Passion Flower

This is technically a precode, although you never see anything happen that is precode, just some precode ideas.

I loved Charles Bickford and Kay Johnson in Dynamite, and I guess that's because there you had two people from different worlds thrown together while their feelings for one another slowly build. Here Bickford plays Dan Wallace, a chauffeur, who falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy man, Cassy Pringle (Kay Johnson). When the film opens they are already in love, so there goes the chance to see the chemistry build again. When Cassy's father finds out, he orders Dan out of his house, and Cassy goes with him, with them marrying the next day. Dan has no trade, so the entire family lives in a cheap attic apartment while Dan works as a stevedore and in five years only rises to assistant supervisor of the other stevedores. Meanwhile he and Cassy have had two children who have no place to play in their cramped apartment that has been their home for the entirety of their marriage. Then Dan loses his job at the beginning of the Great Depression. Cassy's cousin is Dulce (Kay Francis), who married a much older but wealthy man whom she does not love, played by Lewis Stone. Dan and family move to a farm that Dulce wanted to give to them five years before on their wedding day, but now Dan's pride is all gone and he accepts the gift for the sake of his family. Dan is a man feeling like a disappointment as a provider and needing a boost to his pride, Dulce is a woman who has plenty of money but no passion in her loveless marriage. Complications ensue. I'll let you watch and find out what happens.

Everybody does a splendid job in this film. Kay Francis is great as a spoiled brat who thinks she should get everything she wants without actually coming out and saying that. Charles Bickford effectively portrays a man who is torn and who feels like a disappointment to his family. He often acts because he feels he "owes" people, and in the end his actions just make everybody unhappy. He didn't want material charity, why would he think the women in his life would want emotional charity? Kay Johnson gives a very subtle portrayal as the rich girl just happy to give it all up and stand by the poor man she loves, come what may. Winter Hall plays Cassy's dad, and he doesn't have much time on screen, yet he is a perfect portrait of pre-Depression Calvinism - he believes that rich people are intrinsically better than working people, and looks down upon them. The Great Depression is about to teach them otherwise - for awhile. Zasu Pitts is the comic relief as first Dan and Cassy's landlady and then when they move to the farm, their housekeeper? That is a transition I could never figure out, but she is needed comic relief for what is almost completely a heavy melodrama.

Just some background, Charles Bickford hated this film, calling it "melodramatic claptrap" in his autobiography. He felt he had been somewhat baited and switched by MGM, starting with the interesting "Dynamite" and then being forced to make this film instead of being loaned out to RKO, where he was wanted to play the leading role in "Cimarron". Also, the director of this film, William de Mille, brother of the great Cecil B., did not like directing sound films and only did a couple more after this. Also, Kay Johnson had been and maybe still was infatuated with Kay Francis at the time this film was made. So if things seem a bit awkward between the players, and if the direction seems a bit stilted, there is probably good reason.

Still, it's a pretty good study in human nature, so I'd recommend it.

Cecil's brother, William DeMille only directed one film after this one. After seeing Passion Flower, it's a wonder they let him do that one. Extremely old fashioned material made with no verve. With the exception of some lame Zasu Pitts comedy, all the performances are wooden and trite, even the usually interesting Bickford and Francis. The only moment of interest is a technical where Bickford and Francis have a discussion on a very windy hillside and the sound appears to be recorded on site. It would difficult with modern microphones, much less what they had in 1930. But it's not enough to make anyone want to sit through this rubbish.

I'm really not a Kay Francis fan. I find her very unappealing and extremely lacking in talent. As Passion Flower starts, it doesn't seem like Kay is the lead, but her part increases as the movie continues. Kay's cousin, Kay Johnson, is really the lead, since her character is more central to the story, but Kay Francis is still supposed to be the wildly attractive, irresistible one.

Kay Johnson comes from a wealthy family, but she falls in love with the poor chauffer, Charles Bickford. She gets cast out of her family when they marry, but they're too much in love to care. It's such an adorable beginning when they marry and get their first apartment. I've never seen Charlie in such a sweet, adorable role. They're both happy and in love, and they don't care about living in an attic with tiny rooms. As soon as they tell the landlady they'll take the room, they dig in their pockets to see how much money they have. After the first week's rent, they have ten dollars left in the whole world. "Now, I'll get a job," Charlie declares, opening the newspaper. It's so optimistic and sweet, as if they're gracing the world with their presences.

Then Kay Francis shows up and ruins everything. She pretends to be supportive of her cousin's choice, but she has an ulterior motive. The years pass, and the newlyweds struggle along with a low-paying job and two small children, and still Kay Francis-who's married to the wealthy, tolerant Lewis Stone-meddles. I know Charlie's a cutie-pie, with his brown curly hair and his gruff voice, but leave him alone! If you want to find out which Kay gets the guy, rent Passion Flower. You'll get to see Ray Milland in one of his first roles, as a drunken party guest who can't find his hat.

I really liked this movie. I thought it was an interesting study of human nature. You never know what someone is thinking or who will betray you no matter how well you think you know them. As for the comment about the performances being "wooden" you have to think about the time in which it was made. They were just coming out of silent films where they acted on a different level than with "talkies". It was a relatively new era in film. I thought that Kay Francis was lovely in this and that she was a truly beautiful woman. I don't know a great deal about her personal life but as for her movies I have become a dedicated fan. I'm in no way a film expert or aficionado but I know what I like and can move past certain elements to see the nuances of the story and characters. I don't think this was rubbish at all.

I just reviewed "The Show-Off" which has a similar - Irish vs. WASP thing going. In Passion Flower it is a bit more subtle, but Kay Francis is still most definitely the other - liberal, louche, a free-thinker.

In reading the other reviews, I note the historical value mentioned about the depression. This movie scores an 8 for me because of the priceless line about the battle of the sexes.

And of course it is Zazu delivering it - I think someone should gather her speaking roles in all her bit parts and string 'em together, end-to-end.

As I recall (I saw the move several years ago, but believe I watched this scene several times, I was so wowed by it), Zazu is mopping the floor and chatting "men trouble" with Kay Johnson. "I don't know about men," says Zazu. "They can be handy during the day and entertaining at night, but that's about it. I don't know about men." HANDY DURING THE DAY and ENTERTAINTING AT NIGHT? Now don't that just sum up the plight of 21st century manhood? And Zazu figured it out in 1930! Evewryone should watch this movie for that one scene. It is one of the best.