The Lady of Scandal (1930) User Reviews

Ruth Chatterton in an early talkie

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 17 September 2005]

I watched this film, Lady of Scandal, because I had never seen Ruth Chatterton in a film, and I'm very glad I saw it. There was very witty dialogue, some funny scenes, and some tender moments peppered throughout this movie, which was based on a play. The beginning was a riot, as Chatterton, while performing on stage, dances herself over to the wings and hands her fiancée a letter from his family. "Your family is horrid!" she exclaims while doing her high kicks. The dialogue between Chatterton's prospective parents-in-law is especially funny.

It's fascinating to see Basil Rathbone in his pre-Sherlock Holmes days. He was Margaret Mitchell's idea of Rhett Butler, she told a reporter, and it's perhaps a little bit easier to see why in these early films. But it's obvious that when Mitchell wrote her famous book, she envisioned her characters somewhat differently and from another perspective. Rathbone could have been a dashing southern gentleman but the ruggedness and sexiness would have been lost.

Chatterton was a charming performer with a wide range, as exhibited in this film. She could do the theatrical diva, as well as comedy and pathos. I look forward to seeing more of her films.

Frederick Lonsdale's drawing room comedy has lots of laughs, but has some serious undertones too.

[Art-22 · 7/10 · 6 November 1998]

British playwright Frederick Lonsdale had many of his drawing room comedies transferred to the screen, and this is one of his best. Ralph Forbes is in love with Ruth Chatterton, a British star actress, and forces the issue of marriage by announcing their engagement in the newspapers. He is the son of staid Lord Crayle (Herbert Bunston), who gathers the family together at his estate to try to determine what to do about it. They consider offering her a sum of £5000 to deny it when Forbes brings her to the meeting. Except for Basil Rathbone, the family is dead set against the marriage and think Chatterton too low in society. In a funny twist, her father, Robert Bolder, arrives to object to the marriage too. He thinks Chatterton is a genius at providing entertainment for the masses, and doesn't want her marrying beneath her station. He suggests they approve the engagement providing the marriage is delayed for six months, by which time Forbes should be totally bored with her. They agree and so does Forbes and Chatterton. She stays at the estate and brings about a transformation in the most reserved members. It was fun to watch Herbert Bunston do a solo modern dance to the tune of "Lulu Comes Home." And Frederick Kerr, who normally doesn't drink, gets drunk as he extols the virtues of the "gulley washers" Chatterton introduces him to. Meanwhile, Rathbone and Chatterton fall in love, but she is also aware he has been carrying on a long-term affair with a married Parisian woman, who he had said earlier he would marry if he could. He promises to give up the woman, but things change as they hear on the radio that the husband of that woman has died. Now Chatterton feels that woman will always be between them, but Rathbone is adamant about giving her up. Chatterton puts through a call to her in Paris and hands the phone to Rathbone, who has some difficulty going through with his plan. And Forbes has some ideas about his life, too.

Let's look her over

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 13 June 2016]

Is this film ever a throwback. Hard to believe that back in those days in very class stratified Great Britain that the upper classes would get all in a snit over the idea of one of their titled people marrying an actress. Yet that is the subject of The Lady Of Scandal.

Who in this case happens to be Ruth Chatterton a rather celebrated actress on the London stage. Young Ralph Forbes proclaims that he's going to marry Chatterton so his family and extended family invite her to a weekend in the country to look her over. Once there however she's not happy with this snooty crowd. And her father Robert Bolder in an Alfred P. Doolittle type attitude doesn't want her marrying into them either.

Which is all right with cousin Basil Rathbone if she doesn't marry Forbes. He's got his own title to offer. He's also got a married mistress on the side.

The Lady Of Scandal had a respectable run in London's East End. But I rather think it didn't do well in the USA. This is one of those foreign works that Americans by and large just wouldn't get. Granted that people here wanted escapist entertainment during the Depression. But these people don't seem to have a clue.

Ruth Chatterton does fine in a most dated work that I doubt we'll ever see a remake of.

Ruth Chatterton Has Charm to Spare

[drednm · 27 August 2005]

Interesting drawing room comedy from Frederick Lonsdale (On Approval) casts Ruth Chatterton as a stage star engaged to dull Ralph Forbes. It's announced in the papers that they are to marry so he brings her home to meet the relatives who are outraged at having an actress invade their stuffy manor house.

Forbes' father (Herbert Bunston) decides that he will allow it if she quits the stage and stays engaged for 6 months. Three weeks later she cannot abide the oaf and has fallen for Basil Rathbone. She's also brought LIFE into the house in the forms of music, tennis, and "gullet washers" (cocktails).

Chatterton was a charming actress of early talkies and is best remembered as a silly wife in the wonderful Dodsworth. She's terrific here and opens and closes the film with a song-and-dance stage number. Rathbone is OK as the love interest. Others in the cast include Nance O'Neill, Effie Ellsler, Cyril Chadwick, Mackenzie Ward, the oddly named Moon Carroll, Edgar Norton (butler again), Robert Bolder as Chatterton's father, and Frederick Kerr, who steals the film as the old crab who discovers the joys of gullet washers.

The immense set is quite good as is the writing. As with most of Lonsdale's plays, there is a serious undertone. But Chatterton is always very good, and the rapport between Kerr and O'Neill is hilarious. Forbes may well have been the most boring actor in films.

ruth chatterton, basil rathbone

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 5 October 2019]

Some pretty huge hollywood names in this MGM love story from 1930. Ruth Chatterton, who was the very capable female lead in so many early films, is Elsie, in love with a rich man John (Ralph Forbes). Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes! ) is the other son Edward, in love with a married woman. Unfortunately, John's family just doesn't approve of Elsie, an actress, so she decides to leave, but the two brothers like her, and want her to stick around. The sound quality throughout is pretty awful, and the acting is all pretty lame, so no oscar awards for this one. Many really long pauses of dead air, so the editing is also just terrible. Chatterton was busy in the early 1930s.. she was nominated for two academy awards... (but certainly not for this one!) Directed by Sidney Franklin, who will be nominated best director for Good Earth, and also won the Thalberg award. Franklin directed Garbo in Wild Orchids, Nöel Coward's Private Lives, and Last of Mrs. Cheyney (another rich family versus poor woman story). Original play written by Frederick Lonsdale. This one is interesting soley for the big names in it (Chatterton, Rathbone), but the sound and editing are so bad it's almost painful to watch. Granted, talkies had just started about a year before this, so i guess we need to cut them a little slack. shows now and then on Turner Classics.

Passionless Passion Play

[richardchatten · 4/10 · 18 October 2019]

This tinny early talkie version of Frederick Lonsdale's 'The High Road' is fun to start with but eventually outstays it's welcome as the leads blather on passionlessly and at great length about love.

Director Sidney Franklin is plainly concentrating on the performances rather than the camera (in the process actually getting a decent performance out of Frederick Kerr), and Basil Rathbone starts to show what he would be capable of when his film career kicked off in earnest shortly afterwards.

lady of scandal

[mossgrymk · 5/10 · 15 August 2022]

Some amusing barbs at the British upper crust and it's always nice to spend time with Ms. Chatterton but too much of this movie suffers from the unintended irony of its being as stiff and dull as the people it's satirizing.

Well, lah-di-dah

[marcslope · 4/10 · 19 July 2016]

Dull, primitive early talkie from a Frederick Lonsdale stage success. The camera's nailed to the floor, the sound's iffy, and the performances and attitudes aren't just from another era, they're from another planet. Ruth Chatterton, never saying "terribly" when "teddibly" will do, is the stage actress (she does a musical scene, and if that's not her voice, it's a good double) who's looked down on by the family of the Brit gentleman (Ralph Forbes, boring) who wants to marry her. So she conveniently falls in love with his pal Basil Rathbone, also uninteresting, and the matter gets sorted out in clipped accents. Ruth's supposed to be self-sacrificing and appealing but she's haughty and supercilious, and the pacing's glacial. You don't care about these upper-class twits, and it's a relief when it's all ironed out. Marginally compelling as an example of movies learning to talk, but it's really, really stagebound, and director Sidney Franklin lingers over every stilted word as if it were Scripture.

Boredom scandal

[AAdaSC · 4/10 · 27 October 2018]

Unenigmatic toff Ralph Forbes (John) brings his actress wife-to-be Ruth Chatterton (Elsie) to his country home where his family have gathered to convince him that the relationship is unhealthy. What can an actress possibly bring to an upper class family tradition? It can only lower the status of the family. Forbes has announced the up-coming marriage to the press and the family are furious. Basil Rathbone (Edward) is one of those in attendance and he gets the hots for Chatterton. Uh-oh, more complications....

Unfortunately, this film is boring. The only cast member to come off well is uncle Frederick Kerr (Lord Trench) who cranks up the comedy with his line delivery and is genuinely funny in a rude, abrupt sot of way. A good role model. Sadly, he died 3 years later in real life. And that fact that I have just said is way more interesting than anything about this film.

Chatterton Makes the Film

[Michael_Elliott · 6 August 2012]

The Lady of Scandal (1930)

** (out of 4)

This early talkie features Ruth Chatterton playing Elsie Hilary, a British actress who is engaged to a man from a snobbish rich family. Everyone in the family objects to her "nature" except for Edward (Basil Rathbone) who finds himself falling for her. THE LADY OF SCANDAL remains somewhat watchable due to its fun leads but the sad reality is that this is just another early talkie with way too much talking. You know, I truly understand that in the early days of sound people wanted to hear people talk. I do wonder what they truly felt about these movies back then but when you view them today you pretty much just shake your head because of all the dialogue. I mean, to simply tell someone who want to go out and eat takes about ten pages of dialogue because everything just gets so drawn out. This non-stop talking is what really damages this film and keeps it from being more entertaining. What does keep the film at least watchable is the performance of Chatterton who comes across incredibly delightful. She comes out doing a chorus dance and singing a song, which was pretty funny and I liked the way she handled each of the family members who are against her. I've often been very critical of Rathbone's early work but I was shocked to see that he too was rather good here. The supporting cast of character do fine work as well with each of them fitting their roles. Of course, even with all the dialogue the writers weren't able to come up with a way to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. There's never a bit of suspense as to what's going to happen and the ending is something you'll see coming from a mile away.

Scandalous lady

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 29 April 2020]

There were quite a few interest points regarding 'The High Road', or 'The Lady of Scandal' in other places. It was an early talkie, back when the transition from silents to talkies was still being made and in early days and back when talkies were very much in their infancy. It was directed by Sidney Franklin, director of great films such as the sublime 'Smilin Through' with Norma Shearer. It also starred Ruth Chatterton, who should be better known today, and the great Basil Rathbone.

Sadly, 'The High Road' could have been a lot better. There are certainly far worse talkies back in the very early period that the film was made, but also a lot better (for instance 'Applause' was an early sound film and was quite innovative on a technical level, and it was great) during this period. Chatterton and Rathbone actually come off quite well compared to everything else, though both did a lot better, but by Franklin standards in overall film and directing it was a near-misfire.

Chatterton has a very natural and charming presence, and while she clearly has fun she has poignant moments too. Rathbone gives one of his better early talkie performance, charming and authoritative, though he did go on to do better in 'Anna Karenina', 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' and his Sherlock Holmes films. Frederick Kerr is a scene stealer and gives the funniest performance.

It looks pretty good and doesn't look too primitive, the photography doesn't try to be too clever but it also doesn't feel claustrophobic. The musical scene is good, nice song and well staged. There are some amusing moments and some of the tender ones are touching.

However, too much of 'The High Road' doesn't work. Most of the supporting cast overplay, all the silent film mannerisms present but exaggerated to the maximum, and Ralph Forbes is pretty dull in his role. There is too little to the characters to get one to care for them. Franklin's direction is disappointingly leaden and there is just no vitality to it.

Likewise there is no vitality in the too talky, too flowery and very stilted script. That has comedy that too often is sorely lacking in wit and the moments intended to be tender tend to be too sentimental. The story never comes to life, staying throughout at a cripplingly dull pace, and the whole film feels very stagy and old-fashioned, even by 1930 standards.

Overall, watchable but a long way from great or even good. 5/10

Wanna see how much films changed from the early days of talkies? Then see "The Lady of Scandal".

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 29 June 2016]

If you want to see a film that shows you just how antiquated some of the early talking pictures were, try watching "The Lady for Scandal". It's a terrible film...one that practically puts you to sleep as you watch.

The film begins with an upper-class Brit getting engaged to an actress and the entire family acting scandalized. When she and her fiancé arrive at the family estate, instead of fireworks, everyone talks and talks and talks and talks. And the problem with this is that it is all VERY mannered, very low energy and about as exciting as watching paint dry! Even Basil Rathbone, who is a lovely actor, is really dull in this one...and has LESS energy than a typical zombie. Insufferably dull and awful.

I'm Still a Ruth Chatterton Fan

[view_and_review · 2/10 · 3 February 2024]

"The Lady of Scandal" kind of tells you everything in the title. It's like "Party Girl" (1930), "Ladies of Leisure" (1930), "Tarnished Lady" (1931), or "Ladies' Man" (1931). You know a "lady" is going to be part of a "scandal," you just don't know what the scandal is or whether or not she's an innocent party in it all.

The "lady of scandal" in this case was Elsie Hilary (Ruth Chatterton), a showgirl dating John Crayle (Ralph Forbes), a wealthy young man from an old, established, and wealthy English family. He desperately wanted to marry Elsie while the family was dead set against it.

It was shaping up to be a tame and predictable plot of rich boy, poor girl in which the stuffy old family would open up to Elsie once they got to know her, at which time they'd drop their prejudices and hate. Thankfully, there was a bit of a twist.

It turned out that Elsie's father, Hilary (Robert Bolder), wasn't keen on the marriage either. He feared that a marriage into an old wealthy family would take his daughter away from the stage where she dazzled crowds nightly. Funnily enough, he was willing to pay the Crayles to have them reel in their son. Since both Hilary and the Crayles were on the same page about the marriage they devised a plot to have Elsie willingly break it off. They surmised that Elsie was only going to marry John because she was being told not to. If they all consented to the idea, then she'd be bored within a few weeks and call it off.

Risky, but I liked it.

Then there was another twist that wasn't funny or even appealing. In fact, it was just low and wholly unnecessary. Elsie fell in love with John's cousin, Edward (Basil Rathbone), and he fell in love with her.

Why even add that? It was enough of a drama with Elsie trying to marry John without adding the superfluous soap-opera drama.

At first I thought it was part of a plan Elsie had cooked up just to cause disruption in the Crayle house. I was waiting to see how it was going to all play out, then we found out that she really loved the dude, which was a big downer. Mind you, Edward was already a family pariah for openly dating a married woman. Now he was professing his love for his cousin's fiance! Can't this guy find a woman of his own?

John Crayle was able to pick up on the OBVIOUS hints that there was something between Elsie and Edward, and because he was a gentleman he simply removed himself from the equation without letting on that he knew.

This addition of a love triangle completely ruined the movie. I hate love triangles in just about every case and some are worse than others. I thought the movie could've been really good with the conflict that already existed without throwing in something so foul and common.

Free on Odnoklassniki.

Whatever Shock Value It Had Is Gone

[boblipton · 4/10 · 14 June 2023]

Ralph Forbes announces to his very aristocratic family -- Frederick Kerr is the head of it -- that he intends to marry showgirl Ruth Chatterton. They're horrified, except for Basil Rathbone, who's carrying on an affair with a married woman in Paris. To forestall the nuptials, it's suggested she stay with them for six months. She corrupts everyone, turning Kerr into a cocktail drinker, and falls in love with Rathbone, and he with her.

It's from one of those plays by Frederick Lonsdale that MGM was so fond of making in the 1920s and 1930s, and except for whatever shock value it had (and no longer retains) it's a dull piece, performed stiffly by an uneasy cast of actors who don't seem to know where to put their hands. Still, cameramen Oliver Marsh and Arthur Miller seem to have gained the upper hand over the sound system and move the camera about to maintain composition. A rare misfire from director Sidney Franklin.

old curiosity

[mukava991 · 20 December 2020]

Sluggish is the word for MGM's adaptation of Frederick Lonsdale's "The High Road." Long pauses were not uncommon in early talking features but they seem to go on forever in this one. Stuffy people in huge rooms who pause a very long time between pompous utterances. Also of note is the very uneven, often shoddy sound recording. Although MGM was known to be the most well-financed studio in Hollywood, the audio is surprisingly tacky. The actors' voices sound like they are being piped in through a poor telephone line. At times actors' footsteps can be heard clicking across the floor and at other times they're dead silent. Of minor interest, a few camera setups present the action in both the fore- and background of the frame.

Standard English drawing room-types populate the cast, best represented by Frederick Kerr (a cross between Guy Kibbee and Winston Churchill in his final decline and who has some fun moments after trying out a cocktail called "Gullet Washer"), Nance O'Neill as his monocled wife, and MacKenzie Ward as a dapper eccentric.

The leads are Basil Rathbone (who does well despite the technical obstacles to contend with), Ruth Chatterton (very mannered) and Ralph Forbes (cardboard through and through).