Norma Shearer is "A Free Soul" in this 1931 film also starring Lionel Barrymore, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, and James Gleason. Though this is an early talkie, the actors handle the dialogue well, and there are not the awkward rhythms, pauses, or echoes one often hears during these first years.
Shearer plays Jan Ashe, the daughter of an alcoholic attorney, Stephen Ashe (Barrymore). Ashe successfully defends a mobster named Ace Wilfong against murder charges by showing that the hat bearing his initials, found next to the body, doesn't fit him. Shades of O.J. Wonder if Johnny Cochran saw this film. The minute Jan meets Ace (Gable), there is an instant attraction, although she's engaged to Dwight (Howard). Soon she is sleeping with Ace. Her father finds this unacceptable. Desperate to get him to stop drinking, Jan agrees to stop seeing Ace if he will lay off the booze. They leave the city with Stephen's friend (Gleason) and rough it for three months. Just before they're due to return to the city, Jan catches Stephen drunk. He disappears on a passing train, and she returns to Ace. This time, however, she realizes he's a cruel brute and no longer wants him. It is then that the film takes an unexpected turn.
The themes in "A Free Soul" are dated today, having to do with the class system and a woman being a tramp if she sleeps with someone outside of marriage. Norma Shearer gives a very good performance as the flapper Jan, conveying a daughter's devotion and a determination to remain independent and not follow the norm. Not a great beauty, Shearer was a hard-working actress who had glamor, sophistication, and was ultra-feminine. The latter is especially evident in newsreels where she's only playing Norma Shearer. Lionel Barrymore is not yet in a wheelchair due to arthritis here. He does a great job as a man who is a shadow of what he was but still retains elements of greatness.
It's certainly interesting to see Rhett and Ashley with a woman between them 8 years before "Gone With the Wind." This was one of Gable's breakthrough performances. Unmustached and looking very young, his persona is fitting into place - when he slaps Jan, he packs a wallop, and he kisses a woman like he means it. Leslie Howard is an elegant, gentle, and romantic Dwight. I happen to like his Ashley - his idealism, impracticality and mixed signals are what make him attractive to Scarlett. Here, he's as honorable as Ashley, with his protection of Jan being the only thing that matters to him.
"A Free Soul" is a turgid melodrama, and some of the acting may seem a little over the top today, but it's still recommended for the performances and especially for the young Gable, who would be packing a wallop and kissing like he meant it for another 30 years.
Shearer plays Jan Ashe, the daughter of an alcoholic attorney, Stephen Ashe (Barrymore). Ashe successfully defends a mobster named Ace Wilfong against murder charges by showing that the hat bearing his initials, found next to the body, doesn't fit him. Shades of O.J. Wonder if Johnny Cochran saw this film. The minute Jan meets Ace (Gable), there is an instant attraction, although she's engaged to Dwight (Howard). Soon she is sleeping with Ace. Her father finds this unacceptable. Desperate to get him to stop drinking, Jan agrees to stop seeing Ace if he will lay off the booze. They leave the city with Stephen's friend (Gleason) and rough it for three months. Just before they're due to return to the city, Jan catches Stephen drunk. He disappears on a passing train, and she returns to Ace. This time, however, she realizes he's a cruel brute and no longer wants him. It is then that the film takes an unexpected turn.
The themes in "A Free Soul" are dated today, having to do with the class system and a woman being a tramp if she sleeps with someone outside of marriage. Norma Shearer gives a very good performance as the flapper Jan, conveying a daughter's devotion and a determination to remain independent and not follow the norm. Not a great beauty, Shearer was a hard-working actress who had glamor, sophistication, and was ultra-feminine. The latter is especially evident in newsreels where she's only playing Norma Shearer. Lionel Barrymore is not yet in a wheelchair due to arthritis here. He does a great job as a man who is a shadow of what he was but still retains elements of greatness.
It's certainly interesting to see Rhett and Ashley with a woman between them 8 years before "Gone With the Wind." This was one of Gable's breakthrough performances. Unmustached and looking very young, his persona is fitting into place - when he slaps Jan, he packs a wallop, and he kisses a woman like he means it. Leslie Howard is an elegant, gentle, and romantic Dwight. I happen to like his Ashley - his idealism, impracticality and mixed signals are what make him attractive to Scarlett. Here, he's as honorable as Ashley, with his protection of Jan being the only thing that matters to him.
"A Free Soul" is a turgid melodrama, and some of the acting may seem a little over the top today, but it's still recommended for the performances and especially for the young Gable, who would be packing a wallop and kissing like he meant it for another 30 years.