Outcast Lady

The second film based upon Michael Arlen's novel The Green Hat (previous is the silent A Woman of Affairs with Greta Garbo). This sound version stars the lovely and talented Constance Bennett in the lead as a woman whose background precludes an English aristocratic family from accepting her as one of their own when the Herbert Marshall's character falls in love with her. The rest of the movie revolves around this star-crossed love and the consequences of trying to do the right thing instead of following your heart. I found Marshall's performance too wooden but it is offset by excellent supporting characters. The story line appears to suffer from cuts in content that cause inadequate transitions. Fans of Constance Bennett will be amused at the similarity of the ending of this film to one of the main events in a follow-on work, Topper. An interesting, but not completely satisfying film that probably bears comparison to the original novel. Gowns by Adrian.