SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

mikhail080 I had no expectations for this movie before I saw it, expect a high regard for Gary Cooper and director King Vidor, and neither disappointed me in this nice effort from them.As mentioned before, this story concerns married writer Gary Cooper --one not unlike F. Scott Fitzgerald -- who has lost his groove, and had his latest novel rejected by his publisher. He is forced to give up his Manhattan apartment and move back to the abandoned family homestead in Connecticut. There he meets a community of Polish immigrants, and slowly falls in love with beautiful young Polish girl Anna Sten, who he had hired to help around the house.My first thought about this movie as I watched it, was that the leading man was more beautiful than the leading lady, as Gary Cooper certainly looked fabulous and was photographed with great sensitivity. Cooper in his modern American clothes certainly had the upper hand over Sten, who was always wearing dowdy traditional Eastern European dresses and hats. She was almost completely covered up in these costumes for the duration, and it would have been a treat to see her in American garb.The speed that Cooper's character falls in love with the young girl is questionable, especially considering he has a beautiful, funny and intelligent wife played by Helen Vinson. Perhaps it's the Polish girl's youth and innocence he's attracted to, but I think he's not as heroic as the movie-makers intend him to be. The wife does leave him alone in snowy New England to work on his novel, but he needn't stab her in the back by falling in love with another. Cooper's character comes off somewhat of a cad, and I never was able to sympathize with him enough to make me really care about his final happiness.The movie paints the wife as a shallow but glamorous socialite, caring only for the next party of get-away weekend at his expense. But at about two-thirds into the movie and after she has read his manuscript, she has a strong and wonderful scene with Sten where she discusses the hypothetical endings for the novel. Vinson really shines in this scene, which includes one incredibly long take with at least three pages of dialog. I thought both Vinson and the often-maligned Sten made it all work very nicely. This was the moment when you can see the strength under the airy facade, of Vinson's character.The movie takes a very dark turn partway through, and some of the scenes really rise to the level of verbal and physical abuse, something I hadn't expected to see. But the production values are great, Greg Toland's camera work shines, and the locations and sets are really convincing.But what somewhat bothered me in its intensity were these two scenes with Sten and her family. How brutal is the scene where her father and Ralph Bellamy want her to watch Bellamy slaughter pigs? I mean she said about 5 times that it makes her sick, and they kept insisting. And then finally after she runs off -- she and the audience get to hear the sound effect of pigs squealing as they're being butchered. Didn't expect this movie to go there...And then when her father, who was introduced as an amiable figure, gets so angry at Sten that he slaps her face with such intensity. Seemed pretty violent by today's standards...Finally, I admire and still wonder about the ambiguous ending. Obviously, the Polish girl has died. Vinson is standing next to Cooper as he gazes out the window. She speaks to him and then he remembers aloud how Sten would look coming up to the house. He sees her in his imagination. The camera pulls back, and now Vinson is no longer in the room or the scene. Did she leave him after all? Did she decide she didn't want to stay with a man who had such a love for another woman?

MartinHafer I like Gary Cooper films--he was an excellent actor and usually starred in wonderful films. However, this one is very forgettable and I just felt bored as I watched it. While the film isn't BAD, it is pretty much just a time-passer.Cooper plays a fun-loving writer. He and his wife were so busy having fun and partying in New York that they quality of his work had sharply declined and he was all but broke. As a result, he decided they should move into a home in rural Connecticut. Oddly, Connecticut in this film looks nothing like I expected it to look--it was all tobacco farm land and, at times, blizzards. His wife is a spoiled lady and soon she leaves along with the household staff. So, a neighbor lady (Anna Sten) comes to help with housekeeping and a romance begins to bloom--even though he's still married and she's engaged to Ralph Bellamy. By the way, as usual, because Bellamy is in the film, you know that he and Sten will never live happily ever after as man and wife! This is because no actor in the history of Hollywood ever cast as a fiancé and left all alone at the end of the film like Bellamy. He must have played this role in about a dozen films, so there isn't a lot of suspense in this regard--though he gets closer to getting the girl and living happily ever after than in most of these films.The film is in some ways like a "Pre-Code" film, even though when it came out the Production Code had just come into its own. That's because the main theme is about married man Cooper falling in love with a woman who is engaged to be married--something you just wouldn't see in later Hollywood films of the 1930s. However, you can also see that since the Code was just created, the film ended in a way that was in line with the spirit of the Hays Office--the love between Cooper and Sten COULD not be acted upon. So, in many ways, this film is like a transition between Pre- and Post-Code films.

Caz1964 I had heard about this film and about how underrated it was,then last week i saw a copy of it on ebay on VHS PAL UK.I was really surprised as i didn't think it had ever been released in the UK.It must be one of the rarest videos in Britain as sadly not many people have heard of it.Luckily i won it for just over £3 not bad eh.So if any one else is interested in buying a copy,there must be others available in Britain,if you really look around.I couldn't wait to watch this film,and i must say i wasn't disappointed.Its starts off a mildly amusing story that suddenly gets sadder and sadder until it reaches a climax to a very tragic ending.I must admit the last 10 seconds of this film does bring tears to the eyes,i wont say why,but try and see this movie and you will see.The acting between Gary Cooper and Anna Sten is first rate,her character is very likable as she is totally unselfish,and is trying to please everyone,so she does deserve happiness.Garys character,well he is married and his wife is not a monster and she does love him,so you feel sorry for her as well,i think you have to decide for yourself in a triangle like this someone is always going to get hurt,but you don't know who.Also this is a very early film showing us cultural differences and the sort of conflicts that can arise when two people from very different back grounds want to be together.Can it work?he is from a literate sophisticated family,she is from a poor immigrant family that is still trying to learn new ways.The answer is if two people really love each other then they can over come their differences as true love conquers all,i think overall this was the strongest message that comes out of this film,to some people the married issue may be the point of the film.Any way this is a very haunting film and well worth watching if you get the chance.

gjsandie Anna Sten deserved and Oscar for her portrayal, not to be made fun of and practically run out of town. Which just proves my theory that most critics tastes are in their mouth. I invited anyone who enjoys a movie of old, when it was about entertainment rather than depraved education to make the attempt to find a copy, sit back and enjoy. Goldwyn COULD pick them. Anna Sten and Cooper were something great in this movie.