The Flame Within (1935)

Psychiatrist finds herself falling for her patient.

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writer:

Edmund Goulding

Stars:

Ann Harding, Herbert Marshall, Maureen O'Sullivan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ann Harding	...	Dr. Mary White
Herbert Marshall	...	Dr. Gordon Phillips
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Linda Belton
Louis Hayward	...	Jack Kerry
Henry Stephenson	...	Dr. Jock Frazier
Margaret Seddon	...	Mrs. Ida Grenfell
George Hassell	...	Mr. Rigby
Eily Malyon	...	Murdock, Lillian's Housekeeper
Isabelle Keith	...	Nurse Carter (as Claudelle Kaye)

Storyline

Wealthy Lillian Belton attempts suicide by taking a drug overdose, so her physician, Gordon Phillips, sends her to psychiatrist Mary White for treatment. Lillian calls Jack Kerry from Mary's office and then tries to jump out of the window, being stopped by Mary, who learns that Jack is the reason for Lillian's distress. Jack is an alcoholic and doesn't care for Lillian, who loves him dearly. Mary convinces Jack to enter a rehabilitation program to cure his alcoholism. After some setbacks and eight months, Jack is apparently cured, but has developed a strong attachment to Mary, who reminds him that Lillian's dependence on him is just as strong. So Lillian and Jack are married and are apparently happy. Meanwhile, Gordon has been trying to persuade Mary to give up her practice and marry him, but Mary feels she's too devoted to her practice to give it up. At a costume ball, Jack tells Mary he loves her and that she also must love him. As they dance, Lillian gets intensely jealous, ...

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatrist | costume ball | doctor | hospital | charity benefit | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 May 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

Corações em Duelo

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film received its initial USA telecast in Philadelphia Wednesday 21 November 1956 on WFIL (Channel 6), followed by Altoona PA Tuesday 18 December 1956 on WFBG (Channel 10), by Los Angeles Wednesday 19 December 1956 on KTTV (Channel 11), by Portland OR Tuesday 1 January 1957 on KGW (Channel 8), by Cincinnati Thursday 3 January 1957 on WXIX (Channel 19) (Newport KY), by Chicago Wednesday 13 February 1957 on WBBM (Channel 2) and by Minneapolis Sunday 28 April 1957 on KMGM (Channel 2); in Seattle it was first seen 6 November 1957 on KING (Channel 5) and in San Francisco 4 February 1958 on KGO-TV (Channel 7); its earliest documented telecast in New York City presently stands at 2:15 AM on the morning of 24 February 1963 on the Late, Late Show on WCBS (Channel 2).

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Connections

Featured in Complicated Women (2003)

User Reviews

Unconvincing, Dated Drama

This story boasts some impressive credentials, being written and directed by Edmond Goulding, the well-known director of "Grand Hotel", "The Razor's Edge" and "Nightmare Alley" and with a musical score by Jerome Kern (unfortunately, not a distinguished one) and cinematography by the great James Wong Howe (again, not one of his premier efforts). It concerns two couples, Ann Harding and Herbert Marshall, a psychiatrist and a medical doctor who have been courting for quite some time, and Louis Hayward and Maureen O'Sullivan, two wealthy young people: he, an alcoholic wastrel and she, a pathologically needy woman obsessed with her relationship with Hayward. When O'Sullivan attempts suicide over Hayward's neglect, Marshall tends to her and calls in Harding to attempt to help her. Harding goes about this, rather strangely, by attempting to cure Hayward's alcoholism so that he will hopefully be a better partner to O'Sullivan (no matter that her obsession with him is not the mark of a well-balanced individual).

After his rehabilitation, Hayward does indeed attempt to be better to O'Sullivan and marries her, but finds that his attachment to Harding has developed into love. Harding finds that she reciprocates his feelings also and the dilemma must be resolved. Sounds like an interesting, even juicy movie could have been made of all this, but I'm afraid not. Ann Harding had a blonde, patrician beauty that is lovely and her acting could be subtle, thoughtful and surprisingly modern. However, the one thing I have not seen her capable of in what I admit is my limited knowledge of her acting (3 performances) is physical passion. She and Marshall strike no sparks and seem to have no more than a companionable friendship, but neither does she give any indication that she burns with passion for Hayward, so the viewer is left with no investment in either relationship. O'Sullivan has a good scene or two, but her character is awfully inconsistent, swinging from noble to nutsy, without enough exploration by Goulding of what could account for her feelings, just neediness. The now jaw-dropping sexism of some of the attitudes expressed, as well as the simplistic look at the mechanics of psychiatry also work against the drama and make it quite dated.