The story sounded interesting and while Clarence Brown was not a consistent director, depending on the material of course, when he was on top form his films were very good and even great. It was the cast though that drew me into seeing 'A Free Soul'. Clark Gable is the most familiar name to me and had a very high number of good and more performances. Likewise with Norma Shearer, while Lionel Barrymore always gave it his all (at times a little too much) no matter what he was given and when his character was interesting Leslie Howard was also known to be good.
'A Free Soul' is not a great film but it is an enjoyable one and at its best great. Shearer, Barrymore and Gable are on their A-game and the material suits Brown surprisingly well. Howard though has been much better, while the story does require a good deal of suspension of disbelief and some may find the father-daughter relationship on the unintentionally creepy side now. A matter of taste though and others are going to think differently, which is absolutely fine.
Production values are high, 'A Free Soul' is very stylishly photographed and it is hard to not look away from Shearer's quite stunning clothes which she wears beautifully in. The music avoids being overpowering or overused, while Brown's direction is always engaging and lets the material come alive to almost gun-blazing effect. Do prefer his more understated approach but that was not the directing style required here as such and he just about keeps things controlled to a point.
It is a snappily scripted film, without being too talk-heavy or rambling, and while the climactic courtroom scene may come over as melodramatic today to me it is a powerfully written scene. Well a powerful and quite gripping scene overall, and it didn't come over award-baiting to me. The story very rarely loses energy and always grips and fascinates in its depiction of addiction, the father-daughter relationship was fine to me and had heart and intensity. The film didn't feel creaky or stage bound. Mostly 'A Free Soul' is well acted, despite Barrymore winning the Oscar and Shearer being nominated am going to agree that the fierce Gable gives the best performance. Shearer though still gives a very deeply felt performances and Barrymore wrings so much juice out of his character to thrilling and sometimes scary effect.
By all means 'A Free Soul' is far from perfect. Howard is pretty much wasted, he has nothing to work with and is very bland. Probably the most underwritten character and dullest performance he ever gave.
Some serious suspension of disbelief is needed, like can be the case with melodrama the storytelling can be very silly with some forced plot elements. The melodrama can be over-heated to overkill effect too.
Overall though, it's a well executed and interesting film that's well performed, made and directed. Despite some flawed storytelling and one not so good performance. 7/10
'A Free Soul' is not a great film but it is an enjoyable one and at its best great. Shearer, Barrymore and Gable are on their A-game and the material suits Brown surprisingly well. Howard though has been much better, while the story does require a good deal of suspension of disbelief and some may find the father-daughter relationship on the unintentionally creepy side now. A matter of taste though and others are going to think differently, which is absolutely fine.
Production values are high, 'A Free Soul' is very stylishly photographed and it is hard to not look away from Shearer's quite stunning clothes which she wears beautifully in. The music avoids being overpowering or overused, while Brown's direction is always engaging and lets the material come alive to almost gun-blazing effect. Do prefer his more understated approach but that was not the directing style required here as such and he just about keeps things controlled to a point.
It is a snappily scripted film, without being too talk-heavy or rambling, and while the climactic courtroom scene may come over as melodramatic today to me it is a powerfully written scene. Well a powerful and quite gripping scene overall, and it didn't come over award-baiting to me. The story very rarely loses energy and always grips and fascinates in its depiction of addiction, the father-daughter relationship was fine to me and had heart and intensity. The film didn't feel creaky or stage bound. Mostly 'A Free Soul' is well acted, despite Barrymore winning the Oscar and Shearer being nominated am going to agree that the fierce Gable gives the best performance. Shearer though still gives a very deeply felt performances and Barrymore wrings so much juice out of his character to thrilling and sometimes scary effect.
By all means 'A Free Soul' is far from perfect. Howard is pretty much wasted, he has nothing to work with and is very bland. Probably the most underwritten character and dullest performance he ever gave.
Some serious suspension of disbelief is needed, like can be the case with melodrama the storytelling can be very silly with some forced plot elements. The melodrama can be over-heated to overkill effect too.
Overall though, it's a well executed and interesting film that's well performed, made and directed. Despite some flawed storytelling and one not so good performance. 7/10