A Lost Lady (1934) User Reviews (17)

early Stanwyck

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 4 June 2005]

Barbara Stanwyck is young and a lovely as a woman whose fiancée is killed by an angry husband just before their wedding. Embittered, she retreats to the mountains and finds healing in the affections of Frank Morgan, who plays a wealthy attorney who falls in love with her.

Stanwyck marries him, though explains to poor Frank that she doesn't love him. Their bedrooms, therefore, are across the hall from one another. With money, social standing, beauty, and being married, which makes her unattainable, Stanwyck soon finds the men are crawling out of the woodwork, including a very young Lyle Talbot and Ricardo Cortez, who lands his plane on her lawn.

Morgan and Stanwyck are excellent and give the story a very touching quality. One scene struck me as a little odd, censorship wise: At the beginning of the film, Morgan rescues Stanwyck from a fall. The next day, he walks by her house and pokes his head in her bedroom to see how she's doing. She's in bed, recovering. He's invited in. The maid leaves the bedroom and closes the door.

Either I'm getting too old or my sensibility is too modern, but I found this scene peculiar for 1934. I'd love to know how this got past the code since there was a big argument about "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." An unmarried woman, in her pajamas, entertaining a gentleman caller in her bedroom. Oh, well.

Minor Effort Well Worth Watching...

[xerses13 · 6/10 · 16 July 2007]

Warner Brothers (WB) release demonstrating what the studio system did right with these small dramas. Tight script and running time sixty-one (61) minutes did not allow any FAT. This was reinforced by a very competent cast led by Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Morgan, supported by Ricardo Cortez, Lyle Talbot with Rafaela Ottiano (maid as usual). Hobart Cavanaugh and Willy Fung provide comedy relief (as usual and thankfully brief).

Plot revolves around Stanwycks characters loss of love. Resurrection by the love of Frank Morgan. Temptation from first Lyle Talbot then Ricardo Cortez and redemption back to Frank Morgan. This is told in a brisk style that holds interest all the way through. It is a quick time soap opera.

It is great to see is Frank Morgan in a role that was more akin to his early stage presence. Most people only think of him as 'Professor Marvel' from THE WIZARD OF OZ, or some other eccentric character usually over acting. Barbara Stanwyck is looking very 'chic' in a role that would normally be played by WB clotheshorse Kay Francis. Ms. Stanwyck is not what you would call a conventual beauty, but there is something about her sex appeal that is irresistible. We can't exactly put our finger on it, but obviously Robert Taylor did.

Stanwyck is great as always, and there really is more to the plot than meets the eye...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 7 June 2015]

... and by that I mean this film is portraying PTSD 56 years before that is even a recognized phenomenon. In the case of veterans they would call it "shell shock", in the case of crime victims or witnesses to some other horrible incident they would just call it shock, and it really is realistically portrayed by Stanwyck, even though she doesn't really know that is what she is portraying.

Two days before her marriage, wealthy Marian (Barbara Stanwyck) is talking wedding talk to her fiancé, John Ormsby (Henry Kolker), and you can tell she is very much in love with the guy. They descend a staircase at a party and are met by a man. The man claims that Ormsby has been having an affair with his wife and produces the cigarette case Ormsby gave his wife as proof. It has his name on it and to add insult to injury it was a gift from Marian to Ormsby. The jealous husband shoots Ormsby dead right there on the staircase in front of Marian. Marian is in no danger because escape is not on the husband's mind, only murdering his wife's lover, and he has accomplished that.

The papers are full of the scandal, reporters hound Marian's front door, and fortunately she has a house of loyal servants to keep the interlopers out. The worst thing is Marian can't feel anything - she doesn't feel love, hate, hope, just a kind of nothingness. It is suggested that she spend some time in the Canadian Rockies. It is summer and she has always loved the place, however her mood does not improve. She still feels nothing.

On a long walk she falls down a hill and injures herself. She is found by Forrester (Frank Morgan), who is also on a walk. He carries her back to her house, comes to visit her, and at first when she realizes he feels a romantic attraction she gives him the brush off. But he is persistent and soon they are fast friends. He wants to marry her and she confesses she feels no love for him, but also tells him that she feels nothing for anybody. It comes time for Forrester to return to civilization and she realizes she does not want to lose him. He agrees to the marriage and says for love they will substitute honesty, and that will be enough for him.

They return to Chicago, and at first her PTSD keeps her from wanting to be around large numbers of people, but Forrester is gentle with her and soon she is able to take on the task of being hostess in their home. He builds a house for her in the country, and she is content, but still not in love. She busies herself with gardening in her new home, but with a beautiful young wife who is not in love, and a husband who is older and has to be away for weeks at a time sometimes, you know something bad is just going to drop from the sky in all of this. And it literally does just that - Ricardo Cortez, portraying the president of an aerospace corporation, crash lands during a test drive of one of his new designs on her garden and introduces himself by kissing her passionately. Cortez' character KNOWS she is married, is a guest at a party thrown by her husband, and yet the villain still pursues her. How will all of this work out? Watch and find out.

Everybody plays their part marvelously here. I haven't mentioned Frank Morgan, but he really was just more than the bumbling often ne'er do well that he often played over at MGM and this Warner's B film really does show off his talents. Seeing Rafaela Ottiano play Marian's caring servant seemed rather weird when I mainly remember her from The Devil Doll as the mad scientist, missing one leg and one arm and consumed with shrinking people...but I digress.

What is especially weird is that Marian has one servant that looks the part - somewhat stuffy - but whenever he opens his mouth he sounds like he should be in a gangster film. I'm not sure where that was coming from.

At any rate, I consider this one much better than its reputation, even if it was one of Warner's B efforts. Recommended.

Nice to see Frank Morgan is a starring/romantic lead

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 16 July 2015]

Alright, I'm prejudiced here. I have always adored Frank Morgan, and here we get to see him as a mature romantic lead, rather than as a supporting actor.

To be honest, if I had been Barbara Stanwyck, I might have refused this role. There's no way she can come across as anything more than a selfish ingrate. She does it fairly well.

Stanwyck plays a young woman who has a high-life past who is injured and saved from a fall by an older man (Morgan). Morgan falls in love with Stanwyck and convinces her to marry him, even in a sexless marriage. All goes well, and there's even another man (Lyle Talbot) who you think she's going to have an affair with...but doesn't; she's good. Then another man comes along (Ricardo Cortez, who sweeps her off her feet. She tells Morgan she's leaving him, and the following day he has a heart attack. She insists on staying with him until he recovers, although he doesn't want her to.

Will he live? Will they live happier ever after? This is a good film, though short at just about an hour. Nicely staged.

Something of a miss for Missy

[jjnxn-1 · 7/10 · 1 June 2015]

On the eve of her wedding a young woman witnesses the murder of her fiancée which sends her into a downward spiral, she enters into a marriage of convenience truthfully telling the man, Frank Morgan who is excellent as usual, that she's not in love with him and if he can deal with that she'll be his wife. They settle into a contented existence until she falls for a man she can't see is a bounder and prepares to leave until circumstances throw a wrench into those plans.

Purportly based on a Willa Cather story this ordinary quickie drama shares the story's title and only the most tenuous relation to the actual original tale.

A chronicle of selfless and unrequited love this is redeemed by its stars. At this point Barbara "Missy" Stanwyck was an established star but she was plugging away in forgettable programmers with an occasional gem mixed in, this is not one of those gems but her magnetism makes it palatable.

Nothing that you haven't seen before but if you're a fan of either star this is a pleasant time passer although Stanwyck is dressed in some truly hideous outfits and unflattering hairstyles.

Decent

[Michael_Elliott · 27 February 2008]

Lost Lady, A (1934)

** (out of 4)

By the numbers love story about a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who turns very bitter and cold hearted after having a tragedy strike her life. One day she meets an elderly man (Frank Morgan) and he convinces her to marry him even though she warns that she can never love again. After the wedding however, the woman finds love with a younger man and must decide what to do next. Even at only 69-minutes this thing seems to run on and on. I guess the only real reason to see this film is due to the early performance by Stanwyck but she's not too good here. She's not bad but not good either since she's still learning the trade. Morgan steals the show but the screenplay doesn't allow him to do too much. Ricardo Cortez and Lyle Talbot have parts as well.

Slick Stanwyck Soap Opera

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 22 March 2019]

Barbara Stanwyck, the greatest actress never to have won an Oscar, is here unusually young and glamorous in a succession of ravishing Orry-Kelly creations as she is torn between staying faithful to nice but dull (although fabulously wealthy) husband Frank Morgan and dashing young blades Lyle Talbot and Ricardo Cortez.

It's unusual to see Ms Stanwyck adorning a Women's Picture at this stage in her career; slickly packaged in a grade A production by Warner Bros. rather as they would soon showcase Bette Davis. The original 1923 Willa Cather novel had been filmed with Irene Rich ten years earlier (sadly now lost), and after seeing this glossy travesty Ms Cather never allowed her work to be filmed again during her lifetime.

"A Lost Lady" in the Fog

[glennstenb · 6/10 · 27 December 2021]

"A Lost Lady" starts out strong and I was settling in for a fun time with the show after the first twenty minutes, but as the film continued it seemed to have gotten mired in some kind of quicksand or fog and it became kind of ordinary and bordering on tedious. I think the fall off for me began when Stanwyck became, for reasons inexplicable, under the spell of the smooth operator and obviously narcissistic Ricardo Cortez. Why she would succumb so easily to his efforts to seduce her was not really made evident. Furthermore, Lyle Talbot's character should have been developed more, for his expanded involvement in her life could have made this program all the more intriguing, if not understandable. In general, the film just became less and less involving as it unspooled. But the acting was all sincere, and Frank Morgan in particular was effective; he made me feel for him more than anyone else in the array made me feel for them. Because of her falling without developed cause for Cortez, I never got into a sympathetic feel for Stanwyck; therefore my interest in the entire film waned.

"A Lost Lady" is well tailored and was produced thoughtfully. It is just that something is wrong with the story or wrong with the story telling itself. The film's continuity is excellent and all lighting, sets, and direction appointments seem sharp. It is worth seeing for those interested in all the major players here, but it isn't anything special.

Saving that woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown...

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 31 May 2014]

On the verge of suicide, a sensitive young woman (Barbara Stanwyck) is saved by a dashing older man (Frank Morgan) whom, out of gratitude, she marries for companionship. He realizes that the marriage could collapse at any minute and demands that they remain honest with each other. Of course, another man (Ricardo Cortez) comes along and Stanwyck must heartbreakingly end things with Morgan. But obviously other plans are meant for her, leaving a grave decision in her heart that will guide all three parties destinies.

Sweetly told, this is a majorly glossy Warner Brothers soaper, more along the line of the Joan Crawford clothes horse women's pictures over at MGM and similar to the type of things most of Paramount's band of leading ladies were performing in. Stanwyck plays one of her most lady- like characters, and even if her physical image defies that, her sincerity overshadows the tough image she usually projects. Morgan, five years before achieving Hollywood immortality for "The Wizard of Oz", is one of those noble older man who obviously deserves Stanwyck's love (or at least his loyalty), and you know that she hurts just as much for breaking his heart.

Cortez lends sophisticated authority to his role, making his character both understanding and mildly self-serving, so the decision Stanwyck must make is a difficult one, leaving no villains, only real humans, in a very tough predicament. Rafaela Ottiano is memorable as Morgan's long- time housekeeper, less severe than normal, and equally sympathetic as she places no judgments on her employer's younger wife and seems to be equally understanding to her predicament. Gentle almost to the point of lathargicness, this is a unique film because it is not necessarily a great one, yet too likable to dismiss as romantic clap-trap. Stanwyck looks great in Orry-Kelly designs, and beautiful photography and lavish art direction add to the film's enjoyment.

well-made and watchable nonsense

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 8 August 2007]

Barbara Stanwyck plays a woman who is unlucky in love and on the brink of self-destruction when nice-guy Frank Morgan comes along and saves her life. Not only that, but he spends a lot of time and energy nursing her back to health. In the process, he falls in love with her. Stanwyck, while not in love, is very grateful and marries him. Unfortunately, later she meets up with Ricardo Cortez (in one of his non-gangster roles) and wants to run away with him--but what about sweet Frank Morgan? When he finds out the truth, he has a heart attack and Barbara feels too guilty to leave. Considering that Cortez doesn't have any qualms about her leaving Morgan at this point, I really felt he was a jerk, but still Stanwyck longed to leave with Cortez but couldn't.

This movie means well and the actors seem to give it their best, but overall it's a silly melodrama that is awfully tough to believe. The situations just seem sticky and overdone--and it's overdone melodrama throughout. However, given the nice production values and all, I still give it a 5--making it an okay time-passer. The bottom line is that all the actors involved made better films and poor Lyle Talbot seems to have nothing to do in the film--getting rather high billing but an unenviable role that gives him no chance to show his acting talents.

Overlooked gem

[HotToastyRag · 10/10 · 30 September 2018]

This wonderful romantic drama is one of the most overlooked old movies of all time. Barbara Stanwyck is best remembered for her role in The Big Valley as an older actress, and when people think of Frank Morgan, they think of The Wizard of Oz. Both were so much more than their most famous acting roles. Can you picture Barbara Stanwyck as a very young, confused woman, lacking all the strength present in her stock characters? How about Frank Morgan as a romantic lead? Rent A Lost Lady to see both actors in atypical roles and fantastic performances.

Barbara Stanwyck is engaged, happy, and full of life, but before her wedding, her fiancé is killed and his infidelity exposed. Distraught, she travels to the Canadian Rockies to recuperate and retreat from society. She meets Frank Morgan, and while he is immediately taken with her, she still needs time to heal. Will their friendship develop into something more?

A Lost Lady is a fantastic film, and one that should be included on classic romance and must-see lists. I don't know why it's been forgotten about, but it shows a depth of acting most people don't attribute to the two leading actors. To open your mind about the Wizard or Victoria Barkley, rent this classic during a romantic afternoon.

Great Potential, Middling Results

[mrb1980 · 3/10 · 9 August 2005]

When Stanwyck's husband-to-be is murdered on the eve of their wedding, she retreats to a mountain lodge, where she slips (sort of) off a cliff and is rescued by wealthy attorney Morgan. Morgan falls in love with her, leading to a definitely one-sided marriage, spent on a huge estate in Chicago (which appears to be surrounded by mountains!). Stanwyck is tempted by dashing Cortez, but eventually returns to Morgan, in a very subdued and unconvincing story resolution.

This film has a great cast (Morgan in particular is one of my favorites) and a great director, but the script is meandering and seems pointless at times. I was so ready to enjoy this movie but I was ultimately disappointed. Still worth watching for the cast, and it's good for anyone who likes 1930s films.

Mediocre melodrama with great star Stanwyck

[funkyfry · 5/10 · 24 October 2002]

A very good cast is well directed, but this film is practically hobbled by a pedantic, bowlderized script. The story concerns Stanwyck as a society dame whose fiance is shot by an angry husband on the eve of their wedding. Stanwyck is sent to the country to recover her spirits, and there attempts suicide (although the film actually shows her SLIPPING off the edge of the cliff) and is rescued by a gentlemanly older man (Morgan), whom she subsequently marries. Her affair with Cortez (who often seems to fill this undesirable role) consumes much of the rest of the film. Unconvincing conclusion adds to the mire that this film got stuck in.

Melodramatic and not all that authentic

[gbill-74877 · 5/10 · 28 July 2017]

'A Lost Lady' starts off strong, with Barbara Stanwyck and Phillip Reed in love and about to get married, only to have their plans tragically changed. As Stanwyck goes into seclusion in order to pick up the pieces, she's approached by Frank Morgan (who you may recognize as the Wizard of Oz), an older man whose love for her is pure yet platonic. From there the film attempts to troll the depths of friendship, love, duty, and marriage, as other men (Ricardo Cortez and Lyle Talbot) are also attracted to Stanwyck. The plot seems to have little to do with the Willa Cather novel of the same name, and as the film progresses, it seems melodramatic and not all that authentic. It's always great to see early Barbara Stanwyck, and in this one you'll see her hit a few tennis balls among other things, but not even she can raise this above being pretty tepid. It was made right at the outset of the production code, which undoubtedly played a role. At 61 minutes it breezes by, and, having failed to develop some of the potential of the story, ends abruptly.

The lost lady

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 19 March 2020]

While not being totally enamoured by the film's title (called 'Courageous' in my country, 'The Lost Lady' known elsewhere would have been far more suitable, and a title that doesn't really gel properly with the plot summary), the subject intrigued enough. Also have liked what has been seen of Alfred E Green's films and Barbara Stanwyck was to me and many others one of the best actresses of the golden age and gave many great performances. It was interesting to see Frank Morgan in an against type role.

A large part of me however was rather disappointed in 'Courageous'. Considering Stanwyck and Morgan's calibre, it should have been a much better film. Is that saying that 'Courageous' is bad? Of course not. It is very well made and acted in particular and starts off great. It is just a shame that it gets increasingly silly and melodramatic too early and ends underwhelmingly, am aware that these are potential traps fallen into a good deal in films at that time but still.

'Courageous' has a lot of great things, starting with the great acting and some of the cast playing against type. This is not one of Stanwyck's tough roles and requires her to be a little more subtle and sensitive, her performance here is very sincere and controlled, nothing feeling overdone or false. Morgan's role here is a dramatic one and a change from his usual eccentric ones, he understates beautifully and has affecting chemistry with Stanwyck (particularly towards the end). Am more familiar with Ricardo Cortez in villainous roles, so it was again interesting to see an in comparison softer side and he manages to give an as sympathetic as he can edge to a character who isn't that really. Rafaela Ottiano does a nice job too in her role.

It as a film is very well made. Beautifully and stylishly shot, atmospherically lit in a sometimes eerie way and with sumptuous sets and costuming. The music doesn't feel intrusive or overused and adds to and not over-emphasises the atmosphere. Green's direction has a lot of striking parts visually and he makes the first half of the film engaging. As indicated, 'Courageous' starts off well.

So it was unfortunate that the rest of the film wasn't as good. The melodrama gets into overload in the middle and it is very overwrought melodrama at that. Especially in the soap operatic Stanwyck and Cortez scenes where one still can taste the increasingly bitter suds after watching, not because of them but the writing. The writing is very sudsy and sometimes quite silly in their scenes and the brief attempts at levity are not amusing or needed, Willie Fung just doesn't fit and more at odds with everything else.

And then there is the ending. Too abrupt and too pat (almost like forgetting that the middle act didn't happen), not to mention subdued. That it was subdued though is admittedly preferable to the film getting more increasingly melodramatic than it already was, but it just felt anaemic. The waste of Lyle Talbot in a prominent role in the source material criminally reduced to practically nothing is unforgivable, as a result he is completely forgettable.

Summarising, watchable definitely but for a crew of this calibre this could have been a lot better. 5/10

False, false, false

[roslein-674-874556 · 5/10 · 10 May 2014]

No movie with the great Barbara Stanwyck is completely without interest, but there is little else to recommend this misbegotten movie. Willa Cather was so horrified at what had been done to her novel that she refused to sell any of her other books to the movies, and one can see why. The story, characterisations, time span, plot, and tone have all been changed, for the worse, in a trite Hollywood way. For example, the house in the book, which is a nice-size house whose distinction is the beautiful scenery around it, is here a huge mansion with the standard Thirties-mansion double-height curving staircase. Complex relationships in the novel are here so oversimplified as to be almost meaningless. The movie adheres to a post-Code morality, also very simple, good vs. bad, where the book was much more subtle and complex.

In what I think is the only case of this I have seen, Stanwyck has a different hairstle in every scene, which changes her appearance greatly. It makes you feel that trivial details like these, at the expense of consistency, are what most concerned the film-maker (Alfred Green-- who?).

White High Heels Not Recommended for Gardening

[DLewis · 5/10 · 22 July 2017]

When book author Willa Cather saw this film she immediately banned all adaptations of her work, screen or otherwise, and more than forty years passed before another was attempted. It is easy to see why once you compare her novel with this soapy love yarn -- there is practically no connection in story, or tone. I loved the cast in this picture and there were parts that moved even unsentimental me; it was nice to see Frank Morgan play a role so far from his most celebrated turn as the avuncular, but sexless Wizard of Oz. Here Morgan is a mature man that is used to holding his passions in check, but sets himself up in a situation that brings him disillusioned loneliness and self-doubt. Barbara Stanwyck is ravishing in every frame of the movie, and she has to be, as she's set up as being a girl so beautiful that no man can resist her. But then we have the scene with Barbara working in the garden in white high-heeled shoes and a bright, floral print dress and we begin to wonder -- "What's up with that?" Do we have to keep propping up this concept of her as perpetually dressed for a cocktail party in order reinforce this idea of her irresistible beauty? Lyle Talbot, God love him, puts his all into the minor part of Nial, and that's what got me interested in looking up Cather's book. Actually, Nial is the major character in the novel, so Talbot's reduced role is a demotion indeed. It can be an enjoyable picture if you concentrate on the performances and not worry about where the story is going; the pacing in the first half is swift, and builds interest. But if you look at it through the lens of somehow representing the work of Willa Cather, then this version of "A Lost Lady" falls flat on its ass. Apparently the now lost silent version was closer to its source.