Michael_Elliott Their Own Desire (1929) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Early MGM talkie has Norma Shearer playing a woman who falls in love with a man (Robert Montgomery) not knowing that he's the son of the woman who stole her father (Lewis Stone) away from her mother. This is pretty good drama that manages to have some very good scenes but also some very bad scenes. It's really strange but everything in this movie is either very good or very bad and that's everything from the performances to the story to the direction. The story is an interesting one but everything to do with Shearers mother is poorly written. We're suppose to feel sorry for her mother but the way her role is written we actually start to hate her because she causes so much trouble for her daughter that we can't stand her. The ending also doesn't work because it's so over the top in a bad way but this is after a terrific scene where Shearer and Montgomery get caught in a storm. Shearers performance is also very hit and miss as at times she's very good but at other times she brings laughter, which certainly wasn't intended. Just take a look at the scene where her father admits that he's divorcing her mother. Shearer's acting here is so silly that I couldn't keep a straight face. Montgomery is also very over the top but it's a fun performance. Stone, once again, is hit and miss but for the most part he works fine. The sound quality of the Vitophone track is very good.

kscmtgrove Fast, sexy, hyper articulate and attractive. Relatively simple love story, made extraordinary by powerhouse performance by Norma Shearer, particularly the scene where she confronts her father over his infidelity. Similar to the scene where she confronts her husband in ("I would have forgiven you anything") her Oscar winning performance in "The Divorcée" of that same year. Nominated twice for Oscars third ever outing. I love Robert Montgomery, among "Golden Age of Hollywood's " most frequent leading man to Garbo, Crawford, Shearer et. al. . Lewis Stone is as always great to see. The song (Blue is the Night??) in the middle is sooooo romantic.

twlamb I watched and enjoyed this old first of the talkies. I it always cool for me to think of what life must have been prior to the depression and all of todays discoveries and new way of life. My mother was born in 1921, so I think of her life then. She would have been eight years old at this time. The cars , the actors, the dress is very nice and wonderfully done. I watch quite a lot of these old movies of this era, most were still silent at this point. This must have been one of the first of the 'talkies'. Just think what it was like to have no TV but to basically go to the movies for all you watched including news reals. It must've been great living in these days.

Kali Devi I rate this movie highly not because it's all that great but because it's a fascinating piece of movie history. There are no seamless edits - the end of one take often doesn't match up with the beginning of the next. Scriptwise, more is implied than said. In one conversation, Norma Shearer is clearly about to say the word "mistress", but bites her lip and spits out the name of her father's paramour instead. Yet fifteen minutes later she's standing in a slip while brushing her hair, and her nipples are clearly outlined through the fabric. Shocking, I tell you! My favorite scene was the dance sequence, which features a wonderful, haunting piece of music called "Blue Is The Night" by Fred Fisher.Overall this movie was interesting as an exercise in contrast and comparison with modern films. There are better films from that era - there were probably better films made that week - but I didn't mind spending 65 minutes with these people. I was duly entertained.