Chained (1934)

So much average

Powerful

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Chained (1934) stars Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Otto Kruger, and Stuart Erwin. This was the fifth of eight movies that Crawford and Gable made together. They were known for their incredible chemistry on screen, and Chained is no exception. This movie has romance, humor, and even some good atmosphere in parts. This movie is basically about a woman who is torn between two men and she needs to decide who she wants to be with. That's all I want to say. I don't want to give anything away. The movie was well shot and was directed by Clarence Brown. Crawford's acting is excellent. She turns on Niagara Falls several times in this movie just like she does in every movie she's in. Nobody in cinematic history was better at this than Crawford. Gable comes across as a little bit unconvincing in certain parts - his reaction to certain things that happen during the movie is as if it doesn't affect him the way you would think it would affect him. Overall, though, his acting is pretty good. Otto Kruger gives a good performance throughout - very solid.When this movie was made, Crawford was at the peak of her career at MGM. This movie was made right after Sadie McKee (1934).I give this movie 5 stars because of the basic story, plot, cinematography, quality of acting, and camera-work.

I was surprised when I saw this film because in all the films these two made, I don't think that either ever looked any better than they do in this film. Crawford was about 29 and Gable 33, and each was really in their prime. And the chemistry showed too.I thought that the swimming pool scenes were especially interesting as one can easily take them very lightly. But the thought of actually acting, reciting lines and swimming back and forth across the pool is a lot easier said than done. Considering the number of scenes, I wonder how many takes it took to get that sequence filmed? It was also a good vehicle to get both stars in bathing suits for the time, and Crawford's is actually pretty revealing.Some other reviewers believe that the Crawford character would not have wanted to stay with the Kruger character, but I thought that Crawford completely sold it. Not an unusual plot but a somewhat unusual ending especially for the time. Crawford could have come across as sleazy given her characters morals, but somehow she came across as noble, no easy feat, and a tribute to her ability. Gable? what can you say, he just had "it".One to see for old movie fans.

This is the second film with Joan Crawford where she appears to insanely rebuff a handsome and very nice single guy (the other is "Forsaking All Others") for some completely undeserving jerk. Logically, this just never made any sense--a major problem with the plot. After all, who could believe that Crawford could hold a flame for the married Otto Kruger--especially after learning that his wife will never grant him a divorce. So, when she meets rich, handsome, charming and sweet Gable on a cruise ship bound for South America, you wonder what gives--how could she resist his charms and hold out hopes to STILL capture Kruger?! I am about as straight as any guy could be, and I would have had a devil of a time resisting Gable's charms!! By convention, you KNOW that despite everything, Gable and Crawford will marry by the end of the movie. That simply is how these films had to end back in 1934...period. So, even when Kruger's wife finally grants him a divorce and Crawford leaves with him, you KNOW that by the final minutes of the movie she finally uses her noggin and chooses Gable. There is no other option...and this is a serious problem with the film. It is all just too conventional and too expected. It's still enjoyable and well-acted--but also way too 'by the numbers' to be anything other than a very well-crafted but utterly predictable film. MGM apparently made a bazillion such films...and early into this film you realize this is yet another one of them--proving that in the 1930s America WAS into recycling! By the way, late in the film I think I may have understood why for so long Crawford stayed with Kruger. In the film, he was apparently a Harvard man--and Gable's character (what a slacker) was only a Yale man!!

Diane Lovering (Joan Crawford) is about to win the lottery by wresting away ocean liner CEO Richard Field (Otto Kruger) from his harridan spouse who refuses to give him a divorce. Needing more time to convince his wife otherwise he sends Diane on a lengthy cruise replete with maid and a stateroom the size of a small cafeteria. On board she meets Mike Bradley a rancher in Argentina who attempts to romance her. After slowly wearing Diane down she resolves to return to the states and break it off with Field but when she sees what the tycoon has sacrificed for her she goes through with the marriage. Wealthy beyond her wildest dreams and loved by a decent man she is still nagged by her decision when she bumps into Bradley at a gun store a year later.Gable and Crawford never looked better in this above average entry of their numerous teamings together. In more than one scene we are treated to cinematographer George Folsey's cameras warm embrace of the handsome Gable and radiant Crawford offering concrete evidence of the icons they were and remain. The star wattage however is dimmed by the rational and civil discourse displayed by Field who maintains decorum throughout even in the face of possibly losing his new wife to Bradley. In addition Diane for a good chunk of the film has to check her passion as she attempts to keep Bradley at arm's length. But whether in conversation or a clinch these two sharing the screen together constantly reinforce Norma Desmond's Sunset Boulevard declaration about pictures with matchless chemistry.Crawford, more restrained, sophisticated and understanding than in most of her roles gives one of the better performances of her career. Garbo director Clarence Brown might have had some influence in toning her performance down but for the most part he maintains a steady framing of the two leads struggling with coitus interruptus.Otto Kruger as Field is decent and noble in the face of the calamity he faces, maybe too much to the film's detriment. Stu Erwin is annoying as Mike's flunky while Oona Mundsin as Diane's maid casts more glances than dialogue. There are brief moments of ethnic insensitivity with some at the expense of Akim Tamiroff who nevertheless gets the biggest laugh in this otherwise well mannered and tame romantic melodrama that succeeds solely on the merit of its well showcased charismatic leads at the top of their game.