Their Own Desire (1929) User Reviews

culture study, not cinematic art

[acerbica · 6/10 · 10 February 2005]

I rate this movie highly not because it's all that great but because it's a fascinating piece of movie history. There are no seamless edits - the end of one take often doesn't match up with the beginning of the next. Scriptwise, more is implied than said. In one conversation, Norma Shearer is clearly about to say the word "mistress", but bites her lip and spits out the name of her father's paramour instead. Yet fifteen minutes later she's standing in a slip while brushing her hair, and her nipples are clearly outlined through the fabric. Shocking, I tell you! My favorite scene was the dance sequence, which features a wonderful, haunting piece of music called "Blue Is The Night" by Fred Fisher.

Overall this movie was interesting as an exercise in contrast and comparison with modern films. There are better films from that era - there were probably better films made that week - but I didn't mind spending 65 minutes with these people. I was duly entertained.

Shearer good, Bennett ill at ease

[Neal99 · 5/10 · 29 August 2003]

This film is sociologically fascinating but dramatically rather weak. It also would make a good case study for a psychology class, as Norma Shearer's character (Lally) has to deal with others who are variously manipulating, controlling and irresponsible (I won't spoil it by telling you who does what). The sociological fascination comes from the depiction of the idle rich who ride polo ponies, go to Lake Michigan resorts, dress smartly and tolerate `modern' young women like Lally - and from the dynamic between men and women. The dialogue seems unusually terse by 1929 standards - much is left unsaid, and the film is better because of it. Shearer is quite good; she carries the film with apparent ease. Unfortunately, Belle Bennett is clearly ill at ease with sound. She was quite popular and acclaimed for her silent work, especially Stella Dallas, but here she brings little life to her role.

Love and evasion of risk are incompatible it seems

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 4 July 2015]

Today, most women initiate divorces. But there was a time when it was the other way around since women had few options outside of the home. If you were a woman, you'd just better hope that as the bloom fell off of your rose that your husband did not get the 7, 17, or 27 year itch. This is about the impact of one of those marriages with an itchy husband, an unlikely cad, Lewis Stone as Marlett.

I like how this movie takes the time to build up the characters, always a trademark of screenwriter Frances Marion. A great deal of time is spent in the beginning to show the respect and friendship wealthy author Marlett has with his only child, Lally (Norma Shearer). Then a tell - she asks her dad as they walk up the drive, what book he is working on. He says it is a romance involving a 45 year old man. She, about 20, laughs at the idea. Marlett says that the middle aged are made of flesh and bone too. That life is not over at 30 as youngsters think, and that they thirst for romance, that "last" romance, indicating that dad might be thirsty. When they get to the top of the drive, the slender and glamorous Mrs. Chevers is talking to Lally's mom about her son, Doug, who is away at Princeton. Lally's mom is graying, a bit overweight, a bit sedentary, and Marlett calls her affectionately "mama". Indicating that he thinks of her as first Lally's mom - and a good one - and then a wife.

A year passes and Marlett and his wife are planning to divorce, as is Mrs. Chevers from her husband, but Lally yet knows none of this. She walks into her dad's study and catches Mrs. Chevers and her father in a passionate embrace, talking of marriage. Then her dad tries to justify it. He says that he and her mother are not the same boy and girl who made all of those promises 23 years before. I like Lally's translations - that perhaps he sees her mom as fat and a bit boring "unlike the slick Mrs. Chevers". He says he intends to keep the house. She reminds him that doesn't matter to her since her mom is being bundled out of that house and Mrs. Cheever is being brought in to replace her. Lally says her final goodbye to him and plans to never marry because she will not be made a fool of as her mother has been, and the male sex has fallen mightily in her esteem because of her father's fall, which he won't even acknowledge as a misdeed.

So off go mother and daughter for a summer vacation before mom goes to France for a divorce, which was the custom in that day. When Lally reiterates her vow to never marry, her mom is happy, which seems odd. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Marlett is not succeeding at hanging out at his old haunts with his new mistress. They both get the cold shoulder from everyone. I'm not sure why this scene was in here other than to show that people did pass moral judgment on affairs and homewreckers at that time, and that a smooth transition did not await them both if they proceed.

On vacation, Lally meets a guy (Robert Montgomery) who really fancies her. They dance, they enjoy each other's company, and maybe Lally is softening on men just a bit until she discovers his full name - Jack "Doug" Chevers - son of the woman who has ousted her mother, a symbol of why she decided to not take men seriously in the first place.

So Lally is one confused girl. She has a mom who encourages her to play the field due to her own bad experience with marriage. She has a dad who thinks "until death do we part" is just a phrase people like to kick around at weddings, and she has a beau who is insisting on marriage now - as in right this minute. How will this all work out? Watch and find out.

This is very good writing by Frances Marion who had already had a couple of short lived marriages that did not work out and one that did that ended in her husband's sudden death just the year before. Thus she could approach this subject of love from the viewpoint of someone who had seen all of the angles. I'd highly recommend it.

Another solid Norma Shearer performance

[HotToastyRag · 6/10 · 12 January 2020]

Their Own Desire is quite a melodrama, so be sure to strap on your 1929 goggles securely before watching it. You've got to keep in mind that talkies were new, otherwise you'll never get past the overacting. Women will cover their mouths, wide-eyed, as they exclaim, "What shall I do?" There are no title cards, but there might as well be.

Norma Shearer stars as a daughter caught in the middle of her parents' divorce. Her father, Lewis Stone, has left her mother, Belle Bennett, for another woman: Helene Millard. Belle is distraught and attempts suicide, and Norma takes her side. It's very hard on her, since she and her dad used to be bosom buddies. While recuperating, Norma meets a handsome young man, Robert Montgomery, and falls in love. Just as they become engaged, they find out who each other's parents are. Bob is Helene's son!

I never used to like Norma Shearer. I couldn't see her talent and often cringed while watching her overact. Then I saw her in Marie Antoinette, and everything changed. Most early silver screen movies will fall into two categories: movies about men and movies about women. In the movies about women, most of the plots revolve around fallen women, tramps, prostitutes, or women forced into easy virtue against their will. It's easy to understand why their roles were limited; back in the day, many women didn't work, and since the main goal was to make a respectable marriage, the worst thing that could happen to her-and therefore the juiciest plot for a movie script-would be if she took to the streets and lost her decency. Norma Shearer didn't make those movies. She made regular old dramas, and when she put on the tears, you really felt it. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Their Own Desire, and I understand why. Check her out in this movie, Strange Interlude or Marie Antoinette to see her really shine-and she doesn't take to the streets!

Notable principally for Norma Shearer

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 17 October 2000]

The movie has a somewhat overheated, strained quality to it, much like a soap opera and is primarily of interest for Norma Shearer's performance, which received a nomination for Best Actress for the 1929-30 Academy Awards, which she lost to herself, winning instead for her performance in The Divorcee, a better role in a much better film. Ms. Shearer was THE actress at the time and did quite well for many years. A good movie that could have been better and largely a curio now.

a VERY cool old movie

[twlamb · 13 February 2005]

I watched and enjoyed this old first of the talkies. I it always cool for me to think of what life must have been prior to the depression and all of todays discoveries and new way of life. My mother was born in 1921, so I think of her life then. She would have been eight years old at this time. The cars , the actors, the dress is very nice and wonderfully done. I watch quite a lot of these old movies of this era, most were still silent at this point. This must have been one of the first of the 'talkies'. Just think what it was like to have no TV but to basically go to the movies for all you watched including news reals. It must've been great living in these days.

Enjoyable, fluffy time capsule

[Like_Wu_told_me · 4/10 · 6 April 2022]

Their Own Desire is an example of why I love pre-Code movies so much. While on a cinematic level it's clearly mediocre, its 65-minute runtime provides a fast-paced, thoroughly entertaining story buoyed by Norma Shearer's fun, fresh performance.

The film follows the Marlett family, Lally (Shearer) & her parents (Belle Bennett & Lewis Stone), through her father's cheating, their divorce, and Lally's whirlwind romance with the son of her father's mistress (Robert Montgomery). The plot is totally unoriginal and most of the acting is unmemorable, but the film's strong production values make it highly enjoyable, especially as a 93-year-old time capsule.

The sets and costumes are sleek and tasteful, evoking the life of luxury these characters lead and allowing for some pure escapism. The whole movie felt like a warm summer night, I especially loved that moonlight confrontation scene by the tree. And while the film's structure doesn't allow for any real emotional depth, the dialogue has sharp and satisfying moments.

The acting is very hit or miss, with the only real standout being Shearer - and even then, she can only do so much given the material. She brings infectious energy to the role, sometimes pushing too hard but often pulling surprisingly funny and quirky vocal & facial expressions that feel fresh and almost subversive. For example when she and Montgomery have a rendezvous in the car, she somehow flips the script on the creepiness of the dialogue/setup with her manic eye rolls & expressive face, showing that she is clearly in control and enjoying getting frisky with him, while at the same time being slightly annoyed by his antics. (I'm sure she channeled many women of the time, seeing how one-sided and controlling "courtships" seemed to be in those days. Yikes!)

Shearer also looks absolutely fabulous in all her "modern" fashions, and in the emotional moments she delivers beautifully without overacting (surprising to me given how mannered many of her performances are). The Lake Michigan castaway sequence is so hilariously, entertainingly over the top, but she does the best she can and is very affecting on a superficial level. Oscar-worthy? I'm not so sure, but she acquits herself well for what it is. I am solidly a Norma Shearer fan, and only love her more for this shallow but charismatic, fluid performance.

Montgomery is terrible, although that may be due to the contemptible character vs. His actual acting. As mentioned I'm not sure if this was just considered "normal" behavior for the time, but it was cringeworthy throughout. Belle Bennett is decent as Shearer's mom, and I thought she conveyed well the high-class air of depression surrounding her character. Lewis Stone is surprisingly bland and forgettable as her dad. Finally, shoutout to the actress who played Shearer's mom's loyal maid. She is uncredited and it's no more than a cameo, but her indignation and protectiveness made a relatively substantial emotional impression amid the fluff.

This movie is a treat for anyone who loves pre-Code films & Norma Shearer, and for Oscar completists not a bad way to spend an hour. Just don't dive in expecting anything too deep.

Early Norma vehicle shows the growing pains from silents to sound

[jjnxn-1 · 6/10 · 13 February 2014]

Clunky, episodic early talkie is a good example of the rough edges that film went through in the transition from silence to sound. Most of the performers were silent stars and are obviously still adjusting their performing style to the different requirement of the microphone. Norma, who was inexplicably nominated for an Oscar for this overly emphatic performance, is best in her speechless moments. Robert Montgomery, one of the few actors not moving from silence to sound but still new to films is awkward and fond of practically being on top of the other person in his scenes. To be fair this might have been a requirement of the new technology, and it is better than talking into a flower pot, but he seems more reliant on it than the other actors. He would improve vastly within a short period of time but here comes across as a callow youth. The great silent star Belle Bennett, rather preposterously cast as Norma's mother since they were only eleven years apart in age, is effective though some of her gestures also hark back to a more silent form of pantomime.

The movie overall works best in those passages where dialog isn't required. There is a lovely dancing scene that flows far more smoothly than any other in the film. In another sign of one era giving way to another many of the scenes are introduced via title cards and rather than an easy flow to the film it has a choppy episodic feel.

What sort of a name is Lally?! And what's wrong with her being in love with Jack?

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 14 November 2015]

Lally (Norma Shearer) is happy. However, her world is turned upside down when her father (Lewis Stone) leaves her mother and remarries. She is now completely sour about love. Unexpectedly, however, she later meets Jack (Robert Montgomery) and is smitten with him...only to learn that she is the son of her father's new wife!!

Naturally, this sort of plot is practically impossible to believe and the viewer will need to force themselves to just watch it and suspend their sense of disbelief. If you do, you'll find it a very watchable film BUT also a very mushy and old fashioned one as well. The acting and script are a bit over the top...but the ending is pleasant and the film pretty good for 1929. Certainly not one of Shearer's or Montgomery's best but worth seeing if you are a fan.

"You youngsters! You think that life is all over at 25 to 30, eh?"

[guswhovian · 7/10 · 20 July 2020]

Rich girl Lally Marlett (Norma Shearer) is shocked when her father leaves her mother for Beth Chevers, but things get more complicated when Lally falls for Chevers' son.

Their Own Desire is a mildly entertaining melodrama. It isn't as clunky as most early sound films, and the performances are all good. The dialogue is pretty horrendous, though it gives us gems like "My Parisian pants are quite an Eiffel!".

Norma Shearer is quite good in the lead, and Robert Montgomery was his usual solid self. Belle Bennett hams it up a bit as the mother, and Lewis Stone is a bit stiff as the father; it's probably the worst performance I've seen from him.

Like Gag Me With a Spoon

[barnesgene · 4/10 · 21 July 2009]

The Amendment giving women the right to vote was only nine years old when this movie was made. It sure shows. I'm not a big feminist (is any male, really?), but I was grinding my teeth whenever the question, "Oh, Darling, won't you be mine?" was asked. Today, it's a quaint notion, but at that time, the idea that a man could own a woman was accepted without any raised eyebrows. I found the love affair between the two leads simply not credible; it had no traction. One couldn't imagine happening today what the Shearer character decides with respect to her new lover -- and we're seemingly so much more sophisticated these days. Ah, 'tis a queer, ironic world. A technical note: If the couple was on Lake Michigan when the storm blew up, somebody needed to tell the author that there just ain't that many islands in the lake, and none within an easy row or swim. A little reminiscent of Puccini's opera "Manon Lescaut," the final scene of which takes place in the "Louisiana desert."

Young and Restless.

[nycritic · 9/10 · 27 October 2005]

The year 1930 was a pretty interesting year for MGM actress Norma Shearer as she became one of the very few people to be up for the Oscar for Best Actor/Actress for two different movies (and thus beating herself as she won for THE Divorcée).

The story of THEIR OWN DESIRE is in its bare bones, a melodrama without MGM's excesses and an experiment in sound reflecting the ghost of silent pictures. The movie opens with a crucial event: Henry Marlett (Lewis Stone) is leaving the family in a shocking way – he is divorcing his current wife (Belle Bennett) for another lady, a Ms. Beth Cheever (Helen Millard). Norma Shearer plays the temperamental daughter Lucia "Lally" who can't stand to see her family be separated by this occurrence and grows estranged from him. She soon after meets and falls in love with a young man, played by Robert Montgomery, who happens to be Ms.Cheever's son. Mrs. Marlett of course is outraged at their relationship and teeters on suicide which temporarily separates Jack from Lally, but not for long: they do meet one night in what seems to be a clandestine elopement, and are caught in a raging storm. To the world they have drowned, but her father rushes to find them and bring them back to safety. The film ends as Lally and Jack are back together again.

Shearer and Montgomery work well as a romantic couple and would be re-teamed again on two occasions, on PRIVATE LIVES from 1931 and RIPTIDE, from 1934. Here, though, both display a frank youthfulness to their interpretation – they could easily pass for nineteen, which is what their characters portray. Shearer especially is good in her scenes and doesn't totally resort to the posturing that was common of the actors making the transition from silent to talkies, although the moving scene as she wavers in and out of consciousness after the storm, cradling Montgomery's head and half-praying has a silent film quality which regardless, holds well. As does the lovely moment when Shearer and Stone reconcile – there is a genuine, emotional moment that without too much exposition neatly ties the story at its conclusion.

THEIR OWN DESIRE has a clunky quality that comes from the type of transition from scene to scene and its script implies more than it states, but nevertheless this is a good movie to sit back and enjoy for a little more than an hour and watch the rising leads play exuberant, privileged young things from the Roaring Twenties.

Why Didn't They Just Have An Affair?

[boblipton · 7/10 · 22 June 2023]

Norma Shearer loves her father, polo-playing novelist Lewis Stone. Then she learns he's going to leave her and mother Belle Bennett for another, married woman. Miss Shearer sticks loyally by her mother, until she encounters Robert Montgomery and they fall passionately in love. Then she discovers he is the son of the woman her father has run away with.

MGM's last release of 1929 has Miss Shearer in an Oscar-nominated performance. She is still pretty good. Montgomery seems to be awkwardly worrying about the camera, but otherwise this remains a solid if far-fetched pre-code movie. MGM is still having issues with the sound system, but cinematographer William Daniels moves the camera a couple of times without making it obvious.

Over the Top, Childish Acting by Shearer

[tr-83495 · 3/10 · 5 June 2019]

Shearer, who got better with time, here displays an eight-year's old temperament and acts entirely in accordance with this developmental period of life.

She won't accept any responsibility, she simply laughs at the idea that she should try to be responsible. So, instead. she throws one temper tantrum after another, an easy thing to do in acting -- and something that needs no talent.

This was a poor script with an even poorer performance by Shearer. This may have been her low point.

Fascinating

[glgioia · 3 February 2004]

Time travel realized. Its so cool to be able to watch something this damn old. Norma Shearer has a really neat look, pretty but unlike todays starletts, she's believably pretty. Distinctive profile, and sorta googly eyed, and a great body. These films were made before the dreaded Hays Codes, so you get some really sexy shots of her. No bras in those days I guess. The movie is dopey, but on the same level as most of todays television, so its bearable. But again, I study more than watch these old ones, and try to get a feel for what it was like to live back then.

Norma Shearer nomination

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 29 June 2023]

Young socialite Lally Marlett (Norma Shearer) is angered by her father who is divorcing her mother to marry another woman, Mrs. Beth Cheever. Later, she falls for Jack (Robert Montgomery), last name unknown. Then she finds out that he's Beth's son.

Norma Shearer got an Oscar nomination for this movie and would get the win with another movie. This is a pre-Code talkie. Obviously, all the marriage shenanigans would not get pass the Code. There are moments of great acting especially with mother daughter. There are also disappointing plot turns. It's a somewhat bumpy ride, but Norma Shearer does deliver.

A Thin Story Makes "Their Own Desire" Unsatisfying

[atlasmb · 6/10 · 11 November 2015]

This early talkie has a running time of only 65 minutes. No surprise, then, that the story is rather thin. The lead character, Lally (Norma Shearer), is a young woman torn between her love for a man and her allegiance to her mother, who clings to her. Although Lally longs to reach out for personal happiness and to marry Jack (Robert Montgomery), she struggles to overcome her mother's indoctrination against marriage, which is based upon the failure of her own union.

Editing is choppy in "Their Own Desire" and the photography provides little beauty that might reflect the love between Lally and Jack. Stronger is the insidious, unhealthy devotion of Lally to her mother.

The ending feels false and simplistic, with no real resolution of the conflict. Still, Norma Shearer acquits herself well, showing a range of emotions.

Not even cute.

[beech488 · 1/10 · 7 June 2021]

The dialogue in this creaker is ridiculous. I watched it because I love Robert Montgomery but even he is terrible in this. Norma is beyond the pale - her giggling is so irritating. But amazingly for once she isn't the worst thing in this movie - the parents were so wooden it was as though they were waiting for their lines to be prompted to them - maybe they just couldn't believe they had such trashy lines. I love the early talkies but this was a bridge too far.

Shearer a delight

[gbill-74877 · 8/10 · 23 October 2016]

The plot is pretty simple and this 65 minute film is in general pretty average, with one exception – Norma Shearer, who is so charming I rounded my review score up a bit. She's the epitome of the 1920's flapper – playful, adventurous, and in control of her own destiny. She's also smart, sexy in a natural way, and has an infectious laugh – truly a delight to watch. She plays the spunky daughter of a couple who divorce, and later finds herself unknowingly falling in love with Robert Montgomery, the son of her father's new wife, setting up inner conflict. I love how we see her character playing polo, diving from a high board, and canoeing in a storm – and also how we see her romantic, and in control of how far she wants to take things. She occasionally overacts but is so natural and spontaneous otherwise that I'm not surprised she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance.

Fabulous

[kscmtgrove · 10/10 · 30 September 2006]

Fast, sexy, hyper articulate and attractive. Relatively simple love story, made extraordinary by powerhouse performance by Norma Shearer, particularly the scene where she confronts her father over his infidelity. Similar to the scene where she confronts her husband in ("I would have forgiven you anything") her Oscar winning performance in "The Divorcée" of that same year. Nominated twice for Oscars third ever outing. I love Robert Montgomery, among "Golden Age of Hollywood's " most frequent leading man to Garbo, Crawford, Shearer et. al. . Lewis Stone is as always great to see. The song (Blue is the Night??) in the middle is sooooo romantic.

why I LOVE Norma Shearer

[kidboots · 9/10 · 25 December 2007]

Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery - a match made in beauty heaven (at the start of his career Montgomery would have complimented any actress).

I just love the young Norma Shearer. She wasn't always long suffering and stately ("Marie Antoinette" and "The Women"). The young Norma was happy, madcap, witty with an infectious laugh and a very natural acting ability. She had great charm - something that you don't see much in today's actresses. Being married to MGM's boy wonder (Irving Thalberg) didn't do any harm but I truly believe her own ability would have made her a big star on her own.

Norma plays Lally, a bright young girl who seems to have the perfect family. Then her father announces he is leaving her mother after 23 years of marriage for Mrs. Cheever - a woman Lally never liked . Lally's world is shattered.

Her mother is inconsolable and Lally decides she is through with her father. On a holiday to Lake Michigan with her mother, she meets Jack (Robert Montgomery) and there is an instant attraction.

With the haunting song "Blues in the Night" as a background, events take place. Belle Bennett, whose big success was the 1925 version of "Stella Dallas" and with some of the hammiest acting I have ever seen, plays Lally's mother.

Lally then discovers that Jack's mother is the woman her father left her mother for. A bit of the movie is taken up with "shall we be together or shall we part". Norma's emotional acting is wonderful and gives the film a higher standard than the plot, with other less capable actors, would.

Of course there is the happy ending but not before some exciting action sequences, involving a nasty storm and the phrase "missing - presumed drowned".

Uneven

[Michael_Elliott · 24 May 2008]

Their Own Desire (1929)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Early MGM talkie has Norma Shearer playing a woman who falls in love with a man (Robert Montgomery) not knowing that he's the son of the woman who stole her father (Lewis Stone) away from her mother. This is pretty good drama that manages to have some very good scenes but also some very bad scenes. It's really strange but everything in this movie is either very good or very bad and that's everything from the performances to the story to the direction. The story is an interesting one but everything to do with Shearers mother is poorly written. We're suppose to feel sorry for her mother but the way her role is written we actually start to hate her because she causes so much trouble for her daughter that we can't stand her. The ending also doesn't work because it's so over the top in a bad way but this is after a terrific scene where Shearer and Montgomery get caught in a storm. Shearers performance is also very hit and miss as at times she's very good but at other times she brings laughter, which certainly wasn't intended. Just take a look at the scene where her father admits that he's divorcing her mother. Shearer's acting here is so silly that I couldn't keep a straight face. Montgomery is also very over the top but it's a fun performance. Stone, once again, is hit and miss but for the most part he works fine. The sound quality of the Vitophone track is very good.