Our Blushing Brides (1930)

Writers:

Bess Meredyth (dialogue) &
John Howard Lawson (dialogue) ...

Release Date:

19 July 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The Man Joan Loves---Loves Her! But Marriage Never Entered His Head! (original ad)

Plot:

Fellow shopgirls and roommates Jerry, Connie and Franky take different paths in the big city. Connie has an affair with David...

Plot Keywords:

Department Store | Son | New York City | Friendship | Flirting

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Joan Crawford	...	Geraldine 'Gerry' March
Anita Page	...	Connie Blair
Dorothy Sebastian	...	Francine 'Franky' Daniels
Robert Montgomery	...	Tony Jardine
Raymond Hackett	...	David 'Davey' Jardine
John Miljan	...	Martin W. 'Marty' Sanderson
Hedda Hopper	...	Mrs. Lansing Ross-Weaver
Albert Conti	...	Monsieur Pantoise
Edward Brophy	...	Joseph Aloysius 'Joe' Munsey
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	The Detective (as Robert O'Connor)
Martha Sleeper	...	Evelyn Woodforth
Gwen Lee	...	Miss Dardinelle, a Mannequin
Mary Doran	...	Eloise, a Mannequin
Catherine Moylan	...	Mannequin
Norma Drew	...	Mannequin

Runtime:

102 min | USA:99 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Quotes:

Mrs. Hinkle, the Landlady: Mr. Carter, third floor front. He's a process server. That's a real influential job. He thinks you're pretty nice. He'd like to take you out.
Geraldine 'Gerry' March: No thank you, Mrs. Hinkle. You see, I'm avoiding process servers this season

Movie Connections:

Featured in Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Wedding March

The third entry in Joan Crawford's "flapper trilogy" of films

This was the third film in the Joan Crawford flapper trilogy - (Our Dancing Daughters (1928)/Our Modern Maidens (1929)/Our Blushing Brides (1930)). The first two were silent, the third was a talking picture. This was not Joan Crawford's first talking picture nor her first film with costar Robert Montgomery - both those honors go to 1929's "Untamed".

You can really see the onset of the Great Depression having an effect in this final film of the trilogy. The first two films involve lots of melodrama, but there is also widespread prosperity and a focus on living it up with partying that reflects the excesses of the 1920's. This final film really isn't about living it up at all. It's more about three shop girls just getting by and how the men in the lives of two of them (Anita Page and Dorothy Sebastian) promise the good life but end up raining down tragedy upon them, while the third shop girl, Gerry (Joan Crawford), has her own cynical attitude towards men reinforced by watching the fates of her two friends. That makes the ending seem a little tacked on and even unbelievable to some degree, but it's still a good film.

Unfortunately this film is neither on DVD or VHS. "Our Dancing Daughters" and "Our Modern Maidens" can be found on used VHS copies, but the transfer is pretty blurry. None of the three is on DVD, and considering their place in Joan Crawford's filmography, I find that to be a shame.