Not a good film, but an interesting one for many reasons, not the least of which is that it's an early sound re-make of a 1923 silent, also starring Betty Compson. This silent version was co-produced by Victor Saville and directed by Graham Cutts from a screenplay by Alfred Hitchcock. For the 1929 re-make, Saville took on the jobs of both directing and producing from a screenplay he wrote in collaboration with Nicholas Fodor. Would you believe, the film was again remade in 1946 with Douglass Montgomery and Joyce Howard, directed by Maclean Rogers from a screenplay by Marjorie Deans and Jane Seymour? The 1929 version is probably the best. Not only is Compson in fine form, but the support cast led by Juliette Compton and George Barraud is also top-notch. By the none-too-crisp standards of early talkies, not only are production values excellent, but the melodrama is well acted and keeps us glued to the screen despite its hokey plot. It's only when the curtain falls on Act 3, that we realize we've been had, and that the screenwriters have taken the easy way out and haven't really made any honest attempts to solve any of the domestic problems they've been so keen to introduce! Available on both a very good Grapevine DVD and a much-worn Alpha pressing.
Review of Woman to Woman
