The Right To Romance (1933)

Fresh and Exciting

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The very same year that this romantic drama concerning the private life of a troubled plastic surgeon was made, Eddie Cantor got to sing that famous standard in the musical classic "Roman Scandals". This film starts off with the profile of surgeon Ann Harding's career, going through the insecure arrival of an aging society matron (Helen Freeman) who has lost a recent lover and wants to get him back along with her youth. The opening segment follows her surgery and the revelation of how she looks, and what is sad is that while she does come back to see Harding and rave about how Harding's work did exactly what she wanted it to, she's still insecure on the inside knowing that ultimately, the looks regained from that surgery will soon fade away anyway. The shallowness of this situation causes Harding, while still young, to look at her own life which has her working long hours to make other women happy while she herself is miserable. She takes a vacation where she meets playboy pilot Robert Young who has the maturity of a teenager and in spite of her common sense telling her that he's no good for him, agrees to marry him on the spur of the moment anyway. But he's about as ready for a serious commitment as she is for retirement, and no amount of patience on her part (while not dealing with patients) will make him grow up.One of the most popular leading ladies of the pre-code era of Hollywood, Ann Harding faded out of the spotlight (mostly by her own choice) in the late 1930's, returning as a character actress and always playing ladies of nobility whose platinum blonde bun was always neatly tucked in the back of her head and indicated that her characters were rather rigid. Harding here starts off in a different fashion of rigid, rather cold in her business dealings, but coming to life as she finds love with a most likely younger man. But is it really love or just infatuation on both parts? Young's reckless lifestyle gets him into messes one right after another, and Harding tries too hard to get him to see the error of his ways, often acting more like a mother than a lover to him. She doesn't realize that the perfect man for her (Nils Asther) is right in reach, having loved her all along, but too aware of the fact that she sees him only as her best friend and not in a romantic sense. The exotic Sari Maritza is the other woman, looking on Harding with silent contempt when they first meet at a party where Young in daredevil mode has allowed Maritza to take over the controls of the two seater plane he's flying, scaring everybody on the ground beneath them. This is an enjoyable pre-code drama that leaves a very worthwhile message for the women who want to marry and tame bad boys: It doesn't always work and will ultimately leave them with nothing but heartache.

Beautiful cosmetic surgeon Ann Harding (as Margaret "Peggy" Simmons) feels her biological clock ticking away. "The years are going so fast," she tells her somber nun, "Am I, after all, just a giddy woman at heart?" Ms. Harding takes a leave of absence from work and goes from staid Manhattan doctor to fun-loving Los Angeles sophisticate. She cuts down on smoking and has a whirlwind romance with wealthy playboy Robert Young (as Bobby Preble). You should expect their chance for happiness will be threatened... This Harding vehicle always leaves you wondering why she is so infatuated with Mr. Young while ignoring magnetic Nils Asther (as Helmuth "Heppie" Heppling), which may be the point.**** The Right to Romance (11/17/33) Alfred Santell ~ Ann Harding, Robert Young, Nils Asther, Sari Maritza

I knew nothing of this film until I started watching it about 15 minutes into its start. I was really watching it for the clothes( that are so spectacular even in "B" films of the 1930's) and got caught up in the story. Ann Harding, who is totally unknown today and was a major star then, plays a woman doctor, a plastic surgeon, who falls for a much younger playboy (Robert Young- looking very young by the way) and marries him even though deep down inside she knows it might not work out. She is loved by a colleague played effortlessly by Nils Asher. And yes, who knows who HE was today? Asher was one of the best character actors who had a short career in the 1930's yet was paired with some of the best and most glamorous leading ladies of the era. While her husband was off having an affair with his ex-girlfriend, they have a plane crash and she is scarred. Will the doctor save her life and restore her beauty? And will she finally have the love she wants and deserves from her colleague who adores her? Very short film (about 70 minutes) but right on target and not a lot of fluff. AND yes, being a fashion stylist myself, the clothes are fabulous, especially, the gown Ann Harding wears at the party where she succumbs to Robert Young's charms. If you are a 1930's film fan, you must see this film.

It's sad that there are now, one or two generations who don't know about Ann Harding. Why she isn't as memorable as other MGM headliners I'll never know. Thankfully, we have these well preserved films for their legacy to live on and to memorialize the art. The 'Right To Romance' has to be the BEST movie of 1933. It stands against competition that rate solid 9.9 and less but this rates truly a 10.0. Once watched, you will become a fan of Ann Harding who gives the strongest performance of her career. A well written story which allows Nils Asther to display his acting talent too, (which outshines Robert Montgomery). This movie is short, to the point, memorable and besides, an amazingly well written story. Blow the dust off this one and find a young friend who you'd like to turn onto an ageless but forgotten classic. I promise, you won't regret it.