Movies:
Forsaking All Others
- Rating:
- Genre: Comedy
- Movie Type: Romantic Comedy, Slapstick
- Themes: Unrequited Love, Otherwise Engaged, Wedding Bells
- Director: W.S. Van Dyke
- Main Cast: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Robert Montgomery, Charles Butterworth, Billie Burke
- Release Year: 1935
- Country: US
- Run Time: 84 minutes
Plot
For 20 years, Jeff Williams (Clark Gable) has been in love with his childhood playmate Mary Clay (Joan Crawford). Alas, Jeff has never said as much, thus Mary becomes engaged to another childhood friend, Dill Todd (Robert Montgomery). Returning from a trip to Spain for the purpose of proposing to Mary, Jeff is taken aback when he learns of the impending marriage. Stout fellow that he is, however, he agrees to act as Dill's best man. Comes the day of the wedding, and Dill leaves Mary at the altar to run off with his mistress Connie (Frances Drake). Jeff stays behind to console Mary -- yet he still doesn't tell her how much he loves her. Small wonder, then, that a chastened Dill is able to rekindle his romance with Mary and plan a second ceremony. Disillusioned, Jeff is about to return to Spain, when at the last minute, comedy-relief Charles Butterworth tells Mary what's up with Jeff. "Suddenly everything is clear!" says Mary -- 84 minutes after the MGM lion introduced Forsaking All Others. Its plot absurdities aside, this star vehicle is splendidly glossy entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideReview
Although MGM reportedly tried to hire first Miriam Hopkins then Loretta Young, both of whom were competent farceurs, Joan Crawford is actually quite good in this romantic comedy which sometimes veers dangerously close to burlesque. Tallulah Bankhead had starred in Frank Cavett and Edward Barry Robert's original Broadway play two years earlier and it shall of course never be known how "Tallu" would have handled the screen assignment. Suffice it to say, Crawford throws herself into the comedy with gusto -- at one point literally so, landing in a pigsty -- and she is closely followed by the Messieurs Robert Montgomery, Clark Gable, and the delightful Charles Butterworth. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie GuideCast
- Joan Crawford - Mary Clay
- Clark Gable - Jeff Williams
- Robert Montgomery - Dylan Todd
- Charles Butterworth - Shep
- Billie Burke - Paula
Frances Drake - Connie; Rosalind Russell - Eleanor; Tom Ricketts - Wiffens; Arthur Treacher - Johnson; Greta Meyer - Bella
