Charming Sinners (1929) User Reviews

Well acted with clever dialogue, yet static...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 1 September 2015]

... and for good reason! In 1929, the movie camera post dawn of sound was unable to move at all. So Somerset Maugham's play about a philandering husband who wants to have his cake and eat it too was just perfect film material given the limitations of early sound technology. So don't judge this film too harshly.

The philandering husband, Robert Miles (Clive Brook), is having an affair with Anne-Marie Whitley (Mary Nolan), also married. Robert's wife of ten years, Kathryn (Ruth Chatterton), finds out and plans her clever revenge, which, with surgical precision, manages to teach her husband a lesson, give herself a European vacation, and not ruin either her marriage or that of the Whitleys. William Powell plays the suitor that lost out to Robert ten years before and wants another chance, but it's a small part as Powell is not the big star he will be in just a few more years.

I think tragic Mary Nolan as Anne Marie has the most interesting part and she handles it quite skillfully. Anne Marie wants to preserve her marriage, yet she is careless about being seen in public with Robert by people who would have every reason to rat her out. She throws Robert's cigarette case onto her bed and it lands under her husband's pillow. Why??? You could say finances are why she wants to hang on to her marriage, but you can't say the same for her so-called "friendship" with Robert's wife, Kathryn, whom she continually and sincerely calls her best friend even though she is sleeping with her husband. What a puzzling creature she is!

Give it a chance if you ever get the opportunity. The dialogue is very witty since it is the work of a clever playwright, and the acting is quite natural. It is not the stilted stuff of other early talkies where the actors don't seem to know what to do with themselves and the writers are used to writing title cards. Only the lack of motion subtracts from its charm.

a rare chance to see the fragile beauty of Mary Nolan

[kidboots · 7/10 · 8 May 2009]

I have often read about early sound "drawing room" comedies and "tea cup" dramas and now I have seen one. Studios thought this was what the movie going public wanted to see - filmed plays where stage stars stood around in different rooms speaking lines very clearly. Suddenly silent star favourites were out and any actor who had had a speaking part in a Broadway production was treated like a superstar!!! Ruth Chatterton had been a big stage star, "Come Out of the Kitchen" (later a Nancy Carroll film "Honey"), and "Daddy Long Legs" were just a couple of her hits, but in the 1920s Hollywood only wanted her husband, Ralph Forbes (who also had a beautiful speaking voice - see him in "The Phantom Broadcast"). In 1929 it was a different story and Paramount welcomed her with "Charming Sinners" which was based on W. Somerset Maugham's "The Constant Wife". Ruth Chatterton received a new lease of life when talking films could display her stage trained voice.

Ann Marie (Mary Nolan) is having a scintillating affair with Robert Mills (Clive Brook) - the only problem is he is married to her best friend Kathryn (Ruth Chatterton). They are seen by Mrs Carr's party (Laura Hope Crewes is seen to much better advantage in "The Silver Cord" (1933)) and waste no time in going to Kathryn's to tell her. The only thing is Kathryn has already seen them together and has waylaid Ann Marie's husband George into taking her shopping to prevent a scene.

There are some quite witty lines in the film. "Helen has come out - and gone in again" - Mrs. Carr, talking about her daughters' coming out. "All men are little boys - Robert just needs a spanking!!!" - Kathryn giving Ann Marie advice about men.

Karl (William Powell) enters the scene - he loved Kathryn before she married Robert and has never stopped loving her. Meanwhile George has found Robert's cigarette case - under Ann Marie's pillow!!! Ann Marie visits Robert at his surgery, worried that George suspects their affair and unfortunately Kathryn overhears. George comes to the surgery brandishing the cigarette case but Kathryn saves the day by claiming the case was left by her. Everyone is grateful but Kathryn is plotting her revenge.

Clive Brook does what he can with his role - Robert is supposed to be a stuffy hypocrite - why Kathryn wants to save her marriage is a real mystery. William Powell doesn't have much to do. The two standouts for me are Ruth Chatterton and Mary Nolan. Mary Nolan is super as Ann Marie and, I felt, really understood her role - it was unfortunate that she didn't have a bigger career. Most people know Mary Nolan's story. A beautiful Follies girl who attracted men who delighted in beating her up!!! Sacked from the Follies for creating too many scandals she went to Europe where she became a top movie star. Coming back to the States, her astonishing beauty got her a contract with Universal. "Charming Sinners" was her last good film and showed she could hold her own among top stars. Drugs took hold and by 1932 she was finished in films and in trouble with the law. "Charming Sinners" is a rare chance to see the fragile beauty of Mary Nolan.

Recommended.

A trifling but sophisticated film

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 23 July 2018]

"Charming Sinners" may be ancient in age (and the sound is often problematic, making some of the dialogue hard to hear) but it's quite modern and sophisticated in its attitudes towards marital infidelity and gender equality. Thematically, it's rather similar to Norma Shearer's "The Divorcee", which it precedes by a year. Not funny enough to be a comedy, and not dramatic enough to be a drama, but it does feature some very good acting - Ruth Chatterton is simply splendid (especially when she smiles), the little-known Mary Nolan is cute, and William Powell has a small, typically suave role. **1/2 out of 4.

One of the Worst "A" Features Ever Made!

[JohnHowardReid · 2/10 · 10 April 2009]

Despite their occasional creakiness, I'm a great fan of the early talkies. This one, however, is not only creaky but downright inept in every department, save one -- acting. In the acting division, thanks to the sterling efforts of Mary Nolan, Montagu Love and William Powell (in a very small, if important role), it's only 90% rotten. Clive Brook gives such a bad performance, one contemporary reviewer assumed he was playing the butler and wrote a tongue-in-cheek critique accordingly. Sad to say that while Brook plumbs the depths of ineptitude, Miss Chatterton and Miss Crews do not exactly shine either, although it's tempting to blame their staginess on the extremely static yet over-emphatic direction they obviously received from Robert Milton. As a result, the Somerset Maugham comedy-of-manners comes across with all the wit of a turkey's egg. Sparse production values and hole-in-the-wall photography don't help either.

Another goose for the gander tale of revenge.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 28 December 2023]

In spite of a a few sparkling lines of dialogue, some great art direction and a future major star in a supporting role, this early talkie is worth going on with the wind. Somerset Maugham said he barely recognized any of his play "The Constant Wife" in it, but that could be perhaps because he fell asleep while watching it and miss them. Ruth Chatterton is the put upon occasional wife who discovers that her dull as a butter knife husband Clive Brook has a lady friend on the side (Mary Nolan), so she decides to have her own fling with sophisticated William Powell.

Two directors, including Dorothy Arzner were given the task of putting this early talkie together, but it obviously was edited by Humpty Dumpty's men who couldn't put the pieces back together again. Laura Hope Crews and Florence Eldridge have supporting roles, along with Montagu Love as Nolan'a husband. This indicates that the depression started because younger women were married to the most boring men around so the men having affairs was actually a good thing.

Brook was hampered by poor camera work, slow speaking and a square presentation, but was much better ironically later on. Chatterton manages to be sparkling in spite of the poor production values, even though she has horrible dialog regarding what kind of wife she wishes she could be. Powell may be considered the heavy, but he's much more well rounded than the staid, straight laced Brook whom the script asks the question, "Why him?" You can't blame all of this on early talking sound equipment because not all films from 1929 were like this. Only for the most obsessive of classic movie fans.

Too Polite, Too Pretentious, Too Terrible

[view_and_review · 1/10 · 2 February 2024]

"Charming Sinners" is another high society philandering movie which I can't relate to. The perpetrators and the victims are too socialized and sophisticated to say or do anything mean so they continue to put on airs as though nothing is wrong. I guess I'm working class through and through because I can't politely address cheating.

The cheaters were Robert Miles (Clive Brook) and Anne-Marie Whitley (Mary Nolan). The victims were Kathryn Miles (Ruth Chatterton) and George Whitley (Montagu Love). The movie was set in London, but they all spoke like posh New-Englanders to me. Maybe stuffy sounding accents are universal from England to America.

Kathryn knew her husband was cheating on her with her friend Anne-Marie, yet she feigned ignorance and prevented her other friends from informing her about their affair. Why? I have no idea. I can only surmise that it would've been too common to have such business openly stated. As for George, Anne-Marie's husband, he was totally ignorant and Kathryn--yes Kathryn--made sure he remained ignorant.

Yes, you read that correctly. Kathryn's husband was cheating with George's wife and Kathryn kept that fact hidden from George, and I have no idea what it all meant except high society unwritten rules or high society's understanding of how to deal with infidelity.

Karl (William Powell) was an old friend of Kathryn's who was still madly in love with her after ten years. Kathryn wanted to use Karl to make Robert jealous, but that ploy didn't work.

This movie was too polite, too pretentious, too fake, and too terrible.

Free on Odnoklassniki.

Charming Sinners – Engaging Light Comedy – Expert Cast

[sobaok · 8/10 · 7 April 2012]

Charming Sinners is the second dialogue film based on the work of England's Somerset Maugham. The film was something new for the cinema. It was not about action. It was about words—expertly delivered by a well-seasoned cast. Clive Brook, Montague Love, and William Powell had been stage veterans since the 1910's. Ruth Chatterton and Laura Hope Crews (who plays her mother) had worked together for years in the Henry Miller Company. Charming Sinners was perfect turf for Chatterton, who dominates the picture and delivers with poignancy and bite.

Chatterton, as the wife of an errant husband (Clive Brook, appropriately stiff and full of himself), opts for the single standard with the sole purpose of getting him back. Enter the polished William Powell, a former beau who is still in love with her. Together, they have much more chemistry. There is an exquisite musical interlude at the piano. While Chatterton plays and sings a wistful melody, Powell pours his heart out. She dismisses his ardor with an appreciative laugh. The question is: will Ruth take a vacation from marriage and rendezvous with Powell in Italy? Although the film ends differently from the stage production, it is an effective, thoughtful finish for an engaging frolic amongst the upper-crust.

Filmed in early 1929, critics were impressed by the film and its players, but complained about the sound quality. It was shot in the wee hours of the morning (typical of early sound features), and it's a marvel that the players pulled off such an amusing piece of work. Robert Milton and Dorothy Arzner co-directed the film. It must be pointed out that the tragic Mary Nolan, the only non-stage veteran (except the Ziegfeld Follies), is excellent as the pampered schemer with whom Brook is smitten. Always thinking and plotting, she turns her distasteful character into something peculiarly fascinating. She proved that some silent stars didn't need to fear the influx of stage veterans with the advent of sound film.