Lois Moran may have been F. Scott Fitzgerald's inspiration for Rosemary, the sweet starlet in "Tender is the Night" but it is a pity she didn't inspire studio bosses to find her better movies. Samuel Goldwyn discovered her in Paris and bought her to Hollywood where she was given the role of Laurel in "Stella Dallas". Apart from that and "Transatlantic" she appeared in no other films of note but the next year (1932) she was on Broadway starring in George Gershwin's "Of Thee I Sing" and the sequel "Let Them Eat Cake". Broadway saw something that had alluded Hollywood.
In a terrific long panning shot, all the bustle of boarding a huge ocean liner is depicted - from the taxis pulling up, everyone streaming through the entrances, the baggage trolleys, even a little stray dog (looked a lot like Asta) and all the crew working to get the liner off to a smooth start. Jed Kramar (Jean Hersholt) confides to his daughter Judy (Lois Moran) that this will be the start of a new life for them, Monty Greer (Edmund Lowe) is on the run from the police and in the next cabin, Kay Graham (Myrna Loy, spelt Mirna in the credits) is promising her insufferable husband Henry (John Halliday) that she will try to be more cordial to his mistress, Sigrid (Greta Nissen) next time she pops into their cabin.
Linking the main characters is Monty - he accidentally makes the acquaintance of Kay while looking for his bag, he already knows Sigrid and tries to convince her to leave Henry to his wife, Kay, who loves him very much. A robbery is being planned and Graham, a successful banker, is the target. Even though news has just come through that his bank has failed, Graham is not bothered as he is fleeing the country with most of the securities and money he could lay his hands on. Kramar, a depositer with the bank, is ruined but when he tries to confront Graham, he is thrown out like a piece of riff raff. An attempt is made on Graham's life and both Kramar and Greer are held on charges of attempted murder.
With a plot very reminiscent of "Grand Hotel" (and seeing that Vicki Baum published her novel in 1929, this maybe the first (although slight) adaptation of it) with Edmund Lowe (substituting for John Barrymore) as the debonair thief willing to lend a helping hand to anyone in distress, especially Myrna Loy (substituting for Greta Garbo) as the let down wife, the real star of "Transatlantic" is the atmospheric cinematography of James Wong Howe and the magnificent sets. Fox, more than any of the other major studios, embraced the Expressionism that came out of European movies of the 20s and "Transatlantic" had a very Continental air about it. The film credits and even various newspaper clippings that appeared throughout the film were in French. Also it helped that there were no big name stars - Edmund Lowe, Lois Moran, Greta Nissen, John Halliday, Myrna Loy (when she was still a supporting player) all gave the movie a European feel.
Highly, Highly Recommended.
In a terrific long panning shot, all the bustle of boarding a huge ocean liner is depicted - from the taxis pulling up, everyone streaming through the entrances, the baggage trolleys, even a little stray dog (looked a lot like Asta) and all the crew working to get the liner off to a smooth start. Jed Kramar (Jean Hersholt) confides to his daughter Judy (Lois Moran) that this will be the start of a new life for them, Monty Greer (Edmund Lowe) is on the run from the police and in the next cabin, Kay Graham (Myrna Loy, spelt Mirna in the credits) is promising her insufferable husband Henry (John Halliday) that she will try to be more cordial to his mistress, Sigrid (Greta Nissen) next time she pops into their cabin.
Linking the main characters is Monty - he accidentally makes the acquaintance of Kay while looking for his bag, he already knows Sigrid and tries to convince her to leave Henry to his wife, Kay, who loves him very much. A robbery is being planned and Graham, a successful banker, is the target. Even though news has just come through that his bank has failed, Graham is not bothered as he is fleeing the country with most of the securities and money he could lay his hands on. Kramar, a depositer with the bank, is ruined but when he tries to confront Graham, he is thrown out like a piece of riff raff. An attempt is made on Graham's life and both Kramar and Greer are held on charges of attempted murder.
With a plot very reminiscent of "Grand Hotel" (and seeing that Vicki Baum published her novel in 1929, this maybe the first (although slight) adaptation of it) with Edmund Lowe (substituting for John Barrymore) as the debonair thief willing to lend a helping hand to anyone in distress, especially Myrna Loy (substituting for Greta Garbo) as the let down wife, the real star of "Transatlantic" is the atmospheric cinematography of James Wong Howe and the magnificent sets. Fox, more than any of the other major studios, embraced the Expressionism that came out of European movies of the 20s and "Transatlantic" had a very Continental air about it. The film credits and even various newspaper clippings that appeared throughout the film were in French. Also it helped that there were no big name stars - Edmund Lowe, Lois Moran, Greta Nissen, John Halliday, Myrna Loy (when she was still a supporting player) all gave the movie a European feel.
Highly, Highly Recommended.