JohnHowardReid Copyright 17 December 1934 by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Corporation. New York opening at the Capitol: 20 December 1934. U.S. release: 25 September 1934. Australian release: 15 May 1935. 84 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Jeff Williams (Clark Gable) returns from abroad just in time to act as Best Man at the wedding of his friends, Mary Clay (Joan Crawford) and Dill Todd (Robert Montgomery). To everyone's surprise, Dill leaves Mary at the altar. He marries his mistress, Connie (Frances Drake) instead. As it happens, Jeff has always loved Mary himself. Mary, however, has never taken Jeff seriously. Her heart has always been set on Dill. Even his marriage to Connie does not deter her. Dill asks Connie for a divorce and makes a fresh proposal to Mary. She accepts him. This development leaves Jeff out in the cold. He tries to convince Mary she is making a mistake. NOTES: The stage play opened on Broadway at the Times Square on 1st March 1933, and ran 101 performances. This was insufficient to put the play into the black. Its star and principal backer, Tallulah Bankhead, ended up with a $40,000 loss. The play was directed by Thomas Mitchell (yes, our Thomas Mitchell). Supporting Miss Bankhead in the cast were Ilka Chase, Barbara O'Neil, Anderson Lawler, Cora Witherspoon, Harlan Briggs, Donald MacDonald, Roger Sterns, Nancy Ryan and Millicent Hanley. The film went before the cameras on 25th September 1934, winding up on 22md October 1934. COMMENT: The play didn't exactly pull in the crowds on Broadway, so it seems to have been a good idea to assign the screenplay to witty Joe Mankiewicz. Unfortunately, Mankiewicz is not equal to the task. True, he begins promisingly enough with our returning hero, Gable, loading Butterworth down with balloons and peanuts; but Mankiewicz's notion of humor degenerates later on into a lot of irritating gibberish from Butterworth and a frilly nightgown for Montgomery. Director Van Dyke does his level best to keep the movie moving, but eventually Mankiewicz's tired and tiresome script defeats him. Forsaking All Others actually ends up as little more than an Adrian fashion show led by exquisitely photographed Joan Crawford. Fortunately, Joan can do no wrong in my book, even in an inferior vehicle like Forsaking All Others.OTHER VIEWS: Here's an old-fashioned new-fashioned play. Or is it the other way around? About fifty years ago, you could say with justification they don't make movies like this any more. But not to-day! Steamy, risqué Forsaking All Others is firmly back in fashion, a favorite on local TV. I'll take bets, however, that no-one is game to revive the original stage play by Frank Morgan Cavett and Edward Barry Roberts. For a starter, we have no-one in the Tallulah Bankhead class to play the main role. Or do we?

bkoganbing I have to imagine that in order for MGM to justify using two of their top leading men with Joan Crawford, their parts in Forsaking All Others would have to have been built up considerably. The original Broadway production of this comedy that ran 110 performances in 1933 starred Tallulah Bankhead and it was strictly her show. As if it would have been any other way.I have to give Joan Crawford credit on this one. Unlike her later film Susan and God where she tries to imitate Gertrude Lawrence with accent and all, she wisely does not try to do a Tallulah impersonation. She creates her own character here and it's a good one. She's got both Robert Montgomery and Clark Gable after her, but she chooses early on and in the end she finds out she chooses wrong. In fact the only impersonation Crawford does is one of her Grand Hotel co-star Greta Garbo.Both Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery settle into familiar stereotypes for them. Gable is another reporter character like he is It Happened One Night and Montgomery is an irresponsible playboy like he was in a gazillion films. Montgomery and Crawford are set to be married, but Montgomery leaves her at the altar and runs off with his demanding mistress Frances Drake. But Crawford has Gable's shoulder to cry on for most of the rest of the film. By the way, Drake gives a performance that's a case study in canine feminus. She makes Joan Collins in Dynasty look like Maria Von Trapp. Drake dominates in whatever scene she's in. No way that Tallulah Bankhead would have let that happen on stage.Charles Butterworth and Billie Burke are also on hand and young Rosalind Russell on her way up has a small part as one of Crawford's friends. Nothing new in Forsaking All Others, but the ground is familiar enough.

MartinHafer There are many aspects of this movie that make it seem like Clark Gable has taken a step forward in his career. First, the full MGM budget and supporting cast is here. At this time, Robert Montgomery and Joan Crawford were big stars and the movie isn't nearly as off-the-wall as many of the weird early Gable films (featuring him in a dizzying array of strange roles). The problem, though, is that although Gable should have probably gotten top billing, he was still a young and relatively unproven actor. In addition, the plot really needed a re-write and Gable's character just seems really needy and weak. Here's the plot--you decide if Gable is poorly used: Joan Crawford is left waiting at the alter by Robert Montgomery who runs off with another woman. She spends most of the movie STILL trying to get Montgomery (why she would still want this schmuck, I have absolutely no idea). Gable is friends to both but secretly loves Crawford. However, he doesn't tell her because he really wants her to be happy--even if it means chasing after married Montgomery! Get a spine, man and tell her you think she's one hot tamale, you wimpy dolt!! Well, being a predictable film this eventually happens. However, if he'd just said that he loved her in the first 10 minutes, we could have been spared! I hate movies that avoid such an obvious and simple resolution.Fortunately, despite this HUGE plot problem, the ride is enjoyable so if you just turn off your brain and watch, you will enjoy the film. But, as I said, your brain must be turned off or you'll find yourself wondering why they made Gable so spineless, Crawford so needy and Montgomery such an amazing jerk.

snowy-9 A witty film that benefits mostly from the pairing of Clark Gable and Joan Crawford. After a brisk and entertaining first half, things start to drag a bit when Gable is absent from the screen for a protracted period. Nevertheless, its well worth seeing.