Honor among lovers 1931 - Displays of sexual harrasment in the workplace

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021969/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,8

Director: Dorothy Arzner
Main Cast: Claudette Colbert, Fredric March, Monroe Owsley, Charles Ruggles, Ginger Rogers, Pat O'Brien

"Trailblazing female director Dorothy Arzner helmed this well-crafted romantic drama.
Julia Traynor (Claudette Colbert) is a secretary working for Jerry Stafford (Frederic March), a successful stock broker. Jerry has taken a decidedly non-professional interest in Julia, and when he asks her to join him on an ocean cruise, she firmly declines the offer. Hoping to throw Jerry off her trail, Julia accepts a hasty marriage proposal from Philip Craig (Monroe Owsley), a young and struggling securities broker. When Jerry learns that Julia has tied the knot, he rashly fires her and predicts that the marriage won't last six months. Jerry soon regrets his outburst and not only gives Julia her job back but hires Philip as well. However, Jerry's prediction proves to be not far from the mark; Julia is not happy with Philip, and Jerry learns that Philip has been embezzling company funds to play the market on his own. After a downturn in the market wipes out Philip's investments, Julia discovers that he owes $100,000 as a result of his bad investments. Desperate to raise money, Julia offers herself to Jerry in exchange for a loan; he refuses to take advantage of her, but he agrees to front her the money anyway. Philip, however, cannot believe that Jerry would give Julia the money without demanding her favors in return, and he goes after Jerry in a jealous rage.
This was the second of four on screen pairings for Colbert and March. The following year they reunited for DeMille's Sign of the Cross and, a month after that, for Mitchell Leisen's Tonight Is Ours. It's part of Hollywood legend that Colbert didn't really enjoy these pairings, because March was notorious for getting a bit too 'familiar' with his leading ladies. Colbert reportedly disliked the man – there are stories of March wandering around 'in a daze' on the set of Sign of the Cross, he was so nuts about her.
Another ponderous example of Arzner's apparent disdain for men and marriage - either good men turn bad or bad men reform only through the love of a good woman. The film does contain a few, as Billy Wilder would say, drop the popcorn bag moments, to its credit; but overall, it's a dark, unimaginative story, painted with the very broad strokes and heavy hand of the director."

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Abraham Lincoln 1930 - From the log cabin to the White House

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020620/?ref_=nv_sr_3
IMDB rating: 5,9

Director: D. W. Griffith
Main Cast: Walter Huston, Una Merkel, William L. Thorne, Lucille La Verne, Jason Robards Sr., Kay Hammond

"As one of only two 'talkies' helmed by the godfather of American silent cinema, David Wark Griffith's Abraham Lincoln is by no means a conventionally good film; to be blunt, it qualifies as one of the most inept movies ever turned out by a craftsperson of Griffith's stature.
The script, credited to Stephen Vincent Benet, manages to include all the familiar high points, including Lincoln's tragic romance with Ann Rutledge (Una Merkel, allegedly cast because of her resemblance to Griffith favorite Lillian Gish), his lawyer days in Illinois, his contentious marriage to Mary Todd (Kay Hammond), his heartbreaking decision to declare war upon the South, his pardoning of a condemned sentry during the Civil War, and his assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth (expansively portrayed by Ian Keith). This was D.W. Griffith's first talkie, and the master does his best with the somewhat pedantic dialogue sequences; but as always, Griffith's forte was spectacle and montage, as witness the cross-cut scenes of Yankees and Rebels marching off to war and the pulse-pounding ride of General Sheridan (Frank Campeau) through the Shenandoah Valley. Thanks to the wizardry of production designer William Cameron Menzies, many of the scenes appear far more elaborate than they really were; Menzies can also be credited with the unforgettable finale, as Honest Abe's Kentucky log cabin dissolves to the Lincoln Memorial. As Abraham Lincoln, Walter Huston is a tower of strength, making even the most florid of speeches sound human and credible; only during the protracted death scene of Ann Rutledge does Huston falter, and then the fault is as much Griffith's as his. Like Griffith's decision to cast the middle-aged Huston as teenage Lincoln in the story's opening act. With the actor buried beneath piles of makeup, he comes terribly close to resembling a Felliniesque drag queen - a sight that must be seen to be believed." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/abraham-lincoln-v641/

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Sarah and son 1930 - Miss Chatterton rises above the average plot

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021335/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,0

Director: Dorothy Arzner
Main Cast: Ruth Chatterton, Fredric March

"Ruth Chatterton was a wonderful actress who, although coming to movies at an older age (36), proved she could master most genres. In 1931 Movie Fan readers voted her the 'Finest Actress on the Screen' and she was often referred to as the First Lady of the Screen (until Ann Harding came along). She scintillated in 'Charming Sinners' and 'The Laughing Lady', witty drawing room comedies that were all the rage in those early talkie days. She then returned to mother love tear-jerkers - in 1929 she had starred in MGM's 'Madame X' and it had proved a big hit.
Sarah Storm (Ruth Chatterton) has ambitions to go on the stage and with hard work and determination she succeeds - and even drags her lazy, shiftless boyfriend, Jim (Fuller Mellish Jnr.), along with her. Just as things are looking brighter she gets word that her little sister has died and in a weak moment she agrees to marry Jim. With a little baby to feed, Jim has reverted to his lazy ways and is forever telling her to put the baby into a home - until Sarah is pushed to breaking point!!! When Jim goes to a family acquaintance to borrow money, the man expresses envy that Jim has a child - he and his wife have never been able to have children. A plan then hatches in Jim's drunken brain - he joins the Marines, but before he sails he sells the baby to the childless couple.
Four years later Sarah is entertaining wounded soldiers in a hospital when she finds Jim dying, but before he does he repents and tells her the name of the family - Ashmore - where he left the baby. When the family is traced they are adamant that the baby is theirs - Frederic March plays Howard Vanning, their lawyer, who over the years becomes suspicious that, maybe, Bobby isn't their son. Bobby (Phillipe De Lacy) is growing up extremely unhappy - his parents are over protective and have wrapped him in cotton wool. Sarah, meanwhile, has studied music and become a world class opera singer but she has never given up on her quest to find her son. Howard organises for Sarah to meet Bobby but the Ashmores, who know all too well that Bobby is not their son, substitute the maid's son, who is the same age, for the inspection. The real Bobby has run away and "thumbs" his way to his Uncle Howard's, who has just turned up with Sarah. The stage is set for a very teary ending, involving a speedboat accident and a near drowning.
Despite it's early-talkie limitations, this film is really very good. It features Oscar nominee Ruth Chatterton and a pre-stardom Fredric March."

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