Who payed the critics

Don't Believe the Hype

A Brilliant Conflict

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

A bit of melodramatic claptrap that works pretty well due to a trio of top-notch actors and a lot of classy MGM production values.Norma Shearer is the orphaned niece who is raised by Leslie Howard. Fredric March is the dashing soldier she falls in love with, but Howard is opposed to the marriage because March's father was responsible for the death of Howard's wife. That wife visits him from time to time as a ghost also played by Shearer. There are a lot of moody scenes set in abandoned houses and lush gardens, and the whole thing has a dreamy atmosphere, enhanced by the blurring of lines between memories of the past and the actual present.As an aside, I'm always fascinated by the treatment of World War I in films from the 1920s and 30s before anyone knew that World War II would come to dominate the cultural discourse later in the century."Smilin' Through" was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in the 1932-33 award year, a year that saw ten nominees for the top prize. It belongs to a small list of films to receive a Best Picture nomination and no others, something that hasn't happened since 1943 but which is made more possible now that the Academy has gone back to nominating up to ten movies every year.The full list includes: "The Racket" (1927-28); "The Hollywood Revue of 1929" (1928-29); "East Lynne" (1930-31); "Trader Horn" (1930-31); "Grand Hotel" (1931-32, the only film to actually win); "One Hour with You" (1931-32); "The Smiling Lieutenant" (1931-32); "She Done Him Wrong" (1932-33); "Smilin' Through" (1932-33); "Here Comes the Navy" (1934); "The House of Rothschild" (1934); "Ruggles of Red Gap" (1935); "Libeled Lady" (1936); "Grand Illusion" (1938); "One Foot in Heaven" (1941); "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1943).Grade: B

This Is by far the best of the three versions of the story. Shearer, March and Howard are all Magnificent. There are really two unforgettably touching parts of the film. The first is the flashback sequence on the eve of the wedding where Howard and Shearer behave like children in love and when she dies at their wedding it almost seems like Shearer has better chemistry as Moonyean with Howard than she dose as Kathleen with March either way she is a brilliant and underrated actress. The other and most moving part of the film is the unforgettable and tear jerking end when Howard and Shearer reunite in death. If one can sit through this movie and not be even a little choked up by the end, then they must be pretty cold. This is yet another example of the days gone by but not forgotten and the fact that they don't make them like this anymore. A definite 10

I cannot imagine a movie being classier than this one. The lilting mood of the story is felt all the way through the film until its closing moments. The swell of music followed by the appearance of a 'The End' card, like a surrendered afterthought on the screen, make Smilin' Through seem as if MGM meant to deliver a movie on a cloud in 1932. Fredric March and Norma Shearer's conversations have a sense of 'sway' or dance about them. From her refusal to see his soldier off at the train station then following him there in the very next scene to his simple but imploring, "There's a war on, and I'm in it!", the well-drawn characters demonstrate nobility, humor, and attachment to each other that are poetic in their simplicity. Even an elderly man, as painted by Leslie Howard's portrayal, commits his loving then selfish then last surprising acts with grace. Director, Sidney Franklin motions us into the fold to experience the drama alongside the characters with his special touches: distant gunfire rattling windows, doors shutting on a church shooting while we wait for them to be reopened to discover how the characters are reacting. No leotards or shades of pink are glimpsed here, but surely we have been to a ballet of sorts.

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.