Smilin' Through (1932)

Good concept, poorly executed.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, and Frederic March all shine in "Smilin' Through," from 1932 MGM.The story takes place during the latter part of the 19th Century. It concerns an old man, John (Howard) who has been alone since the death of his fiancé, Moonyen Clare. He sits near her grave often, imagining at times that he can hear her. When a close friend prevails upon him to take in Moonyeen's niece, at first he refuses, and then relents after he meets the child, Kathleen.Kathleen grows into Norma Shearer and remains close to her uncle. Everyone expects her to marry a young man, Willy. One night, she and Willy are caught in a rainstorm and find shelter in an old house. A man, John (March) enters; it was his father's house. He and Kathleen are instantly attracted to one another. When John finds out about the romance, he has a violent reaction and insists that Kathleen never see John again. She says yes, but she can't stay away from him. When John is about to go into the service during World War I, she decides to tell John the truth and marry Robert.What a beautiful, well-acted film. Some of it may seem overly dramatic, but it's a touching story about eternal love, and how those we love are always with us somehow.Really needed a box of tissues for this one. Highly recommended.

I found this film unbearably corny and dated, even for the period. Norma Shearer never impressed me when she played any sort of a period or costume role, as she became too self-aware and phony. Some actresses, Garbo for one, could slip in and out of costume dramas and more modern roles with believability, but not Norma. The only times I found her to be natural were in her early roles as a young actress when she wasn't playing Mrs. Thalberg.This one was just a little too old-fashioned and sentimental for my tastes. I had hoped for more, for a pre-code film.Leslie Howard is generally good in anything he does, and he performs well enough here. But I don't feel a whole lot of chemistry between the pair. And maybe it is the black and white format, but in the portions where Norma is in the blond role, her hair looks more gray than blond, which ages her. I guess I am not a softy...sorry, I don't mean to be harsh, but just did not like this one very much.

Smilin' Through is about a man played by Leslie Howard who must raise his friend's niece because her parents were killed. Howard, who has just lost his wife, reluctantly agrees.He begins to realize, over the years, that the girl he is raising (Norma Shearer) is very similar in looks to his deceased wife. Because of this fact, he has a strong relationship with her.One night, Shearer is off with a friend to an abandoned house. They find that someone else is there. The person who was there (Fredric March) is actually the son of the man who killed Howard's wife. And the abandoned house was where March grew up.Shearer falls for March and when Howard sees this, he becomes jealous. Tensions rise in this excellent "tearjerker." It's only flaw is that it seems to get a bit overlong for what it's trying to tell right at the very end.All of the three leads are amazing and should have been nominated for Oscars. Sadly, the only nomination it did get was Picture, which it should have won.

A big hit at the time of it's release, it was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture of that year. It still holds up, thanks to the timeless performance of Norma Shearer.