Possessed (1931)

Simply A Masterpiece

Let's be realistic.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

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

Small town factory worker Joan Crawford wants out of her cramped life and doesn't want to marry Wallace Ford. Can't say that I blame her on either count. So Joan heads off to the big city and eventually catches the eye of up-and-coming politician Clark Gable. The two enter into an "arrangement" but over time that becomes problematic for Gable's political career. Enter Crawford's ex Ford to stir things up.Despite all the talk about feminist themes, this seemed like a pretty ordinary pre-Code programmer to me. At the end of the day, it's still another story about how a woman needs a man and marriage to be fulfilled and happy. That's not feminism last time I checked. The chemistry between the leads is nice but the trappings are dry and creaky at times. Joan gets to sing and is good. Why some seem to dislike the sappy ending I'm not sure. Some people just prefer downbeat endings I guess. Personally, I think the ending saves the movie. This is a decent film of its type and time. Not one of the best but OK. Gable and Crawford fans will like it more than most.

Nobody wrote better screen soap operas than Lenore Coffee, and she introduces some surprisingly modern notions of being-a-kept-woman in this pre-Code star vehicle for Joan Crawford, in her ambitious-gal-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks phase. To escape the numbing mediocrity of her small-town box factory and unappealing suitor (Wallace Ford), she decamps to the Big Apple and soon meets up-and-coming lawyer-politician Clark Gable. Gable was 30 and unpolished, and isn't quite convincing as a man about town still smarting from a disastrous first marriage; ten years later he'd have been ideal. The camera loves Crawford, and Coffee is refreshingly nonjudgmental about the affair the pair pursues, though a couple of odd quirks pop up in its telling. To steer gossips away, the pair pretends she's a widow, which seems not only unnecessary but pointless; how is this going to throw anyone off their scent? And though she's clearly a kept woman, when old boyfriend Ford visits her and learns The Truth, she assures him there's nothing dirty going on; either she's lying or this is a very peculiar mistress relationship. It's swift and breezy with terse dialog, and though the 11th-hour plot turnabout is as unconvincing as every commenter says it is, one is entertained up to the end.

"Possessed" was rushed into production after the disappointing "This Modern Age" which, despite it's title, was very passe. The one satisfying thing that Joan Crawford took away was being able to play opposite one of her acting idols, Pauline Frederick, and she soaked up the older actress's refinement and speech. More than any other director (except maybe George Cukor) "Possessed" director Clarence Brown was able to really get inside MGM's star actresses and show their heart. Brown shot on location and with a brand new 360 degree camera platform was able to capture the depth of the first scene when Crawford, as Marian Martin, emerges with a dusty crowd from the paper box factory which is the hub of the run down town. She is joined by her small town sweetheart Al Manning (Wallace Ford) and their conversation shows Marian's desolation at being imprisoned by her drab and dreary surroundings. "Tired" he asks, "Not just tired - dead" she replies.Marian suddenly gets a glimpse of how the other half live - a private railway car owned by a Manhattan millionaire and as each lighted window goes by each full of luxurious "haves" dangled before the eyes of Marian - the "have not". When Wally (the always welcome "Skeets" Gallagher) offers Marian a glass of champagne she is determined to get away - "Off to the big city to be done wrong" he questions, she replies "to be done right"!!! and impulsively he gives her his card with his Park Avenue address little realising she will follow through.She meets Mark Whitney (Clark Gable) a wealthy lawyer with political ambitions who is charmed by her honesty ("I'm glad you're rich, I couldn't waste my time on anyone poor"!!) As the years go by she becomes the perfect mistress but while they both love each other, Mark has the memory of his first wife dragging his name through the mud after her affair with a chauffeur and he is determined not to let any woman do that to him again. One night during dinner an old friend drops by - with his mistress, Vernice (peppy Marjorie White), as he drunkenly exclaims "I couldn't bring my wife here" and "you have your sweetie, I have mine". Even though there is no comparison, Marian realises they are both sisters under the skin and that, deep down, she craves the respectability of marriage. Thanks to it's stars, Crawford and Gable (I don't think they were ever better paired) you really believe in the story and there are rocky roads ahead with the appearance of a face from Marian's past, Al Manning. Once "poor dumb Al" he is now an opportunistic contractor who brings all his hick town prejudices and narrow mindedness with him. Once he realises Marian is not the respectable widow he thought but mistress to the powerful Whitney he calls her every name he can think of (ironically because it was the money she sent home that enabled him to be put through business college, thanks to her mother). Yet he still wants her to use her influence with Whitney to secure his contract. Crawford comes into her own in the last half hour with all her dramatic talent as well as those beautiful tear filled eyes. She overhears a conversation and realises that unless she is out of Whitney's life he will never fulfill his political ambitions, so the scene is set for an "all stops pulled out" emotional confession with Marian making it clear to a shocked Mark that she was only using him and she is still a grasping factory girl at heart. Of course it couldn't end that way and in another emotional scene, in the midst of a rally, Marian stands up to the crowd to confess that she is the mysterious woman who was once in his life but has stepped aside for the good of his career. With their electrifying chemistry it is no surprise that both stars started on a torrid affair during this movie. They may well have married if they were free but the studio was already fending off threats from Gable's first wife (he was now married to wife number 2) and it was thought that if it came out there would be a scandal for two of MGM's most up and coming stars."Possessed" was also originally banned in England for it's depiction of two people living in sin and actually enjoying it!!

I came by this movie when someone I know at work gave me a still-sealed copy from the Warner Archive Collection; they'd sent him two of the same title by mistake. Since it was Clark Gable and Joan Crawford I decided I'd give it a chance. Joan plays a factory worker who gets tired of the hum-drum life she leads and isn't interested in the man who's longed to marry her since they were kids (Wallace Ford) so she leaves it all and travels to New York City where she plays mistress to a wealthy lawyer (Gable) to get the kind of high living she wants. Three years later, Ford still wants to marry her, and Gable intends to run for Governor but his chances may be jeopardized by living with a woman. This pre-code film was nothing earth shattering, but had good performances from Crawford and Gable, and for me an added surprise bonus with a strong turn by Wallace Ford. I think through this movie it's easy to see Crawford's talents and how Gable was destined to become a big star. Director Clarence Brown has a nice touch, and some shots are very impressive. The one which stood out most for me is early on where Joan longingly observes well-to-do people interacting on a slow-moving train, as we see them through the windows of each passing car. When I see artistic flourishes like this in so many early '30s pictures (and many silents), my old defense of Tod Browning's Dracula for being dull due to it being an early talkie certainly falls flat. **1/2 out of ****