JOURNAL OF A CRIME (First National Pictures, 1934) directed by William Keighley, stars Ruth Chatterton in her sixth and final film for the studio in a melodramatic tale of a long suffering wife. While this material, from the play by Jacques Bevan, could have gone to Kay Francis, another studio resident of stories such as this, Ruth Chatterton does what she can to make her character believable during the plot's 64 minute briefing.
The story opens in Paris (where nobody speaks with a French accent) during the late evening hours where Francoise (Ruth Chatterton) is seen outside the theater where her playwright husband Paul (Adolphe Menjou) and its director, Chautard (George Barbier) are inside rehearsing a musical play titled "Adecia." Once outside, she spots and overhears Paul conversing with Odette Floret (Claire Dodd), its leading lady who happens to be her husband's mistress, discussing for Paul to divorce his wife and marry her or else their affair is over. Unable to hurt his wife, Paul, who is desperately in love with Odette, makes his promise to her. Arriving home at 3 a.m., Paul finds Francoise awaiting him, but is unable to break the news to her. The next day, during rehearsals, Paul informs Odette he couldn't tell his wife, but promises to do so that very night. At the same time, Costelli (Noel Madison) 13 blocks away from the theater, robs the bank, killing its bank clerk. With the police in hot pursuit, Costelli abandons his car and hides inside the theater mixing with the crowd in rehearsal. Inside the auditorium, a gunshot is heard, killing Odette on stage, causing a search and capture of Costelli put under arrest. Paul discovers his own gun inside a bucket of water and immediately believes his wife responsible. Refusing to admit her crime of passion to the police, with Francoise wanting to hold on to her husband, Paul remains with his wife, awaiting for the day she confesses to the police, secrets written privately through her day by day accounts in her journal of a crime. Co-starring Douglass Dumbrille, Philip Reed, Henry O'Neill, Henry Kolker, Jane Darwell and twelfth billed, Walter Pidgeon.
What attracted me to JOURNAL OF A CRIME initially was the 12th billed Walter Pidgeon, a former leading actor in late silent and early talkies (1928-1931) who would achieve major stardom in the 1940s. Aside from he briefly seen singing during the rehearsal sequences involving Claire Dodd, he is given no camera close-ups nor major scenes. Another thing that attracted me to this production is Ruth Chatterton. With a handful of movie roles for Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer dating back to 1928, the only movie of hers to be repeatedly televised since the 1960s was her iconic role in DODSWORTH (Samuel Goldwyn, 1936) starring Walter Huston. Thanks for cable channel as Turner Classic Movies are the Chatterton/Warner Brothers dramas (1932-1934) revived and rediscovered again. Beautiful Claire Dodd, typically cast as the other woman, is no different here than her other movies of this era. She's a fine actress rarely given a chance to act against type. Adolphe Menjou is satisfactory, as always, playing the grief-stricken husband.
The premise of JOURNAL OF A CRIME is a reminder of W. Somerset Maugham's play and motion picture retelling of "The Letter" in which wife murders her lover, in this instance, her husband's lover, and how the wife must suffer for her sins of her crime. And how Chatterton suffers. Also available on DVD to see how the movie finishes. (**1.2)
The story opens in Paris (where nobody speaks with a French accent) during the late evening hours where Francoise (Ruth Chatterton) is seen outside the theater where her playwright husband Paul (Adolphe Menjou) and its director, Chautard (George Barbier) are inside rehearsing a musical play titled "Adecia." Once outside, she spots and overhears Paul conversing with Odette Floret (Claire Dodd), its leading lady who happens to be her husband's mistress, discussing for Paul to divorce his wife and marry her or else their affair is over. Unable to hurt his wife, Paul, who is desperately in love with Odette, makes his promise to her. Arriving home at 3 a.m., Paul finds Francoise awaiting him, but is unable to break the news to her. The next day, during rehearsals, Paul informs Odette he couldn't tell his wife, but promises to do so that very night. At the same time, Costelli (Noel Madison) 13 blocks away from the theater, robs the bank, killing its bank clerk. With the police in hot pursuit, Costelli abandons his car and hides inside the theater mixing with the crowd in rehearsal. Inside the auditorium, a gunshot is heard, killing Odette on stage, causing a search and capture of Costelli put under arrest. Paul discovers his own gun inside a bucket of water and immediately believes his wife responsible. Refusing to admit her crime of passion to the police, with Francoise wanting to hold on to her husband, Paul remains with his wife, awaiting for the day she confesses to the police, secrets written privately through her day by day accounts in her journal of a crime. Co-starring Douglass Dumbrille, Philip Reed, Henry O'Neill, Henry Kolker, Jane Darwell and twelfth billed, Walter Pidgeon.
What attracted me to JOURNAL OF A CRIME initially was the 12th billed Walter Pidgeon, a former leading actor in late silent and early talkies (1928-1931) who would achieve major stardom in the 1940s. Aside from he briefly seen singing during the rehearsal sequences involving Claire Dodd, he is given no camera close-ups nor major scenes. Another thing that attracted me to this production is Ruth Chatterton. With a handful of movie roles for Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer dating back to 1928, the only movie of hers to be repeatedly televised since the 1960s was her iconic role in DODSWORTH (Samuel Goldwyn, 1936) starring Walter Huston. Thanks for cable channel as Turner Classic Movies are the Chatterton/Warner Brothers dramas (1932-1934) revived and rediscovered again. Beautiful Claire Dodd, typically cast as the other woman, is no different here than her other movies of this era. She's a fine actress rarely given a chance to act against type. Adolphe Menjou is satisfactory, as always, playing the grief-stricken husband.
The premise of JOURNAL OF A CRIME is a reminder of W. Somerset Maugham's play and motion picture retelling of "The Letter" in which wife murders her lover, in this instance, her husband's lover, and how the wife must suffer for her sins of her crime. And how Chatterton suffers. Also available on DVD to see how the movie finishes. (**1.2)