Wynne Gibson didn't get to play a lot of leading roles, and she proves up to the task in this Stella Dallas/ Madelon Claudet/ Madame X-type weepie about the bad things that happen to a good woman. She's a talented dress designer circa 1912 who marries a shady insurance dealer (Pat O'Brien, cast against type and convincingly smarmy) and ends up an unwilling accomplice in an armed robbery. Forced to give up her adorable daughter, she emerges from prison and tries to track her down, hindered by a Javert-like but not entirely unsympathetic inspector (Dudley Digges). Gibson's makeup job doesn't convince you she spent 15 years at hard labor, but it's a sincere performance, and the mother-love suds churn up to a satisfying climax. This one isn't even shown on TCM (I saw it at Cinefest 2006, in Syracuse), and it's a shame, because it's faster-moving and less pretentious than other, more famous titles in this often-annoying subgenre.
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marcslope20 March 2006
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kidboots13 August 2013Paramount had Wynne Gibson typecast as a wise cracking tough dame and she was horrified, she knew she had more to offer than that and her performance as the down trodden dressmaker in this movie proves it. Option time arrived and Paramount decided she was no longer needed but feisty Wynne went to the top to plead her case and came to an agreement that if she agreed to a pay freeze they would try to find stories that were worthy of her. They found "The Strange Case of Clara Deane", a story originally bought for Ruth Chatterton who had since left for Warners. Unfortunately this sacrificial story of mother love was not popular (even by 1932 this genre was becoming passé) and though Wynne gave it everything she had, once again Paramount's enthusiasm for her waned.
Clara Deane is an up and coming dress designer who has decided to give it all up for marriage to a cad, oops, sorry, I mean a nice boy!! Just as they are about to walk down the aisle Frank (Pat O'Brien when he was still playing slippery crooks) is arrested for insurance fraud and it is only Clara's pleading and promises of paying it back that get him off the hook. He looks contrite and "who, me?" but it is only a taste of her life for years to come as he gambles and drinks away the money Clara earns because, of course he can't hold down a steady job!! It is not long before the police call again and they get yet another chance provided they flee the city, but the next time they are not so lucky as Frank is captured for robbery and hard luck Clara as his partner because it was thought she created a diversion when she bought her little girl Nancy (cute little Cora Sue Collins) some candy. A hard judge sentences her to 30 years!!!
Finally released on parole, old and frail before her time (as usual in these mother love sagas) she sets out to find her Nancy, now 20 (a beautiful Frances Dee) but finds herself up against a brick wall with the police chief relentless in his attempts to keep Clara from finding her. The answer is obvious after the first 20 minutes!!
Borrowing heavily from "Millie", "Sarah and Son" (another Chatterton film, bet she was glad she avoided this one) with a sprinkling of "Stella Dallas" this also features Dudley Digges as the police chief but couldn't he ever forget he excelled as a hard nose villain - the answer is no!!! Frances Dee proved she could at least have had a reasonable career as a screen beauty if she had not opted for marriage with Joel McCrea and lovely, sophisticated Florence Britton proved she was wasted by always being cast as a friend and sister!! -
It's 1912 and Wynne Gibson has a great career as a dress designer for Lee Kohlmer. She throws it all over to get married to insurance agent Pat O'Brien. Soon they have a daughter, Cora Sue Collins, but O'Brien isn't working so steadily at selling insurance any more. In fact, he's a gangster, as Miss Gibson discovers when they're out for a joyride and he commits robbery and shoots down a pursuing cop. Miss Gibson goes to prison too. When she gets out, she wants to see her daughter, who has grown up to be Frances Dee, the adopted daughter of Police Inspector Dudley Digges -- great onomatopoeia, that, he should have stayed a detective -- who thinks thinks her unnamed parents are dead.
It's got a bit of a MADAME X vibe to it, as you can see, and the casting is very interesting, with Digges holding the acting honors. He was one of those supporting actors of the 1930s wo would turn up in good pictures, do his bit as a minor authority figure, and get offscreen, leaving the stars very much. I'm not so fond of Miss Gibson's performance; as the lead, she should be more interested, but she plays the character as depressed and hesitant.... and depressed characters rarely do anything particularly interesting.
There's been some mention of the poor image quality of these pre-code Paramounts that have been showing up recently, and that's understandable. They look like TV prints that were recorded off the air 40 years ago. They probably were. Yet the sound tracks always seem to be in good shape. -
Old-fashioned soaper ala "Stella Dallas", which was made previously and remade a few years after this film. In this case, a mother is forced to give up her child then searches for her years later, in this case after getting out of prison. She was unjustly accused of aiding her husband in a robbery, and spends a great deal of time looking for her daughter. The picture stars Wynne Gibson in the title role, Pat O'Brien as her husband and Dudly Digges as the (semi) helpful detective.
The acting is the best part of the film as all three actors are superb, especially Gibson. She never became a top star in Hollywood and which seemed to suit her, as she was primarily a stage actress. It's dated, of course, so you watch it as a museum piece without relevance these days, except for the 'crime does not pay' angle. And do people still go to prison for 15 years at hard labor for such a crime? It was shown at Capitolfest, Rome, N.Y., 8/19.
******* 7/10 - Website does not print my star rating.