Cynara
Directed by King Vidor
Written by Frances Marion and Lynn Starling from a novel by R. Gore Brown
1932/US
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Jim Warlock: That’s all I have left now – that I don’t have to lie about it.
It’s hard to go wrong with King Vidor, Ronald Colman and Kay Francis. I loved this excellent romantic drama.
The setting is London. Virtually the entire movie is told in flashback as Jim Warlock (Colman) tries to explain to his wife Clemency (Francis) how he went from being a faithful, happily married man to having to exile himself to South Africa. In happier times, Colman was a successful barrister with a bright future. He and Clemency (Francis) have had seven years of marital bliss. Jim is a stay-at-home kind of guy and considered to be somewhat boring. Clemency has to go on a month-long trip to Venice with her flighty sister to distract her from a bad romance. She encourages Jim to have some fun in her absence.
The minute Clemency has left the scene, Jim’s playboy friend John Tring (Henry Stephenson) encourages Jim to have a bit of extramarital fun . The two meet a couple of shopgirls in a restaurant and Ronald is clearly attracted to much younger brunette Doris Emily Lea (Phyllis Barry). He continues to resist and then John enters Doris in a bathing beauty contest Jim has to judge. Doris will stop at nothing to win her man. She tells him she has had other lovers and that she will say goodbye without a wimper when Clemency comes back. So Ronald and she begin a love affair. When Kay returns, though, Phyllis is too in love to give Ronald up, leaving him in a terrible dilemma. I will stop here. The movie ends with a courtroom drama and then segues into the present as Jim prepares to board his ship.
I really liked this one. All the principals are excellent and the story seems like something that could actually have happened. If you are looking for a sophisticated adult romance, I warmly recommend this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85mQhvilfAEe
No trailer or clip so here’s a tribute to the director
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I also rewatched Marie Dressler’s charming performance as “Emma” (1932). My review can be found here.
