This is a very dated soap opera but I wanted to see it because I often like classic films and I've never actually sat through one that starred Norma Shearer.
Was Norma Shearer a sexy woman? I found her just okay, nothing special. At times she's attractive; other times not so. She giggles in here a lot and - like Jean Harlow - likes slinky dresses.
The dialog in most "talkies" up until the later 1930s is very dated, especially in the "Pre-Code Era." Actually, I find it fun to hear these odd expressions of the day, but all the "darling" this and "darling" that get a little nauseating after a short time and the corny lines, hysterical women, sexist men, etc., wear thin fast.
In essence, this was a woman's movie with the message that it's NOT all right for a man to cheat on her husband but bad if a woman does. I buy that. As you all know, it's bad if either does! That's the only problem. This idiot husband, played by Chester Morris, makes an absolute ton of stupid remarks after admitting he had an affair with "Janice" and that "it doesn't mean a thing."
However, that same night after he shuffles off to Buffalo for a work assignment, she hits the sack (not shown) with a buddy. Two wrongs make a right? Of course not, but Shearer's character "Jerry" and her response to the whole thing is interesting to watch. And, yes, she slowly sees the error of her ways and "repents" at the end. That ending may be predictable, but it will still draw a tear or two to your eyes.
The film gets really sudsy the last half, especially in the last hour. I thought, "Wow, this would play well on the Lifetime Network - what a women's soaper." So, if you like that sort of thing - nothing but men and women in and out of all kinds of relationships and talking about them - then this film, dated or not, is for you.
Was Norma Shearer a sexy woman? I found her just okay, nothing special. At times she's attractive; other times not so. She giggles in here a lot and - like Jean Harlow - likes slinky dresses.
The dialog in most "talkies" up until the later 1930s is very dated, especially in the "Pre-Code Era." Actually, I find it fun to hear these odd expressions of the day, but all the "darling" this and "darling" that get a little nauseating after a short time and the corny lines, hysterical women, sexist men, etc., wear thin fast.
In essence, this was a woman's movie with the message that it's NOT all right for a man to cheat on her husband but bad if a woman does. I buy that. As you all know, it's bad if either does! That's the only problem. This idiot husband, played by Chester Morris, makes an absolute ton of stupid remarks after admitting he had an affair with "Janice" and that "it doesn't mean a thing."
However, that same night after he shuffles off to Buffalo for a work assignment, she hits the sack (not shown) with a buddy. Two wrongs make a right? Of course not, but Shearer's character "Jerry" and her response to the whole thing is interesting to watch. And, yes, she slowly sees the error of her ways and "repents" at the end. That ending may be predictable, but it will still draw a tear or two to your eyes.
The film gets really sudsy the last half, especially in the last hour. I thought, "Wow, this would play well on the Lifetime Network - what a women's soaper." So, if you like that sort of thing - nothing but men and women in and out of all kinds of relationships and talking about them - then this film, dated or not, is for you.