August Movie of the Month: Forsaking All Others (1934)

This month, Clark Gable plays the heartbroken guy to Joan Crawford’s wide-eyed heiress and Robert Montgomery’s selfish but lovable cad in Forsaking All Others.

Clark is Jeffrey Williams, who still harbors a childhood crush on Mary Clay (Crawford). Upon returning from a two year jaunt in Spain, he has plans to finally propose to her until he learns that she is set to marry his best friend, Dillon “Dill” Todd (Montgomery), the next day. He swallows his feelings and agrees to give the bride away. Dill gets an unexpected visit from an old flame, Connie Barnes (Francis Drake), and ends up running off to marry her, sending Mary a telegram explaining and apologizing. Heartbroken, Mary retreats to a cabin to nurse her wounds. She decides to come back to town with encouragement from Jeff and after receiving an invitation from Connie to attend her and Dill’s dinner party. At the party, Dill realizes he is still in love with Mary and soon after they begin seeing each other again, behind Connie’s back. Jeff is Mary’s voice of reason, trying to tell her that Dill will only break her heart again and she is leaving herself vulnerable, all the while hiding his feelings.

As far as mid-1930’s romantic comedies go, te formula for this one is run of the mill, but the script is actually quite clever and snappy–thanks to Joseph Mankiewicz. Originally a play, many of the sexual undertones were removed but the script more than makes up for any missing steam with its vigor.

Clark gets some of the best lines and even gets to whack Joan with a hairbrush!

“You’re an idiot. A spoiled, silly brat that needs a hairbrush every now and then.” Joan doesn’t mind too much…

Clark and Joan, off-screen lovers for years off and on, have great chemistry. Their scenes together here are sweet and funny. Clark has just the right amount of suave to cover up his broken heart, and Joan is busy fluttering those eye lashes over her innocent baby blues.

Robert Montgomery is rather foolish, but he’s also hilarious. The part where he catches on fire in the cabin is quite amusing—especially when Clark finds him all burnt up the next day and makes fun of him!

It’s funny how Bob and Joan go up to an abandoned house together and end up spending the night and this is a great scandal–how times have changed! Bob is in an interesting position here, as he really is a heartless jerk. He up and leaves Joan at the altar, then tries to woo her behind his wife’s back just weeks later. He even schemes to get her alone at a cabin for the night, telling his limo driver not to show up until morning. But as devious as he is, Bob still makes him a likable character in many ways. He may be devious, but he still has that impish quality!

Quite amusing is hung-over Clark after the “bachelor dinner.” Despite the fact that the groom didn’t show up, the groomsmen all ended up drunk in a trashed hotel room, with a firehouse flung into the room, flooding the whole hotel! Clark is sleeping head to toe with the hilarious Charles Butterworth, wearing the top half of his tuxedo and Charles only has the bottom half of his. I think this is why most people don’t have their “stag parties” the night before the wedding anymore…

Clark and Bob were friends in real life and both liked Joan. I think it makes a difference in a film when the actors are friendly. This film comes across as light and airy as a result.

 Billie Burke is excellent as the twittering, disapproving stand-in mother for Joan. She is in the fortunate position of being swooped up in Clark’s arms and covered in his kisses…not once, but twice! “Haven’t you buried three husbands already?” he asks her. “Two. I don’t know where the last one is!” she replies.

And in a small part, is future Clark Gable leading lady Rosalind Russell, as one of Joan’s bridesmaids. Her part may be small, but you can see the future snappy Roz the world would soon come to know with lines like “I’m so tired of being a bridesmaid. I’d like to get married so I can wear a decent hat!”

It’s nice to see Clark pine for a bit before he wins the girl at the end. Speaking of the end, it is quite a cop out—one of those where you just assume they live happily ever after without any evidence to back it up.  I really like the sweet, quiet way Clark tells Joan that he’s in love with her before he leaves. But I guess we are supposed to cheer for the fact that Joan decides to go after him and leave Bob in the lurch? So the whole film she’s been heartbroken over Robert but now suddenly realizes it’s Clark she wants? Oh well, way it goes in movie land!

Forsaking All Others is available on DVD from the Warner Brothers Archive Collection. You can see over 100 pictures from the film in the gallery and read more about the film here.