Like almost all of the movies released in the 30s, A FREE SOUL has become little more than soap-opera, but at the time, the inclusion of violence against the leading lady who in turn was the one who initiated a sexual tryst with a man from the wrong side of the tracks was ground-breaking, and Norma Shearer, the quintessential Modern Woman thanks to her portrayals of headstrong, complicated women, was up for the challenge.
She plays Jan Ashe, a young woman who falls for her father Stephen Ashe's client Ace Wilfong and breaks her engagement to Dwight Winthrop, but soon finds out that Ace is a dangerous man. Gable, playing Ace with his preternaturally masculine energy which hasn't been matched since (although Russell Crowe and Colin Farrell are clearly up for the challenge), macho's Shearer in every scene he shares with her and walks away with the entire movie. There is no one else you can think of in this movie -- certainly not the usually quiet, bland Leslie Howard who plays Dwight as the long-suffering, patient second man in Jan's life, and until the end when he outshines them all, Lionel Barrymore doesn't generate anything as much as an afterthought with his Stephen Ashe. However, his fourteen minute monologue stands in cinema history as one of the most riveting, and gave him his only Oscar nomination and win for Best Actor even though technically he was not the male lead, but shorter performances have won the Academy Award.
Not a great movie by all means but it did give Norma yet another Oscar nod and was remade as THE GIRL WHO HAD EVERYTHING starring Elizabeth Taylor. However, it has some strong moments, especially a tense scene between Gable and Shearer as he threatens her into marriage, and to some that can seem a little disturbing, especially when he played the hero in subsequent films, most notably of course Rhett Butler. It would have been a feast for the people who saw how badly his character treated Shearer here to see the tables turned in GONE WITH THE WIND, but of course, all intrigues and stories would fall by the wayside and Vivien Leigh would play Scarlett.
She plays Jan Ashe, a young woman who falls for her father Stephen Ashe's client Ace Wilfong and breaks her engagement to Dwight Winthrop, but soon finds out that Ace is a dangerous man. Gable, playing Ace with his preternaturally masculine energy which hasn't been matched since (although Russell Crowe and Colin Farrell are clearly up for the challenge), macho's Shearer in every scene he shares with her and walks away with the entire movie. There is no one else you can think of in this movie -- certainly not the usually quiet, bland Leslie Howard who plays Dwight as the long-suffering, patient second man in Jan's life, and until the end when he outshines them all, Lionel Barrymore doesn't generate anything as much as an afterthought with his Stephen Ashe. However, his fourteen minute monologue stands in cinema history as one of the most riveting, and gave him his only Oscar nomination and win for Best Actor even though technically he was not the male lead, but shorter performances have won the Academy Award.
Not a great movie by all means but it did give Norma yet another Oscar nod and was remade as THE GIRL WHO HAD EVERYTHING starring Elizabeth Taylor. However, it has some strong moments, especially a tense scene between Gable and Shearer as he threatens her into marriage, and to some that can seem a little disturbing, especially when he played the hero in subsequent films, most notably of course Rhett Butler. It would have been a feast for the people who saw how badly his character treated Shearer here to see the tables turned in GONE WITH THE WIND, but of course, all intrigues and stories would fall by the wayside and Vivien Leigh would play Scarlett.