Nonureva Really Surprised!

GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

pronker pronker First of all, this is a filmed play with bewildering time skips. It's the weather that clues us in to "six months later" or "that following spring" as characters don fur coats or dress in short sleeves. I was confused in the beginning and at the end of movie, figured the whole thing occupies about two years.My, it's well acted. After Harding feels clucky when idling her transatlantic voyage away by playing companion to a two year old of a fellow voyager, she decides to take up her live in lover's, Howard's, proposal of marriage. He's proposed numerous times, and she supposes he'll be thrilled that she agrees at last to make it legal. Her giddy expectation that he'll be happy with a/her baby needs and b/her revelation that she's artistically ready to paint made me smile. Surprise! He's found Loy, a sultry young lady ready, after one month, to marry him. He still wants Harding as Dear Friend, waiting in the shadows until he's ready to dribble out some time to her, hooboy, now that's never happened in the history of the world. :SNow comes the tangling of lives and families that make up the Barry play blueprint of Domineering Parent and Befuddled Child. The child, Howard, has integrity up the wazoo but not much ready cash. As a sidenote, all these characters have varying degrees of wealth, living as "Bohemian" in spacious apartments with glorious views or living in well-appointed homes in the country. I guess if you live in a mansion, like Parent, you want your child to do likewise.Eight stars for acting from the cast: Gargan as an unlikely butler, Loy as schemer (to me, she was written as completely unsympathetic), Harding as full of herself while blind to Howard's eventual tiring of her resistance to marriage, and most of all Howard for his end scene with Loy in which the lights come on about which woman acts Nicest and Kindest to him. He portrays superbly the realization that now is the time to act and not waffle with words.

wes-connors After his engagement to alluring socialite Myrna Loy (as Cecilia Henry), Connecticut publisher Leslie Howard (as Tom Collier) learns former friend and lover, artist Ann Harding (as Daisy Sage), is returning to an apartment they shared. Professing her undying love, Ms. Harding startles Mr. Howard by proposing he marry her, instead; and, as Harding notes, she is accepting Howard's numerous past proposals. Howard is conflicted, but chooses to marry Ms. Loy. Yet, Howard can't forget Harding - does he love Loy, Harding, or both? "The Animal Kingdom" is a sleepy, spineless version of Philip Barry's stage play - but, it has a good cast.**** The Animal Kingdom (12/23/32) Edward H. Griffith ~ Leslie Howard, Ann Harding, Myrna Loy, William Gargan

blanche-2 Leslie Howard, Ann Harding, and Myrna Loy are all members of "The Animal Kingdom" in this 1932 film based on the play by Phillip Barry. Barry in his way was a transitional playwright - he wrote about the upper class, usually negatively, but always gave a nod to the lower class - they were the ones that had more fun. Just a little bit later, plays about the upper class would go by the wayside for plays about the working class - Waiting for Lefty, Awake and Sing - as America moved through the depression.Leslie Howard plays a member of said upper class who has engaged in a Bohemian lifestyle, living with an intelligent artist (Harding). They have a no attachment, open relationship, and he takes her at her word and gets himself engaged to a gorgeous, wealthy young woman (Myrna Loy) just as Harding decides she wants to settle down and have a family. She accepts his decision, but not his offer of continuing friendship.There is a line about the "animal kingdom" in the film, but I prefer to think the title has to do with baser instincts. If Howard passionately desired Ann Harding, he wouldn't have wanted to be friends - and it's her desire of him that makes her reject his "just friends" suggestion. Let's face facts - Loy turns him on and knows it. In fact, she uses sex as a manipulative weapon, and he's putty in her hands. It's more blatant in this film than, say, "Harriet Craig" which was done under the code - but the power of sex is there.Of course, a relationship based on sexual desire and nothing else eventually grows tired, and Howard finds himself going back to talk with Harding and spend time with her. She smartly keeps running. Clearly, Howard is a man who wants to have his cake and eat it, too.Harding was an interesting leading woman - she was attractive but not beautiful and had a very low, distinctive speaking voice. She came from the Broadway stage, and her heyday in films was through the mid-thirties, though she worked consistently in films and television until the mid-60s. As was the case back then, at 31 years of age, her time as a leading lady was drawing to a close, and soon would be turned over to people like the younger Loy. Her performance in "The Animal Kingdom" is a very honest one. Loy is absolutely ravishing and wears beautiful clothes. She essays the part of the glamorous wife beautifully, reminiscent of Gene Tierney later on with the ultra-feminine facade hiding the steel underneath. Howard is handsome and thoughtful in the lead, and one can see it slowly occurring to him that he made a mistake.Very good.

jaykay-10 This is a plodding drama, devoid of the sparkle and cleverness that mark some of Philip Barry's work. In fact, Barry repeatedly utilizes not only the same social milieu, but an almost identical set of character types involved in familiar kinds of relationships. If you've seen one Barry play (or screen adaptation), you've pretty much seen them all. Try "The Philadelphia Story" or "Holiday" in place of "The Animal Kingdom." In those, you will not have to wonder why the characters are, or are, not drawn to one another. Leslie Howard does his level best with a less-than-fully-conceived character whose social and family obligations appear to be in conflict with his need to maintain his integrity, and his potential for achieving personal happiness. It is stolid Ann Harding who is all wrong, barely registering emotion as a supposedly free spirit who can rescue her lover from the dull existence that awaits him without her.For a far more effective handling of a similar story and characters (not created by Philip Barry), watch "H.M. Pulham, Esq." with Robert Young and Hedy Lamarr.