MANSLAUGHTER (1930)

A legend on Broadway/an afterthought in Hollywood, George Abbott, like so many from the legitimate theater, got corralled into a movie contract in the transition from silent-to-sound: eight features for Paramount before heading back to the stage for good.  (A few exceptions, including his stage musicals THE PAJAMA GAME/’57 and DAMN YANKEES/’58, co-directed with Stanley Donen.)  This, his third Talkie, a simplified remake from his own rewrite of C.B. DeMille’s over-stuffed 1923 silent (goodbye Ancient Roman Flashback Orgies!) was the one he thought best.  He’s right; and it easily puts the lie to the generally accepted notion that he was one more stage-oriented talent unable/unwilling to adjust to the demands of cinema.  Nonsense.*  This is a strong showing for 1930, pacey, fluid, nearly free of process shots, it’s yards ahead of the stiff Early Talkie norm.  And what modern work he gets from Fredric March as a hard-charging D.A. and from Claudette Colbert as the hopelessly spoiled society brat he falls for then must prosecute on a reckless driving/manslaughter charge.  He’ll completely fall apart from the guilt of doing the right thing; she’ll be humbled by all she goes thru.  Claptrap dramatics become a bit much even for these two by the third act, but it doesn’t take the sting out of some interesting ideas & situations.  Fun to see how far ahead these two are from the rest of the cast, easily fulfilling the demands of naturalistic Talkie technique while others still play as if thru a proscenium.  Hard to find a good print, but worth a look even in current subfusc editions.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *Abbott, working closely with cinematographer Archie Stout, shows visual flair and free/fluid moves for the period.  Unfortunately for his movie career, his wife became ill during the period and he returned to the East Coast where the final films of his contract were made under the technical limitations endemic to Paramount’s Astoria Studios.  Things might have been very different had he completed his contract on the West Coast.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: There’s very little process work in the film.  (DeMille’s 1923 original has some fascinating early process screen work in the driving sequences.  A bit rough technically, but something to see!)  Here, even when you expect it, no process work for Colbert whether driving or while she’s water skiing.  In fact, Abbott had a stunt double skier on hand, but Claudette insisted, spending all morning learning how to do it before shooting the sequence in the afternoon.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Abbott remade another DeMille, THE CHEAT in 1931.  But in that one, advantage DeMille.  Instead, try HEAT LIGHTNING/’34, a great little Depression Era feminist film from a flop Abbott play.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2019/07/heat-lightning-1934.html