Lovers Courageous (1932)

Writer:

Frederick Lonsdale (writer)

Release Date:

23 January 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Englishman and family black sheep travels the world working odd jobs while dreaming of being a playwright...

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | Dancing | Fishing | Financial Crisis | Family Relationships

Cast

Robert Montgomery	...	Willie Smith
Madge Evans	...	Mary Blayne
Roland Young	...	Jeffrey
Frederick Kerr	...	Admiral Percy Blayne
Reginald Owen	...	Lord Jimmy
Beryl Mercer	...	Mrs. Smith
Evelyn Hall	...	Lady Blayne
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Mr. John Smith
Jackie Searl	...	Willie as a Child
Norman Phillips Jr.	...	Walter as a Child
Alan Mowbray	...	Gerald Lamone
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Adair	...	Boat Passenger (uncredited)
Wilson Benge	...	Butler (uncredited)
Ralph Bucko	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Roy Bucko	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
William Burress	...	Jan Coetzee - Tobacconist (uncredited)
Tyrell Davis	...	Boat Passenger (uncredited)
Kenne Duncan	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Constable (uncredited)
Robert Greig	...	Doorman (uncredited)
Forrester Harvey	...	Fisherman (uncredited)
Robert Homans	...	Foreman (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Perry (uncredited)
Claude King	...	Pawnbroker (uncredited)
Eily Malyon	...	Landlady (uncredited)
Pat Moriarity	...	Pat - a Cowboy (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Mountie (uncredited)
George Sowards	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Will Stanton	...	Drunk (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Brown - Customs Official (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Z. Leonard		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Frederick Lonsdale		(writer)

Produced by
Robert Z. Leonard	....	producer
Harry Rapf	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(photographed by) (as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Margaret Booth

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harold S. Bucquet	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Charles E. Wallace	....	sound (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1932) (USA) (theatrical) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Soundtrack:

Auld Lang Syne

Lover Miscast

This screen adaptation of a play by Frederick Lonsdale about a young man who has spent his life wandering about the globe, collecting experience so he can become a playwright -- Robert Montgomery -- and the young aristocrat who marries him and is disinherited for her taking up with a wastrel - Madge Evans -- creaks pretty badly as it goes through its predictable plot twists. Director Robert Z. Leonard and the unnamed screenwriters make some effort at opening up the script, but still wind up having the leads conduct most of their earnest dialogue in two-shots. Also, frankly, Robert Montgomery is miscast. He never quite managed to do accents convincingly and he seems overwhelmed, although he carries out his self-effacing courtship of Miss Evans most charmingly.

Nor do most of the other actors manage to be more than straw men. The two exceptions are -- unsurprisingly -- Beryl Mercer, who made a specialty in kindly, clueless mothers -- her best known role was Lew Ayres' mother in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT -- and the always delightful Roland Young, who gets to play someone with brains and heart, who comes up with most of the plot twists here.

All in all, not a movie to search out unless you are a fanatic for any of the personnel involved.