SoTrumpBelieve
Must See Movie...
Sarentrol
Masterful Cinema
Glucedee
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
artman-8
A Bizarre, far-fetched, wholly unrealistic bit of nonsense! Conrad Nagel's performance is so overripe it is actually hilarious! And what the hell was with that mustache of his? As most of the other reviews have said, the one saving grace is the presence of beautiful Loretta Young, who was obviously adapting to making talking films much better than her co-stars! The film is so crudely constructed and acted that i cant help but wonder if it was made earlier and sat on the shelf for a while? I cant agree tho that one should avoid this film, it is def an early talkie curiosity and because of Nagel's outrageously overwrought performance, almost a must-see!
Chei Mi Rose
To look at a movie from 1931 and say that it has over-the-top acting would be similar to some uncomplicated creature from the past looking at a modern movie and proclaiming too much sex and/or confusing action sequences. I'll place myself among the creatures of the past. Gilbert Parker's "The Right of Way" was performed on stage seven years before any of the movie releases. It comes off a little stagy, but didn't most of the early talkies?The movie took the usual liberties with a novel, changing a few things here and there - then squeezing it into sixty-five minutes. However, the feel of the book is intact. Nagel's handsome looks and seemingly over-the-top acting personify "Beauty" Steele.Though I cannot claim someone could have done this better, some of Nagel's best moments kept me riveted to the screen.Loretta Young played her part well, but I was more impressed with Fred Kohler's performance, next to Conrad Nagel's. I think that had it been a longer movie it would have been very fitting to dwell more on the friendship of this former snob and this lowly, almost hermit-like man (Jo in the movie). There were a few sub-plots that came together very nicely, and I would have liked to have seen a little more of the aftermath that the book explains nicely.There is much in here that is relevant to our modern society, as well as our very soul. There is much more in the book as well. The book is available freely online, but watch out for typos. I thought enough of the movie to buy a copy of the book, so that speaks for something.It's easy to see why people feel the acting is a little much, but hey! I like Calamity Jane.One nice thing about old movies is that you don't have scripts that play to the actors. Were a Tom Cruise (God forbid!) to be in this movie, I could imagine all sorts of personal asides and thinly veiled messages.Lastly, this movie made me a fan of Nagel, though most of the rest of his serious work was already behind him.Try to see a little more deeply into the monocle of Charles "Beauty" Steele and check out a wonderful romance book!
marc
Frank Lloyd , an early Oscar winning director has one classic to his name the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty. This one is deadly dull and sluggishly paced. It is quite different from the pre-codes we usually get from First National's sister company Warner Bros.Conrad Nagel is way over the top and the rest of the cast is not far behind. Nagel's movie star career didn't last too long and based on this movie you can see why. The only virtue is the luminous Loretta Young from whom everyone in this cast should have taken lessons. She is a natural.And her undeniable beauty and charisma enliven every scene. The plot has one of those Random Harvest amnesia twists that might have worked with better acting or less stodgy direction. Here you can see the gears turn all the time as the hokey plot lurches to its' fake religious conclusion.Skip this one.
Ron Oliver
A beautiful young woman influences a callous lawyer into regaining THE RIGHT OF WAY to moral decency.Conrad Nagel dominates this little soap opera, based on Sir Gilbert Parker's novel, with his highly melodramatic performance as a hardhearted Quebecois lawyer who exhibits an enormous distaste for nearly every other human being. His behavior would repulse the viewer, were it not that his acting is so over the top that it becomes quite a bit of fun to watch.Beautiful Loretta Young appears rather late in the story and ushers in the best scenes of the film, when Nagel is suffering from amnesia. Their moments together, as she cares for him, are touchingly tender.A small group of character actors add much to their supporting roles: Olive Tell as Nagel's distraught wife; William Janney as her pathetic brother; Fred Kohler as the backwoodsman who saves Nagel's life; Halliwell Hobbes as a benevolent seigneur who loves Miss Young; little Snitz Edwards as a village tailor; and George C. Pearce as a kindly priest.
