Montana Moon (1930) User Reviews (21)

Those Wild Presscott Girls

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 23 August 2011]

Montana Moon finds Joan Crawford and Dorothy Sebastian as the Presscott Sisters who apparently never mix with the hired help on the father's ranch in Montana. To use the term of the day, the two are a pair of hard living flappers. Joan is partying hearty with Ricardo Cortez though the one that really likes him is Sebastian.

The two are on their way back with dad Lloyd Ingraham to the ranch when Joan decides she isn't going to stay in dull old Montana, she's changing trains for the next eastbound one they have. But wandering off from the station for a bit, she runs into cowboy Johnny Mack Brown who as it happens works for her father.

Brown had an interesting career he was a football star for his native University of Alabama, an All American long before Bear Bryant came on the scene and was snapped up by Hollywood during the silent Twenties. That southern drawl insured he'd be cast in westerns like Montana Moon and soon he was doing them almost exclusively as he became a B picture cowboy hero and worked pretty steadily.

Anyway the rest of Montana Moon concerns Joan and Johnny's rocky road to romance and the two lifestyles not blending real well, especially after Ricardo Cortez gets back in the picture.

Cliff Edwards and Benny Rubin play an interesting pair of sidekicks and silent Danish comedian Karl Dane is also a ranch cowboy with very little dialog. He did not transition well to sound and Louis B. Mayer was letting him fill out his contract with a bit part with few words. In four years Dane would be dead by suicide.

Not a great film in the collected works of Joan Crawford. But Montana Moon was a typical Crawford party girl role that she did before MGM discovered she could act.

The plot idea wasn't bad--but it sure should have been better.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 29 September 2013]

"Montana Moon" is a mis-matched romance where a rich and spoiled flapper, 'Montana' (Joan Crawford) gets married on the spur of the moment to a cowboy...yes, a cowboy! Larry (Johnny Mack Brown) is a pretty simple guy and the two have really nothing in common--and as the film progresses, it becomes more and more obvious. What also becomes obvious is that Montana is a spoiled brat and has no intention to stop her party-girl lifestyle and so, not surprisingly, the marriage is doomed.

This film's biggest problem is when it was made and the director. It's pretty obvious as an early talky that several of the actors were using really, really bad accents (Brown and Cliff Edwards in particular) and the director SHOULD have worked on this. They should sound like westerners--not hicks. Additionally, the sound quality varies a lot--and at times is almost unintelligible. Fortunately, this problem isn't frequent. There also is way too much music--especially with Edwards singing about two or three songs too many. And, finally, Crawford's character is really unlikable and you wonder why anyone would want to fight to get her back! Despite all this, the plot itself isn't bad and the film still manages to keep your attention.

Early Crawford Vehicle Is Very Uneven

[atlasmb · 5/10 · 17 September 2013]

This early Joan Crawford vehicle is a very uneven production, primarily due to the dialogue. Johnny Mack Brown reads the script like a high school thespian. Though Crawford's performance is nothing to write home about either, one wonders how much better this production might have been if Brown had been able to portray his character in a convincing fashion.

The best part of this film is the music. There are range ballads sung by a competent male chorus, and some pleasant (though somewhat out of place) solos by Cliff Edwards (aka the voice of Jiminy Cricket) and his ukulele.

But the plot is too simplistic and predictable. The characters are mostly caricatures. And the action is uneven.

Still, this film has some interest for its use of Crawford.

Early Joan Crawford Talkie

[drednm · 2 November 2007]

Crawford's second starring role in a talkie is a mix of her willful character from OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS but set on a Montana ranch with singing cowboys.

To escape lecherous Ricardo Cortez, Crawford bails off a train in Montana and meets up with Johnny Mack Brown. They instantly fall in love and get married. But it turns out the ranch he works for is owned by her father. Worse, Crawford's whole "crew" of young friends is at the ranch for an extended weekend party. Will Cortez win Crawford? Will Brown mix with the society friends? Typical plot for the era but with dialog and songs. The acting isn't great but both Brown and Crawford are very likable here, early in their long movie careers. Cortez is OK. Dorothy Sebastian is the sister in love with Cortez. And MGM regulars Karl Dane, Cliff Edwards, and Benny Rubin play cowboys.

Crawford and Edwards sings a few songs, including "The Moon Is Low."

Joan's Worst Movie

[davidjanuzbrown · 2/10 · 13 July 2016]

If you want to see a modern day cowboy married to a society gal, watch 'The Cowboy & The Lady.' Gary Cooper is a better actor then Johnny Mack Brown (Larry) and Merle Oberon acts better (and is better looking then Joan Crawford's character who is named Joan). Crawford is really strange in this movie (especially at the end where she has a 'What Am I Doing In This Movie Look).' Its about party girl sisters Elizabeth (Dorothy Sebastian), and Joan who are always trouble for their father Mr. Prescott. Elizabeth loves Jeff (Ricardo Cortez) who is a real weasel, who really wants Joan. She marries Larry almost on the spur of the moment, so her sister could have him. Spoilers ahead: Probably the best scenes in the movie involves Cortez & Crawford, like when he is doing the tango with Crawford, and punches him out. Then in the final scene where he shows what a coward he was, when Larry dressed as a bandit kidnaps Joan and he does nothing (Elizabeth sees the truth about him). More importantly Joan sees the difference between her husband and society types like Jeff. She has (about Jeff) "He is not my husband thank heavens." She says to the bandit J "I do have a husband and if you look at me the wrong way, there would be trouble." She does know that Larry is the bandit due to "Your thick accent you can cut."). Joan is really not worth the effort, but Larry wins her because he is the only person she ever respected, and as her father said to him "Leaving (him) is the first thing she ever regretted." I will give it 2 stars. 1 each for Cortez and Crawford (although it might be Joan's worst movie).

only for die hard Crawford fans

[lshelhamer · 3/10 · 11 January 2014]

Joan Crawford as a spoiled young lady who impulsively leaves a train headed to her father's Montana ranch. She then meets, falls in love and marries local cowboy Johnny Mack Brown all in short order. The movie is full of bad acting, extraneous comedic and ethnic characters and a cowboy chorus, some or all of whom break out in song at unexpected and inappropriate intervals.

The only saving grace is Crawford, who is alternately selfish, loving, impetuous and loyal. This would have been more interesting if we hadn't already seen her as same sort of character in several films since her celebrated portrayal in Dancing Daughters. She evens manages to get in a short scene of her manic dancing.

The worst acting award would have to go to Johnny Mack Brown. Never the best of actors, his portrayal of the naive, inexperienced, country cowboy is hard to watch. This sort of country rustic vs. city sophisticate would be much better done later in the decade by Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper.

Terrible Early Joan Crawford Movie

[utgard14 · 3/10 · 3 January 2014]

What a stinker! Joan plays a spoiled socialite named Joan (ha!) who finds herself irresistibly drawn to Jeff (Ricardo Cortez) while on a train. Jeff is also crazy about Joan and can hardly keep his hands off of her from the first moment they meet. The problem is, Joan's friend Elizabeth (Dorothy Sebastian) is a sweet innocent girl who is madly in love with Jeff. So, to remove herself from temptation, Joan leaves the train at a stop without telling anybody. While waiting for another train, she meets Larry the hillbilly cowboy (Johnny Mack Brown). Right here I knew I was in trouble because I'm no fan of Johnny Mack Brown. He's from the South yet he insists on exaggerating his accent until he sounds positively brain-damaged. The romantic scenes between Crawford and Brown are some of the worst of Joan's career. Anyway, in no time flat, Joan and Larry are engaged. But Joan's still hot for Jeff so when he shows back up it's trouble in paradise. Awful movie on every level with some truly nauseating singing by Joan.

It doesn't really deserve FOUR stars!

[JohnHowardReid · 4/10 · 10 January 2018]

Copyright 17 March 1930 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. New York opening at the Capitol: 13 April 1930. 7,917 feet. 88 minutes.

COMMENT: There has to some kind of special award for a movie as bad as this Warner Archive 10/10 DVD. True, Joan Crawford (the heiress who marries a cowboy on a whim) looks great and acts enchantingly with all the resources she can command. Alas, however, the charismatic Crawford is saddled for most of the action with the deadliest leading man of all time, namely Johnny Mack Brown. I've seen Johnny give some quite respectable performances, but in this movie he is up against a stupid screenplay, a totally unsympathetic director, plus a photographer, a make-up man, a hair stylist, a costumer and a sound engineer who all seem steadfastly determined to make him look and sound like a gormless goof. True, Benny Rubin does try to run Johnny close as the movie's most obnoxious personality, but despite his third billing on M-G-M's advertising material, his role is actually fairly small. Cliff Edwards (who shares a few of Rubin's nauseating routines) has a much larger part-and at least he sings competently! And the frequent songs (all of them handled by Edwards and/or a male chorus) are a reasonably tuneful (if wholly forgettable) lot too. And it's always good to see Ricardo Cortez, even in a mess like this. At one stage, Ricardo doesn't seem to be playing the same character he portrayed earlier in the action, but fortunately the writer soon has him revert to form.

The moon is low...and so is the quality of this picture

[xan-the-crawford-fan · 3/10 · 2 August 2021]

This is the longest 1 and a half hour film I've ever seen. I don't mean that in a good way.

Joan Crawford seems to have forgotten how to act in this film. She is, in fact, most of the problem with this film. She looks scared, like she was dared to do this film after a wild night of partying and completely forgot about it until three weeks later when the director knocked on her door and said, "Hey, Joan, it says in your contract that you have to do three films this year" and she said, "Well, okay, hand me the script" and he gave it to her and she was like "My goodness, this is even worse than Untamed" and he was like "Didn't you notice that you character is called Joan and you're called Joan ahahaha" and so on, and so forth. That baby talk she does is terrible- who said that was a good idea? Also, she sticks out like a sore thumb in westerns. Watch Johnny Guitar if you don't believe me. Her presence actually hurts the film.

After seeing this film, Johnny Mack Brown has been promoted to the worst leading man in Golden Age film. I haven't seen a single role I like him in. He can't act, he drags down the performances of the other actors due to how bad he is, his southern accent is the worst excuse for a southern accent to ever grace the silver screen, and his head looks like he was tackled one too many times while playing football. Which he should have stuck to doing.

The other actors kind of just stand there and watch Joan Crawford looking scared while Johnny Mack Brown tries (and fails) to flirt with her. The plot is stupid and far-fetched, and barely worth mentioning. Ending was especially dumb. And had some bad accents running loose.

Oh, and there's singing. Not great singing, The Sound Of Music this is not. Crawford was not a terrible singer, she was just untrained, and could have been decent with proper training. Maybe the people at M-G-M thought it was funny to make her sing cheesy songs but never train her up, of maybe she just had a big ego and insisted on doing her own singing. It brings to mind the outtakes from Torch Song where (drunk) Joan keeps screwing up and not hitting the high notes with her two-octaves-too-low voice, then sounding like a scared and upset child when the people laugh at her- "Stop laughing at me!", she cries, knowing that she won't get it even if she does try. And believe me, she does try.

And, yes, the songs in this film are cheesy and unmemorable. One of them is called "The Moon is Low" and that's all I remember from it. This was apparently the film that introduced the singing cowboy to the screen. Gene Autry must been shaking his head at his predecessors in the genre.

Don't watch this film unless you have nothing better to watch, or someone suggests La La Land.

If you are a student of early talking film, this one is invaluable!...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 23 March 2019]

... but if you are searching for raw entertainment value, I'd look elsewhere. My 7/10 rating is for film history value.

This is Joan Crawford's second starring role in a talking film, and her character is basically the same as in "Our Dancing Daughters" and "Our Modern Maidens" - a wealthy carefree flapper type. Her acting is fine, pretty much proving the point that in Joan's career her being box office poison was the fault of the movies not her performance.

Released in March 1930, it was probably written and filmed at the end of 1929, so you have two things going on here. MGM is still trying to adapt to talking film since they were the last of the studios to do so, and The Great Depression hasn't started yet, so the roaring 20s are still roaring into the first part of 1930.

The film starts with Mr. Prescott, owner of a big ranch in Montana, taking a train out west to inspect his ranch, accompanied by his two flapper daughters Joan (Joan Crawford) and Elizabeth (Dorothy Sebastian). This appears to be a private train, and for some reason Prescott is letting his daughters bring along about two dozen of their partying friends. Believe me the WHY of the trip and the FROM of the trip I am having to make up, because at no point is it clear why the all business Mr. Prescott is in Montana in the first place!

Elizabeth confides in Joan that she knows Joan is used to taking men away from her, but that she really loves Jeff (Ricardo Cortez) and to please stay away from him. On the train Jeff constantly makes the moves on Joan, yet is affectionate towards Elizabeth. Joan hides this flirting from Elizabeth - again - WHY? - Wouldn't she want her sister to know this guy is a snake?

Instead, Joan gets off of the train in the middle of the night in Leland, Montana (that is what the sign says), sends a telegram to her family to let them know she is OK, buys a train ticket back to New York from Skeletor (the guy is really bizarre looking), and then just forgets all about the train when she runs into cowboy Larry (Johnny Mack Brown). Again, WHY? She ends up "riding fences" with him for three weeks - that is Larry's job - without him knowing that she is the boss' daughter. At some point he must find out though, because they marry and go to the Montana lodge where her family is staying along with all of those partiers she inflicted on her father and then abandoned, and the trouble for the newlywed couple begins as a real clash of cultures and values.

This will get really long if I talk about everything that is wrong with this film, but for one it is just too long and slow. It is a 90 minute film I could have easily placed into a sixty minute running time. There are also a bunch of left over silent characters that MGM still can't figure out what to do with, some actors they hired specifically for sound but then found out that they didn't work out, and the problem that all of the studios had thinking musical numbers would improve any film. One problem rather unique to MGM - what they thought would be funny in their early sound films simply isn't. For example, Benny Rubin is playing a doctor from the east here. I guess he is supposed to be doing some kind of comedy routine with Cliff Edwards, because his reason for being in this film is just a great big unfunny question mark.

Among the tragedies is silent film star Karl Dane playing a bit part here - his heavy Danish accent made him unintelligible. Johnny Mack Brown's deep southern voice did not go with his already established film persona, and letting him cover it here with a Western accent I guess was a last ditch attempt to keep him on the A list at MGM. it didn't work as he was replaced with Clark Gable in several planned roles the following year.

And even then, all of this might have worked out if the screenplay had not been incomprehensible. Sylvia Thalberg, Irving Thalberg's sister, was responsible, and after this she didn't go very far in screenwriting. Nepotism doesn't always work out as well as it did with Norma Shearer's brother, Douglas, who was the Oscar winning head recording engineer at MGM from the dawn of sound until he retired in the 1960s.

So there's plenty to see for the student of early talking film. For all others I would find something else to occupy your time.

Really mediocre; Johnny Mack Brown doesn't belong here, but...does Joan Crawford?

[mmipyle · 2/10 · 28 May 2021]

Don't ask me why, but I re-watched "Montana Moon" (1930) after a period of nearly twenty years. Besides being the definition of dated, it's not a very good film, and the acting in a few places is at the high school level. Johnny Mack Brown, playing a cowboy in Montana with his native Alabama accent - in 1930 - meets Joan Crawford - and she marries him. Now, she's a part of Montana 'cause her poppy owns the huge, huge ranch Brown works on; but...she's a New Yawker otherwise. Yeah, they fit together like a horse and an SR-71. Then there's Cliff 'Ukelele Ike' Edwards; oh, and Benny Rubin. Did I forget Dorothy Sebastian (Didn't she act in a couple of "Our This..." and "Our That..." films with Crawford?)? Oh, and Ricardo Cortez...when he wants to be a scuz he's a good one... And Mary Carlisle and Claudia Dell... And Lloyd Ingraham plays Crawford's pop... And Karl Dane - lord, he's tall compared to all the rest!

Unless you're in the mood for Crawford singing three times and having to listen to Mack Brown Johnny drawl his luvins like he's learning to talk - you may wish to skip this one. Best thing about it is Ukelele Ike, as usual. The guy's good in everything he ever made. Songs are corny as corn in August, but with him doing them they're watchable just the same. Musical comedy romance drama - in flapper Western style...yeah!

Pleasant Dish of Cornpone

[jcochran-1 · 8/10 · 2 August 2002]

High society gal Crawford falls for aw-shucks ranch-hand Brown in a somewhat predictable, but well-played, romance-cum-morality play. Crawford even sings a Broadway-flavored trail ballad, and while she is certainly no Jeanette Macdonald (one was enough!), she does a creditable job with the material she has to work with. She and Brown both play their roles to their respective hilts, and provide intriguing insights into America's pre-Code morals as depicted by Hollywood. Not to be missed: excellent comedy cameos by Cliff Edwards (later famed as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Disney's animated classic "Pinocchio") and Benny Rubin (a teasingly fey Yiddish fella). Well worth a look-see!

Joan Crawford sings! -BADLY!!!!!

[Pat-54 · 2/10 · 13 October 1998]

Joan Crawford should had broken into the vaults at M-G-M studios and BURNED this film. Not only is she TERRIBLE in it, but the production itself is laughable. Joan even attempts to sing and is often off-key.

Very enjoyable and nostalgic

[Dee-40 · 14 November 2002]

Needless to say, this is truly an early talking picture show. While many of the acting skills and traits were being learned and mastered, I find this film to contain 89 minutes of wholesome entertainment. The same cannot be said of much of what comes out of Hollywood today. Johnny Mack Brown, one of my early on western cowpoke hero's. a very young and very attractive Joan Crawford both brought forth many fond memories of yesteryear. I enjoyed Montana Moon very much. again, after 70 years. Thank you, Ivan

Stay as far away from this one if you can

[cstimpy · 1/10 · 28 May 2019]

This is by far Joan Crawfords worst film, now I haven't seen them all but no doubt she's done a lot of bad ones. Our dancing daughters an old one from 1928 is pretty bad and that was a hit I believe 1929s our modern maidens also was bad, and last night I watched 1930s Paid and that was almost as bad as this one, but the acting in that is far better, the acting in this is awful and even Crawfords performance is painful to watch too. Only watch if you are like me and want to see all her films.

This moon has a huge cloud covering it: its leading man.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 22 March 2020]

The frog that Joan Crawford sees while attempting to sleep outdoors has more chemistry with her than the colorless Johnny Mack Briwn who should have been cast as one of the logs in the cabin Joan and him end up living in after they get married out of the blue. The juvenile script is filled with idiotic dialog and absurd situations that has Crawford and sister Dorothy Sebastian dealing with tyrannical father Lloyd Ingraham determined to keep these two flappers in line. On their way to his country ranch, Crawford gets off the train with the intention of returning to New York and encounters Brown while waiting for the train. When she realizes that he works for her father, she puts the moves on him, raising and lowering her eyes like a searchlight. They finally arrive at her father's cabin where they expect not to be greeted with open arms but find just the opposite. Ingraham thinks that of anybody, it's Brown who can keep her in line, but their social differences threatens the marriage right from the start.

While the ukulele playing and singing of Cliff Edwards adds some amusement, attempts for Crawford to put over a melody fails miserably. Edwards and comic Benny Rubin offer more groans than laughs with their long dated comic routines. Crawford does show some promise, but she's defeated by the wretched script and a massively messed up character. At least there are some nice mountain top views and the luxurious log cabin. But between the script and the monotonous performance of Johnny Mack Brown, this definitely claims the prize as Crawford's worst MGM film.

An exhilarating early Joan Crawford movie!

[eguinea5 · 9/10 · 3 September 2006]

Joan Crawford is modern, funny, loose and just plain terrific. She plays comedy with great finesse and there are many funny moments. A pre-code film with lots of low costumes and suggestive language. Johnny Mack Brown gives a rather stodgy, wooden performance as Joan's cowboy love. Ricardo Cortez plays the suave charmer aiming to reclaim his love. This 1929 film is well photographed with use of train miniatures and real people, with on location shots mixed with a few painted backdrops. But it's 1929...the depression and this movie is still an audience pleaser. Joan dances and sings...and really not bad at all. WORTH A LOOK!

Hey, it's Joan Crawford

[ferdmalenfant · 8/10 · 2 September 2020]

A must see for any Joan Crawford fan. Admittedly not her best work but for 1930 and considering the film's budget during that "depression era" it's quite good. One of her first lead roles and no padded shoulders or exaggerated eye brows yet...it's Joan becoming the biggest thing in Hollywood.

Wildly Uneven but Crawford is Wonderful

[Michael_Elliott · 6 December 2013]

Montana Moon (1930)

** (out of 4)

Incredibly uneven film about a rich brat (Joan Crawford) who gets off the train she's on after feeling guilty for messing with a man (Ricardo Cortez) that her best friend is in love with. Once off the train she finds herself in a small town where she meets cowboy Larry (Johnny Mack Brown) and the two quickly fall in love and marry but it doesn't take long for her desire for her "other life" to destroy the current relationship. MONTANA MOON is without question one of the most uneven movies that I've ever seen from this period of Hollywood. For the life of me it seemed like someone was carrying the screenplay but ran into someone else carrying a different screenplay and the two scripts just got mixed together. For starters, there are so many different genres being tried here and very few of them work. You've got the actual romance between Crawford and Johnny Mack Brown and this here actually does work and especially their "falling in love" scenes early in the picture. What does work are some really bad musical numbers that are thrown in as well as some comedy from Benny Rubin and Cliff Edwards. I know early talkies wanted to give people everything in regards to drama, music and laughs but it makes for such an uneven ride here that the entire movie just takes on a rather weird vibe. What keeps the movie slightly entertaining are the performances. Crawford is absolutely gorgeous here and manages to make you really hate her character at times and love her at others. I thought she was really good early on when she was the bad girl but once she meets the cowboy, I also believed the way she fell in love like a little girl. Johnny, on the other hand, is fairly good, although I'm not sure if some of his awkward line deliveries were a part of his character or just him struggling with the part. Either way, the two of them made for a great couple. Cortez is the typical punk that he always played but it was nice seeing him. MONTANA MOON isn't a film most are going to enjoy but if you're a fan of Crawford then it's worth sitting through once.

What a waste!

[nickandrew · 14 July 2002]

Joan Crawford & John Mack Brown star in this horrible, dated western-musical. As Leonard Maltin put it, it is OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS goes west, since there are many of the same cast members, but the film is not as good. There is a potential cast here, but it all goes to waste. 1 out of 4 stars.

An OK Rare Crawford Flick

[RetroJP · 9 August 2011]

The acting w as pretty good for an early talkie and the story isn't groundbreaking. It was a fun movie for Crawford fans. I liked. Wait for it to come on TCM. Which will be soon. Joan is stunning in this movie and she tries to sing in it. I personally liked it. It is pretty rare and hard to find. Oh wait thats because its not released. good thing I taped it.LOL. It reminds me of Mclintok for some odd reason. Who knows. It is set in the west.I am a big fan of Joan and i think you need to be a fan of her to like this. Otherwise don't bother watching because it is nothing original. It was fun but not original. LOL. Just try and watch it and see how you feel about it. I would watch it again,