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East Lynne Movie Review

East Lynne is a 1931 drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Ann Harding in the main role. This is a very difficult to find and neglected, but rather underrated film.

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“The most pathetic figure in life:

the man who chooses a career

over the woman he loves“

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The refined Lady Isabel Carlisle, after leaving her family and enduring nearly a decade of hardships, learns that her son has fallen ill. Despite being nearly blinded as the result of an explosion, she returns home to see her son again. Based on the Victorian-era novel of the same name, this is one of those classical melodramas that were quite popular during this period. It did not age well at all, but I am quite partial to this type of film, so I personally really enjoyed it.

This is one of a few Best Picture nominees that have been almost impossible to watch until recently when some kind people uploaded the entirety of it on YouTube. I watched that version and I have to say that it was of surprisingly decent quality. Now, only two nominees remain missing and hopefully they will also get the same faith some day.

Watching this film, I was taken aback by how solid it was. In a very weak BP slate for 1931, this one was easily the best of the bunch to me personally. The main reason to see it is obviously for the acting performances, chief among them Ann Harding. She was nominated this year, but for a different film. Here, she excelled playing this perpetually tragic woman and she brought a lot of sympathy upon her character thanks to a very emotional performance.

Clive Brook and Conrad Nagel were both pretty good as well, though none of these roles were all that great to begin with as they were all basically playing archetypes, but at least they delivered what was asked from them. Frank Lloyd’s directing is reliably strong and the highlight is the set design. The movie looked absolutely gorgeous in its Gothic interiors and sumptuous period costumes.

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The dialogue is also quite good and there is a lot of enjoyment to be found in the central storyline of this misunderstood and mistreated woman who just can’t catch a break. The setting came to life beautifully and the atmosphere of impending doom was evident throughout. I loved the first half, but the second half was very problematic as this is where the movie became too silly and ludicrous. How she became blind was ridiculous and that ending was unnecessarily bleak and painfully rushed. The movie really went downhill in that messy third act.