Ronald Colman goes from crime fighting ladies man in "Bulldog Drummond" to convicted felon ladies man in "Condemned!"
Ronald Colman played convicted thief Michel Oman. He and a bunch of other convicts were imprisoned on Devil's Island in Cuba. While all of the other convicts drew hard labor as a punishment, the soft-handed Michel was selected to be a servant to the warden and his wife.
Because movies like this like to be overtly obvious and telegraph the entire plot, the warden was mean to his wife which meant it was only a matter of time before she fell in love with someone else.
In steps Michel.
Michel was young, handsome, treated the warden's wife (Ann Harding) kindly, and they were in each other's company all day. In other words, it was a recipe for infidelity aka love. It was clear to everyone EXCEPT the warden, Jean Vidal (Dudley Digges).
This movie lacked subtlety or uniqueness. The Shakespearian script did it no favors either. Madame Vidal waxed on poetically about Michel and her love for him and how she'd die for him--it was all so nauseating.
To deal with the two lovebirds Jean Vidal sent his wife back to France and sent Michel to solitary. When Michel got a love note from his paramour he plotted to escape from the inescapable island.
Unfortunately, even though this movie was made in 1929 and predated thousands of movies, I'm only now watching it in 2022 which means that I've seen this tale before. Unhappy wife with boorish husband meets a suave heart throb, they fall in love and the audience collectively places their hands on their chests and say "Aaawwww" as though they've seen the most precious and romantic thing in the world. Yeah. No.
Free on Internet Archive.
Ronald Colman played convicted thief Michel Oman. He and a bunch of other convicts were imprisoned on Devil's Island in Cuba. While all of the other convicts drew hard labor as a punishment, the soft-handed Michel was selected to be a servant to the warden and his wife.
Because movies like this like to be overtly obvious and telegraph the entire plot, the warden was mean to his wife which meant it was only a matter of time before she fell in love with someone else.
In steps Michel.
Michel was young, handsome, treated the warden's wife (Ann Harding) kindly, and they were in each other's company all day. In other words, it was a recipe for infidelity aka love. It was clear to everyone EXCEPT the warden, Jean Vidal (Dudley Digges).
This movie lacked subtlety or uniqueness. The Shakespearian script did it no favors either. Madame Vidal waxed on poetically about Michel and her love for him and how she'd die for him--it was all so nauseating.
To deal with the two lovebirds Jean Vidal sent his wife back to France and sent Michel to solitary. When Michel got a love note from his paramour he plotted to escape from the inescapable island.
Unfortunately, even though this movie was made in 1929 and predated thousands of movies, I'm only now watching it in 2022 which means that I've seen this tale before. Unhappy wife with boorish husband meets a suave heart throb, they fall in love and the audience collectively places their hands on their chests and say "Aaawwww" as though they've seen the most precious and romantic thing in the world. Yeah. No.
Free on Internet Archive.