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.
** 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.