there because he is a faithful husband to Billie Burke's character. The two meet, fall in love, and eventually this leads to the loss of what distinguished both of them in the first place.
There are several things that make this film interesting - not the least of which being that Hepburn's role turns out to be semi-autobiographical. In actuality Hepburn was an athletic and independent woman of aristocratic roots who fell for a married Spencer Tracy who also never technically divorced his wife. Then there's that metallic moth suit complete with antennae that Cynthia wears to a party - yikes! And the middle-aged Lord Strong doesn't even do a double take when she walks in wearing this outfit. So much for the stuffy image of the British aristocracy. The ending is odd since it doesn't seem consistent with Cynthia's strong independent streak. Her solution to her dilemma when she realizes that, although Strong loves her, he would only actually leave his wife out of a sense of duty to Cynthia, seems completely out of character. Also, Billie Burke does such a good job of playing the wronged wife who suffers in silence and dignity that it is really hard to sympathize with anyone but her. Finally, the title is a bit of a mystery. The title character, Christopher Strong, is really secondary to Hepburn's Cynthia Darrington, and I can't help but wonder why the film wasn't titled after Hepburn's character instead.
Director Dorothy Arzner, the only female director in Hollywood during this time, certainly took some chances with this one. Some of the film worked and some of it didn't, but I don't think it would have had a chance without Hepburn in the lead. I recommend this film to anyone interested in the evolution of Hepburn's acting style.
There are several things that make this film interesting - not the least of which being that Hepburn's role turns out to be semi-autobiographical. In actuality Hepburn was an athletic and independent woman of aristocratic roots who fell for a married Spencer Tracy who also never technically divorced his wife. Then there's that metallic moth suit complete with antennae that Cynthia wears to a party - yikes! And the middle-aged Lord Strong doesn't even do a double take when she walks in wearing this outfit. So much for the stuffy image of the British aristocracy. The ending is odd since it doesn't seem consistent with Cynthia's strong independent streak. Her solution to her dilemma when she realizes that, although Strong loves her, he would only actually leave his wife out of a sense of duty to Cynthia, seems completely out of character. Also, Billie Burke does such a good job of playing the wronged wife who suffers in silence and dignity that it is really hard to sympathize with anyone but her. Finally, the title is a bit of a mystery. The title character, Christopher Strong, is really secondary to Hepburn's Cynthia Darrington, and I can't help but wonder why the film wasn't titled after Hepburn's character instead.
Director Dorothy Arzner, the only female director in Hollywood during this time, certainly took some chances with this one. Some of the film worked and some of it didn't, but I don't think it would have had a chance without Hepburn in the lead. I recommend this film to anyone interested in the evolution of Hepburn's acting style.
helpful•150
- AlsExGal
- Nov 15, 2009
- How long is Christopher Strong?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Great Desire
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $284,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 18 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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