Mannequin (1937) User Reviews (26)

lovely film

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 11 September 2005]

"Mannequin" is a charming, Joan Crawford rags to riches story set in New York City. Desperate to get out of her family's Hester Street apartment, Jessie talks her boyfriend Eddie into getting married a little sooner than planned. At her wedding dinner in a Chinese restaurant, she is spotted by the very wealthy, well known John Hennessy (Spencer Tracy) who falls in love with her immediately. He's also impressed by the depth of her love for Eddie. But it's obvious to all but Jessie that Eddie is a jerk.

This is not a big, splashy film, but a more intimate one, with a marvelous, heartfelt performance by a young Spencer Tracy, who plays a lonely man to perfection. His sincere performance drives the film. Crawford is photographed beautifully, all gorgeous eyes and softness. I'm not sure how many animals died so Crawford could be dressed so opulently in fur, but once she gets into modeling and then hits the big time, she wears some very expensive clothes. Curtis is an attractive louse, and Leo Gorcey is great as Jessie's impossible brother. Elisabeth Risdon gives a wonderful performance, with a poignant monologue to her daughter at one point.

A sweet and satisfying film.

Joan of the Slums

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 19 December 2005]

In doing Mannequin, Joan Crawford was kind of poaching on the roles that Sylvia Sidney did, the girl from the slums who's looking to break out. She isn't half bad in it.

When you think about it her part her is a kinder gentler version of the role she did in The Women. A girl looking to step up in class. But in this she's not looking to steal someone's husband to do it. She's more used than the user in Mannequin.

She's from Hester Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, living at home with parents and a kid brother. She's got a good looking boyfriend though in Alan Curtis who's got less than meets the eye in character. They get married.

Soon she catches the eye of millionaire Spencer Tracy who comes from the same area, but who worked his way up to owning a fleet of freighters. Spence is smitten with her.

In a reverse of Indecent Proposal, Curtis is quite willing to play on Tracy's obvious interest in Joan, but she now recognizes Curtis for what he is.

This is definitely a Crawford picture. Tracy underplays it in his usual style and has some moments, but he's clearly in support of Crawford.

Alan Curtis's part is unusual. He still loves Crawford no matter what, but he's shallow and his own interests come first. If this were done at 20th Century Fox, Tyrone Power could easily have done this role. He did a kind of variation on it in Rose of Washington Square. Curtis is never shown as violent in any way and that in fact makes him all the more smarmy in his charm.

One of the best roles in the film comes from Leo Gorcey as Crawford's younger brother. He's a tough slum kid with a big mouth and you don't like him. But he actually is very shrewd in sizing up the shortcomings of those around him, like his father Oscar O'Shea and Curtis.

The title Mannequin comes from the fact that at one point Crawford works as model in a fashion show. Of course this put into the context of the story, giving Crawford the Adrian fashions to wear that she was known for.

Fans of Joan Crawford will be pleased with this.

Gracefully executed, intimate romance.

[gross-6 · 8/10 · 6 March 2001]

This is a modest film, beautifully proportioned and modulated, that manages to draw the viewer into its romantic world. It easily could have become maudlin, or stridently melodramatic, or overblown. Joan Crawford could have overacted, or Spencer Tracy could have turned smug. But the film is amazingly free of false notes. This is not a film to be seen for camp , but for its very real charm. Director Frank Borzage succeeds in creating a world that is feels completely consistent and free of cliche. Take for example, the scene in which the heroine is on the dance floor with her new husband, singing "their song"--easily a cliched moment. But while she croons, the husband is tense, alert, observant, distant. Or look at the scene where Tracy meets with his striking workers, and faces the loss of his business and fortune. The scene unfolds with a quiet dignity and depth of feeling on both sides of the conflict. Again and again, Borzage balances romance with realism, pathos with stillness, emotion with dignity. As a result, Mannequin is a deftly made film that moves along lyrically, making what could have been preposterous, touching.

Effective Rags to Riches Story.

[nycritic · 7/10 · 23 August 2005]

Even though the material is not as great, MANNEQUIN (not to be confused as the 1987 movie), manages to convey a deal more. This is mainly because of the teaming of Spencer Tracy with Joan Crawford. He being an actor of restraint who could convey so much more than any actor of his time, brings in Crawford a similar chemistry in which she wisely opts not to out-act him (or her own fiery self), and for all of MGM's false production values set aside for once (Crawford as an Lower East Side resident screams false at every turn, more so when seeing her "tenement" apartment), their performances come true and the movie, for all its escapism, works. Scenes linger in the mind, like the inconclusive subway scene in which Crawford underplays her sadness, or the plausible turmoil in which Tracy's character goes through once he realizes he's lost everything. I found that despite the sore-thumb presence of Alan Curtis as the guy Crawford impulsively marries and the irritating acting of Mary Phillips, the main characters actions were pretty consistent and not forced to comply with an obligatory happy ending. Overlooked by the Oscars, its only nomination was in the Best Song category for "Always and Always."

Romantic millions

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 13 November 2018]

The main interest points in seeing 'Mannequin' were that it was directed by Frank Borzage, a director who deserved and still does deserve more credit, and the great cast, with Joan Crawford and Spencer Tracy in their only collaboration together. That is perhaps the film's biggest draw, that they were great on their own is reason enough to see anything of theirs but seeing them together in a rare pairing is even more so.

With those things taken into account, 'Mannequin' had all the makings to be a charming film. Which it on the most part is. Not perfect or great, and Crawford, Tracy and Borzage have all done better, but 'Mannequin' is a nice undemanding film that doesn't feel too simplistic or too challenging and doesn't try to do or be more than necessary. While not a must see 'Mannequin' does have more than enough to warrant more exposure.

'Mannequin' may have corny and melodramatic parts and moments that don't quite ring true, do not expect reality here and that is including the ending (which admittedly does also strike a chord emotionally). A few of the early scenes are a bit static.

Alan Curtis does his best bringing smarmy charm to his role, but the character is too one-dimensional unpleasant for the charm to properly convince.

However, 'Mannequin' is beautifully filmed, clearly loving Crawford (looking radiantly photogenic) and those costumes are to die for. While not one that will stay long in the memory, the score fits and complements the film well and doesn't feel like it should have belonged somewhere else. The script has wit and emotion, much of the film is far from dull once it gets going and the story has a lovely poignancy and intimacy (the dance floor scene is a lovely moment and interesting from an interaction stand-point, pointed out already) on the most part,

Borzage directs with his usual sensitivity and he definitely seems at home here. What makes 'Mannequin' especially worth watching is the cast. Whether Crawford is believable as a young working class girl is debatable, but that doesn't matter when she gives a performance so charming and deeply felt. Tracy underplays sympathetically and more than appealingly, they make a lovely pairing. Shrewd Leo Gorcey and movingly sincere Elizabeth Risdon are particularly good in support.

On the whole, nice pretty good film. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Tracy, Crawford and Borzage should add up to more than this

[wrk6539 · 16 September 2001]

I hate to be a spoil sport, but I must disagree with the other reviewers who are un-restrained in their enthusiasm for the only Joan Crawford/Spencer Tracy co-starring vehicle. The movie often feels as though it had been re-heated and, while it has many admirable moments, just as many ring false. Crawford herself remains remote and aloof for much of the running time and, while Spencer Tracy probably couldn't give a false performance if he tried, his heart doesn't seem to be in it either.

The early scenes, in which Joan plays a poor, restless girl who lives in a tenement with her ne'er do well father and brother, as well as with her overworked, tired mother are so stilted and obvious they are an embarrassment. These scenes play almost like parodies of the previous Crawford vehicles POSSESSED (1931), DANCING LADY (1933) and SADIE McKEE (1934). Crawford has played this "noble girl whose ambitions will lift her out of her miserable station in life" part before, and she has played it better. Here she seems tired, like she's not even believing it herself and, although it may sound un-gallant to mention, she's a little long in the tooth to play this type of role convincingly (God forgive me).

Things brighten considerably when Tracy and Crawford begin to spark and it is the middle section of the movie that is the most enjoyable. A lot of this may stem from the fact that the middle section contains the least amount of screen time for Alan Curtis, who plays Joan's "so bad he's hissable" louse of a husband. Curtis is so one dimensional and so "obviously" rotten that you wonder what Crawford's character could EVER have seen in him.

Complaints aside, there are good and memorable moments to be found in MANNEQUIN. When Tracy and Crawford are alone on-screen, they both seem to be off of their game, but together, they have a haunting chemistry that transcends explanation. They both manage to convey that they truly understand and accept what the other is thinking, a rarity in film. It makes MANNEQUIN all the more frustrating when we get glimpses of what made these two the magnificent stars they were. It disappoints me that they never worked together again in a project more worthy of their combined talents.

Standing in dramatic counterpoint to Crawford's 1938 "box office poison" label, MANNEQUIN was a big hit with audiences early that year. Other, more ambitious (and in my opinion, more interesting) Crawford vehicles such as THE BRIDE WORE RED (1937) and THE SHINING HOUR (1938), however, were not.

Business Model

[Lejink · 7/10 · 16 April 2021]

As I'm finding is usual with Frank Borzage films I've watched recently, there's more here than first meets the eye. At its heart is a love triangle of sorts initially involving Joan Crawford and Alan Curtis but later adding in Spencer Tracy.

Crawford is the beating heart of the movie. A hard-working dancer, she faithfully takes her unopened pay-packet home to her mum in the family apartment on the poor side of town. Her dad is unemployed and basically sits about the flat reading his paper expecting to be waited on hand and foot by his wife. Alongside him, fulfilling a similar function, is Crawford's feckless and cynical younger brother but worse yet is the guy with whom she's loved-up and engaged.

This is Curtis's unsteady Eddie, selfish and grasping, well-balanced as the saying goes, with a chip on both shoulders. He's going to take the quickest way to easy money and doesn't mind using Joanie any way he can to get there. Joan can't see this of course and despite her mother's "Don't do as I did" warnings, duly marries Eddie, but at their reception, Tracy's wealthy shipping magnate John L Hennessy also happens to be there, where he's immediately smitten by Crawford.

We see Tracy in place as a benevolent boss, playing fair with his employees but in a sign of the times, there are hints of discontent especially as the labour is unionised. Thoughts of Joan distract him from his work and of course she's unattainable, given that she's married and apparently in love with Curtis, but it's not long before hubby starts to show his true colours and concocts a seedy plan to use her to entrap Tracy in a get-Eddie-rich ruse.

Things don't go according to plan however, as he doesn't count either on the scales finally falling from Crawford's eyes where he himself is concerned or her developing feelings for the blindly adoring Tracy. At the same time though, things aren't going so well for Tracy's business leading to a multi-faceted ending where the true price of love is learned by the principals.

The love story aspect isn't without cliché, reflective as it is of the Depression-era backdrop. It's interesting and diverting enough but certainly somewhat fantastical. There are some nicely humorous touches, one scene in particular when Crawford, by now working as a clothes-store mannequin, models a number of day-wear outfits at a fashion show as an ever-more interested Tracy looks on, especially keen to see what she wears to bed. However I was probably more interested in the back story of Tracy and his relationship with his workers. At the climactic scene where he confronts them at a mass meeting after they've come out on a sympathy strike, he doesn't threaten or bully them but instead respects their position no matter the personal consequences to him.

I am finding Borzage to be an interesting Hollywood Golden Age director. Sure, there's a love story at the heart of all the movies of his that I've seen, but it's the serious stuff in the background which really gets my attention. Tracy and Crawford are both excellent in their parts, while Curtis too registers strongly as Eddie the Heel.

All in all, an entertaining and in its own modest way, educational movie with its depictions of working class life and industrial relations of the time.

Joan, and a lot of help from her friends

[marcslope · 7/10 · 26 August 2002]

When TCM ran this flick recently, the host observed that Crawford, while not exactly thrilled about sharing the spotlight with Tracy, did take care to scale her performance down so that her usual overplaying wouldn't look wildly out of place. She's still false -- all eyebrows and key lighting -- but she does have star quality, and she's playing a very appealing, practical rags-to-riches lady. Tracy brought his usual sincerity to another appealing role, and Borzage brought his characteristic lyricism -- the whole movie seems quiet and understated, not at all tainted by the typical MGM frou-frou. The dialogue has snap, the plot has pace, and there are unusual touches: Note the scene in the subway car, and how charmingly and inconclusively it ends. Maybe this was considered standard MGM claptrap in its day, but it holds up remarkably well and somehow feels modern. The issues haven't really dated. Maybe today's Joan Crawford, Julia Roberts, could do a remake?

One of Borzage's very best films.

[MOscarbradley · 8/10 · 1 March 2019]

One of Frank Borzage's very best films is also one of his least known. He made "Mannequin" in 1937 with Joan Crawford as the working-class girl who marries her childhood sweetheart, Alan Curtis, but he's a heel. Then she meets sweet self-made millionaire Spencer Tracy who's got a soft spot for her, so her heel of a husband comes up with a plan for her to divorce him and marry Tracy so they can split the money. It's a surprisingly tough little movie, (the title doesn't really do it justice), beautifully written by Lawrence Hazard from Katharine Brush's story and both Tracy and Crawford are superb.

This was Crawford when she was a real actress and at her least self-conscious and the movie came out in the same year that Tracy won his first Oscar for "Captain's Courageous", but he's so much better here. It's a lovely, naturalistic performance, very simple and direct, and it showed what a great romantic actor he was. Indeed, Borzage even managed to get a good performance out of Curtis as the heel. This is one Borzage picture that cries out for a revival.

She married her dad

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 10 April 2016]

I really don't think Joan Crawford was box office poison in the mid to late 30's as much as those plot less scripts MGM foisted on her in the production code era were the actual poison. This is a pretty good script, and Crawford does a good job in it.

Crawford plays Jesse Cassidy, a working girl living in poverty on "Hester Street" which seems to be code for an entire neighborhood of poor people. Dad is lazy, on relief, and seems to have given up ever looking for a job if he ever had one in the first place. Mom is sad, resigned to her fate, beat down by a lifetime of poverty. Jesse's little brother is a smart mouth, totally aware of what his dad is and with zero respect for him, probably headed for trouble with the law down the line.

One night after a date with her boyfriend Eddie, Jesse starts to walk up the stairs to her family's tenement flat and the sound of babies crying, of couples arguing, the buzzing hall light just get to her and she begs Eddie to marry her that night - she wants to get away from Hester Street. Eddie does.

In a parallel story, self-made shipping magnate John L. Hennessey (Spencer Tracy) is having labor problems with his employees. They may decide to join a union and call a strike, which perplexes Hennessey since his employees have better wages and benefits than any union could give them. This is probably because Hennessey is from Hester Street himself, and sympathizes with the working man.

Hennessey and Jesse meet by coincidence the night of Jesse's wedding as everybody is celebrating, and Hennessey is instantly attracted to Jesse and her sincerity, but decency keeps him away - she is a bride.

But then Jesse and Hennessey get to know Eddie better and realize he is no better than Jesse's dad - a lifetime loafer who will always blame someone else for his problems rather than the man in the mirror. But nobody can call Eddie stupid. He sees the attraction to Jesse that Hennessey has, and when he treats Jesse like a commodity and suggests that they can get out of their financial rut by her divorcing him, marrying Hennessey, and then divorcing him for a handsome settlement she leaves Eddie.

Several months later Hennessey and Jesse meet again, and Hennessey wants to marry her even though Jesse tells him she does not love him. But in the meantime, Eddie has not wandered far and still wants his "cut" of what he thinks is his idea, and the labor problems that Hennessey blew off are coming to fruition. How will this all turn out? Watch and find out.

I will tell you that Eddie does NOT slip and fall into the ocean and get eaten by a shark. I'm glad of that because I'd feel mighty sorry for the shark.

Great performances all around here, and this is the kind of story that Frank Borzage's direction could always work magic with. Recommended.

Despite a few plot holes, this is a decent time-passer

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 14 February 2008]

MANNEQUIN is a pretty typical plot for Joan Crawford in the 1930s. Again and again, she played the poor girl who longed for the good life--though in this one she isn't a money-grubber like she was in several of these films. The only interesting angle to set this one apart was the no-good husband (#1) that she married near the beginning. He was vile and so easy to hate--I liked that. But then when she met Spencer Tracy (husband #2), the movie just stopped making sense.

Considering that this film was made by MGM and featured Joan Crawford and Spencer Tracy, it should have been much better instead of just being a competent time-passer. Most of this problem I attribute to bad writing as opposed to the acting, as everyone involved seemed to try hard to get as much out of this story as they could. The problem is that although the plot was moderately diverting, clichés and inexplicable behavior made the film seem so ridiculously improbable. First, the HUGE cliché--Tracy sees Crawford once and very briefly dances with her--then he falls madly in love with her and tries to steal her away from her husband starting on their wedding day! This is ridiculous and the whole "love at first sight" angle made me gag. Basing an entire movie on this is quite a stretch. Plus, if Tracy is supposed to be a super-nice guy, then why is he such a slimy slug to hit on a woman on her wedding day?! Sure, husband #1 was a jerk, but Tracy didn't know that at the time. Second, the ending made no sense at all. Why Crawford decided to leave her loving husband was totally ill-defined and seemed like a plot device more than anything else.

So overall, some decent performances and a terribly flawed film make this one just passable entertainment. This should have been a lot better.

Another Rags-To-Riches Tale

[cdale-41392 · 8/10 · 1 March 2019]

The Joan Crawford Experience 23 / 59

Joan Does The Rags-To-Riches Thing Again

Jessie Cassidy (Joan Crawford) is a hard-working girl from the raggedy tenements on Hester Street in NYC. She slaves away in a textile factory to support her harried mother, her lazy out-of-work father, and her shiftless, smart-ass, out-of-work little brother. She dreams of getting out of that dump with her boyfriend, the boxer Eddie Miller (Alan Curtis). Eddie is obviously the lazy con-man type; he talks a big talk and makes lots of promises he can't keep ... but Jessie is in love!

Jessie convinces Eddie to marry her and while they celebrate with their wedding party at a Chinese restaurant, they run into John L. Hennessey (Spencer Tracy). He's originally from the tenements on Hester street but has made a fortune by becoming a shipping magnate. Hennessey is smitten with Jessie.

Jessie and Hennessey cross paths again when Jessie has a job in the chorus line as a Gebhart Girl at the "Gebhart Frolics", and the entire gang is invited to a cocktail party at Hennessey's penthouse suite. Hennessey makes a play for her but she is a married woman, so she slaps him!

The rest of the film involves Hennessey's pursuit of Jessie, Jessie's realization that Eddie is small time two bit hood looking for easy money, and Eddie's nasty little plan to get some of that money from Hennessey by using Jessie as bait.

This is a pretty darn good film. The story is engaging, the cast is great, and Adrian really went all out on some of the fashions at the fashion show (where Jessie is a model / mannequin). I wonder how many animals died for Joan's fabulous fur coats and wraps? Oh well. Doesn't matter. She looked fierce!

Recommended!

mannequin

[mossgrymk · 6/10 · 2 April 2021]

First half is pretty good with well paced, sharply observed scenes, courtesy of scenarist Lawrence Hazard and director Frank Borzage, of lower middle class tenement life and an unhappy marriage. But then the marriage falls apart and the movie has nowhere to go but into a dull relationship with the wife and a tug boat tycoon, plus a lot of union baiting that, while characteristic of MGM at the time, is not exactly guaranteed to light up the screen. Acting's ok, with the subsidiary players, in my opinion, outshining the two famous leads, especially Alan Curtis as the self pitying, resentful husband, Elizabeth Risdon as a beaten down house drudge and Leo Gorcey as the mother of all annoying Irish kid brothers. Give it a C plus. PS...Always thought Hester Street was Jewish, not Irish. Live and learn.

Crawford in above average Cinderella story...from rags to riches...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 12 February 2008]

JOAN CRAWFORD plays a tenement girl with a Park Avenue accent no matter how much she has to sweat in a factory for a living. She hates her tenement environment so much that she's willing to run off with boyfriend ALAN CURTIS at the drop of a hat. Of course, what seemed like a good idea changes drastically once she meets wealthy SPENCER TRACY and realizes what her life could be as "a lady". LEO GORCEY is a howl as her nasty kid brother.

That's the main thrust of MANNEQUIN--a sort of "money can't buy happiness" theme that is played out in typical '30s style with Joan Crawford giving her fans a rags to riches story tailored to please depression weary audiences. Despite the fact that Crawford seems too cultured to be playing a girl from the city flats, she's convincing enough as the newly married woman who croons a song to Curtis on the dance floor, a little something called "Always and Always". Curtis has the role of a thankless heel and plays it to the hilt.

Tracy is so enamored with "the awfully sweet kid" that you know the Curtis/Crawford marriage is headed for the rocks. Thanks to the natural performances of Tracy and Crawford, it all works better than it sounds on paper--due also to Frank Borzage's fine direction and ELIZABETH RISDON's performance as Crawford's hard-working mother who doesn't want her daughter to give up her dream.

Whether slumming or enjoying the posh life among the idle rich, Crawford never loses her poise and gets to toss off some smart lines. No matter how poor she's supposed to be, her clothes never look like they came off thrift shop racks. She photographs attractively with a softer look than her later image would have, so this is a real treat for Crawford fans. Especially when she becomes a "mannequin" at a posh fashion show, attired in some of Adrian's most outrageous gowns.

The good chemistry with SPENCER TRACY helps a lot. "It all started when you slugged me," says Tracy, proposing marriage to her. Will she or won't she find true happiness with a rich man? Hint: It ends with another slug.

Summing up: Fun for true Crawford fans, but others may find it's all a little too artificial for comfort.

Should surely please fans of Ms. Crawford

[Poseidon-3 · 8 February 2006]

All of the hallmarks which made Crawford a legendary star are present in this tormented romance. She plays a poor factory worker whose only respite from the heat and stench of her tenement existence is found in the arms of fast-talking Curtis. Eager to escape the dregs of her life with her deadbeat father, put-upon mother and smart-aleck punk of a younger brother, she convinces Curtis to marry her. On their wedding day, while dining in the same restaurant as self-made millionaire Tracy, the wheels of her fate are slowly set in motion. Eventually, she finds herself attached to shady, unreliable Curtis while being pursued by caring, bountifully wealthy Tracy. Midway through the story, in order to achieve some independence of her own, she takes on the title job of a fashion model, allowing famed designer Adrian to deck her out in several splashy get-ups. Then just when she seems to have found some measure of happiness, it all threatens to come crashing down around her. In what was a sort of formula for Crawford (portraying financially oppressed females who eventually become wealthy), she does a fine job here. The strappy heels, the tear-filled eyes, the dark dresses with white collars, the face slaps, the shoulder pads, the unusual hats.... all are on display for her fans. However, she made a point to keep her acting as grounded as she could in order to match her one-time-only co-star Tracy. (She also maintains top billing, which Hepburn could not do a few years later.) Tracy is amiable and interesting to watch. Together, they establish an easy chemistry and a couple to root for. Curtis is appropriately slick and slimy. Philips (soon to be divorced in real life from Humphrey Bogart) plays a wise-cracking floozie pal of Crawford's. Gorcey, as Crawford's mouthy brother, provides some amusing moments. Risdon, as her beaten down mother, is excellent. Not exactly an important film, per se, but an enjoyable one. One rather awkward moment has Crawford (presumably lip-synching to an alto voice double) warbling the Oscar-nominated song to Curtis while they're dancing with her lips pressed up against his cheek! There's a fashion show with several hooty Adrian concoctions that also includes a mildly suggestive gag between Crawford and Tracy. Some of Adrian's suits are way over the top (one with huge rivets in it and one with some ornate detailing all over it as well as a Margaret Hamilton witch hat with a rhinestone star on the top!), but that's the fantasy that audiences wanted to see in those dire times. The title ultimately has little to do with the story. An unspectacular, but also unembarrassing entry in the stars' careers.

just adequate

[KyleFurr2 · 7/10 · 17 September 2005]

I haven't seen too many of Frank Borzage's movies but the ones i have seen are just OK like The Mortal Storm and the only one i really liked came out the same year as this one called Big City, not too many people liked it but i did. This movie starts out with Joan Crawford working to provide for her family while her father says he's looking for a job but not really. Crawford can hardly take it anymore and marries her boyfriend, played by Alan Curtis, who she thinks has money but it's all a show. Crawford then meets Spencer Tracy who is a millionaire and he instantly falls for her. Crawford slowly begins to understand that her husband is just as bad as her family and Tracy wants to marry her but she doesn't love him. It's just an OK movie and the two stars made much better movies than this one.

Joan in another scheming gold digger plot

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 4 April 2007]

Mannequin has Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce, the Women, and too many others to list here!) clawing her way up from a life of poverty to riches. Her brother (Leo Gorcey, Bowery Boys) and father both let the mother wait on them, but Jessie(Joan) is determined to get out of that cycle and be a success in her own right. She even sings a song in this one, with a whole lot of vibrato ! While talking with her mother at the beginning, the theme of a woman's success is discussed, and Joan refuses to peel the potatoes for her demanding father, "leaving the jackets on".. and this phrase is said again later in the movie, to reinforce her determination. Joan gets married, and together she and hubby come up with a plan to take a pile of money from Spencer Tracy, a successful business man. The plot is pretty solid, with good chemistry between Tracy and Crawford. Interesting to note that early in the script, Joan is determined to be a success, even if she has to "make it on her own", but after marrying, her idea of becoming rich and successful involves marrying for money, which is also the title of the story on which the movie is based. Other reviewers have felt either the film did not have a happy ending, or that the film was less than stellar; while it's not any Shakespeare, I found the story and the acting quite believable. There were two previous movies with the same title (US 1926, and UK 1934). This version is unrelated to the 1926 show, which involves a kidnapping; I have not been able to locate info on the 1934 version.

One of Joan's best performances

[HotToastyRag · 8/10 · 30 May 2019]

Here on the Rag, you must know I'm not really a Joan Crawford fan. The two greatest exceptions are the two movies that earned her Hot Toasty Rag nominations: Grand Hotel and Mannequin. In both films, she gives fantastic performances, so if you do love her, make sure you watch both to see her at her best.

In Mannequin, she plays a young impoverished woman desperate to break free of her poor home and live a better life. Her father is rude, her brother freeloads off her salary, and her mother enables the unhappy pattern at home. As Joan wipes the sweat from her brow and tries in vain to fix the leaky kitchen sink, she says in a trembling voice, "I've gotta get out of here, Mom, before it's too late." You can feel her desperation and fear, and when she runs to her boyfriend's arms and begs her to take her out of her life, you understand. For most of the movie, Joan is sweet, hopeful, endearing, and strong. Unfortunately, Spencer Tracy comes into the movie, and into her life, and he ruins everything. A different actor would have only slightly helped, since his character is incredibly obnoxious, entitled, seedy, and the exact opposite of what Joan's character would need to find happiness. Joan's mother, the versatile and underused character actress Elisabeth Risdon, gives a heartfelt monologue about women's roles and expectations in the home and in society. She serves as an example of how she doesn't want Joan to turn out, and it's incredibly sad.

With the exception of the final third of the film, when Spencer Tracy's character horns in on the plot, Mannequin is a very good movie. For an interesting take on feminism and women's expectations in 1937, check out this well-acted drama.

Crawford + Tracy should not equal SAP

[mls4182 · 5/10 · 30 June 2021]

This was one of the slowest and dullest films made by either of these icons. The little conflict is tepid and passionless. The two stars have no on screen chemistry at all. Crawford looks beautiful and the art deco sets are interesting. That's about it.

Best Joan Crawford ever

[susand1108 · 9/10 · 14 January 2023]

This film stands out for its respectful treatment of the female characters. I loved Joan Crawford's character in this film. I found it so nice to see her as something besides pathetic or crazy or heartless. Unlike many of the women in movies from the 1930's, this Joan continually stands up for herself, and she does it with intelligence and with genuine kindness. The example set for her at home by her lazy father and brother portends the problem she's going to have with her fast-talking, no-good husband. But she tries to make the best of her marriage and even when pursued by the wealthy and moderately charming Spencer Tracy, she is true to her husband. It's when her long-suffering mother, another female character written and played respectfully, encourages her to think of herself first, that she realizes she's better off on her own. There's so much more, but just watch it. It's really a good one!

Watchable but not entirely enjoyable

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 17 January 2014]

Another rag-to-riches soaper for Joan Crawford. She plays a factory worker named Jessie who wants out of her rut of a life so she marries her ne'er-do-well boyfriend Eddie (Alan Curtis). On their wedding night the two meet self-made tycoon John L. Hennessey (Spencer Tracy). Hennessey becomes infatuated with Jessie and doesn't mind letting her know it, married or not. Eddie's OK with it and even encourages it, hoping to gain financially from any relationship Jessie has with Hennessey. From there things get complicated and it becomes harder and harder to root for anybody. That's the movie's biggest problem. I didn't really love any of the characters and grew not to care about what happened to them. The direction is nice, though. Frank Borzage always made good-looking movies. Loved the way the tenement building looked. Even the slums are pretty at MGM. Leo Gorcey is fun as Joan's no-good little brother. Not really my cup of tea but if you enjoy glossy MGM soap operas a lot, you'll probably have a more favorable opinion. It's also Joan's only movie with Spencer Tracy so there's that curiosity factor.

Money can't buy happiness.

[dbdumonteil · 13 June 2007]

I had seen "mannequin" a long time ago,at a time when I hardly knew Borzage's name .Since I saw most of his talkies and some of his silent works,and when I saw "Mannequin" again,I was a bit disappointed: it is a good film,well played by Joan Crawford and Spencer Tracy but it does not hold a candle to such works as "little man what now?""three comrades" "strange cargo" or the sublime "mortal storm" my favorite Borzage.

In "mannequin" ,we feel the director's touch nevertheless.The first scenes depict a milieu where the heroine has got to fight to get out of it (see also "humoresque " (1920) " the seventh heaven" "street angel" (1927).The search for true love is a permanent feature in Borzage's canon,but Tracy/Crawford ,except in the moving final scenes are not given the same chance to shine as Margaret Sullavan /James Stewart or Janet Gaynor/Charles Farrell .Crawford becoming a mannequin is the main weakness of the plot.But in the end,anyway ,"the love you take is equal to the love you make" .Not a great Borzage ,but worth a watch.

This film preaches in favor of redistributing wealth . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 15 April 2021]

. . . as shipping magnate Spencer Tracy and his trophy wife Joan Crawford are forced by Union Solidarity to liquidate every last boat and piece of jewelry in their coffers. This pair of resource-hoarding malingering miscreants also are impelled to surrender palatial offices and living quarters in favor of a three-room slum flat filled with rotten smells and a jarring cacophony of yelling neighbors, rumbling el trains and yowling infants. (Their lavatory's at the end of the hall, but if the wait proves too long they can go squat in a basement stairwell.) Surely casting Ms. Crawford and Mr. Tracy in their MANNEQUIN roles represents brilliant selections for a nation in the throes of a Great Depression, for this pair is hands down the People's Choice for the "I hope they lose everything, and wake up in the gutter" Award. What better flick to mark the occasion of Bernie I-Made-Off-with-17-billion-dollars' passing than MANNAEQUIN?

There's art in them there slums.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 23 March 2020]

As directed by Frank Borzage (the veteran of silent pictures who directed Janet Gaynor onto the first every Best Actress Oscar), this view of the New York City tenement life shows Joan Crawford with flawless hair but dreary second hand dresses who is determined to get out of the lower east side and find a better life. She marries long-time sweetheart Alan Curtis whom she thinks has the guts to move onto better things but then realizes that he is as shiftless and lazy as her father (Oscar O'Shea) and brother (Leo Gorcey). Having watched her mother (Elisabeth Risdon) struggle with her strength all these years and end up resigned and tired to a life she hates, Crawford becomes enamored of the ambitious Spencer Tracy, a shipping tycoon of questionable morality and realizes that she can't continue to die a slow death, something she sees her mother heading to. Working hard as a model has hardened Crawford into seeing what she wants through the phony glamour of her occupation.

This is a different take on the type of film that usually cast Sylvia Sidney in such parts as Sidney never compromised her morality and always loved someone from her own world. Crawford isn't an amoral character, just more ambitious than those fragile parts Sylvia played in "Street Scene" and "Dead End". The only pairing of Crawford and Tracy, this shows them in a situation that compromised the censors and screams to have been made in the pre-code where the situations could have been a lot dicier. It's obvious whom Crawford will have the chemistry with. The performance of veteran character actress Elisabeth Risdon is excellent, reminding me of tired mothers played by Marjorie Main and Clara Blandick, yet adding more depth and strength in a scene where she confesses her feelings about the men in the family to Crawford.

There's a glamorous modeling show where Crawford is ogled by Tracy while wearing top notch fashions that isn't quite the fashion show that the ladies would attend in "The Women", but it is typical MGM gloss none the less. People always talk about Tracy and Hepburn, and Gable and Crawford, and while Hepburn and Gable never crossed paths, Tracy and Crawford's one teaming shows them a perfect pair. George Chandler has a good small part as a supposed professional boxer who is intimidated by the short in stature Gorcey, basically playing another variation of Slip from "The Bowery Boys" movies.

Alan Curtis, the script and some condescending reviews

[riogarhed · 11 January 2023]

I was curious about those external reviews that are stupidly condescending about "Mannequin," evidence that critics who accuse a film of being formulaic and routine can exemplify the same flaws.

I want to add a good word for Alan Curtis, who in flashes reminded me, not in looks but sensitivity to nuance, of the soon to emerge Alan Garfield. A speech about his core character delivered by Joan Crawford about his being a world unto himself lacking complete empathy for others in the real world is fully realized in Curtis' performance. That includes their earliest scenes in which her gushing affections almost nauseate him though he plays it with subtlety, almost imperceptibly, though it's there.

And the script can take credit for a lot here. More than movies to which it appears to have been glibly likened it examines motives beneath character actions with some serious delving. Tracy and Crawford and all in the cast are astute in making it breathe and director Borzage masterful in highlighting what is significant in it.