Main Cast: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore, Clark Gable, James Gleason
Release Year: 1931
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
Plot
In this Academy Award-winning film, Stephen Ashe (Lionel Barrymore) is a hotshot Californian lawyer from a well-to-do family, whose main failing is his indulgence in alcohol. After winning a case for mobster Ace Wilfong (Clark Gable), Stephen brings his client along to a party at his parents' house for a little celebrating. However, when they arrive at their destination, Ace manages to steal the heart of Stephen's wild daughter, Jan (Norma Shearer), and the two run off together, much to the family's dismay. Stephen struggles to win his foolhardy daughter back from the clutches of her lowlife boyfriend, as she defies her father at every turn. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Review
In its day, A Free Soul was powerful stuff, and if the passing of time has diluted its impact, it still carries enough of a punch to make it worth catching today. An example of the kind of adult issues that pre-Code films often explored, Soul is daring for its portrayal of a single woman embroiled in what is clearly a sexual affair with a man; unfortunately, it dresses up this interesting situation in a melodramatic screenplay that never seems to know when to stop. This keeps Soul from being great drama -- but it doesn't keep it from being quite entertaining. Clarence Brown provides highly appropriate direction; he embraces (and believes in) the melodrama without letting it get too far out of hand. Brown is blessed with a stellar cast, especially Norma Shearer. The actress is in excellent form and gives a very well modulated performance that allows her to pull out all the stops when appropriate, but also to underplay notably in several key moments. Lionel Barrymore's Oscar-winning performance is slightly more uneven -- it's a bit mannered early on and always seems to be channeling Frank Morgan -- but it's sensational in the climactic sequences, when it really matters. Clark Gable is a marvelous heel, and Leslie Howard appropriately noble and self-sacrificing. Despite its not inconsiderable flaws, A Free Soul makes for entertaining viewing. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
A Free Soul (1931) is a Pre-Code film which tells the story of an alcoholic defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with; a mobster whom her father had previously got an acquittal for on a murder charge. A Free Soul stars Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable (the first screen appearance together of the future Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler).
A Free Soul became famous for a 14-minute uninterrupted take where Barrymore delivers a monologue that is said to be the main reason he won the Academy Award for Best Actor that year. (Norma Shearer was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Clarence Brown for Best Director.) Gable made such an impression in the role of a gangster who pushes Shearer around that he was catapulted from supporting player to leading man, a position he held for the rest of his career.
A Free Soul was released on DVD by Warner Home Video on March 8, 2008 (along with The Divorcee, also starring Norma Shearer), as one of five Pre-Code films in the "TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 2" DVD box set.
