Some things I liked some I did not.

Admirable film.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Four years after this film was made, Myrna Loy - then Queen to Clark Gable's King of Hollywood - played his wife in a glossy 'A' list trifle suggestively called 'Wife vs. Secretary' (1936). The wife of the title is a whiny mercenary shrew whose charm resides solely in the enormous charisma of the actress playing her; while the racy title is belied by making the newly 'brownette' Harlow brisk, efficient and wholly honorable in her intentions toward husband Clark Gable. When I saw it I thought it would have been a much more interesting film if it had been made pre-Code with Loy playing the secretary and Harlow at her sluttiest and most peroxided as the wife (as in 'Dinner at Eight'). The same thought occurred to me watching 'The Animal Kingdom'. Being pre-Code, it's able to be frank about the role that sex plays in the various characters' interrelations without being too flippant about it either, since it's really about relationships rather than sex (rather as Douglas Sirk's glossy melodramas of the fifties later tended to be) and views a husband leaving his lawful wedded for his on again-off again mistress with active approval.Loy's name isn't even included on the title card but she actually gets far more screen time than Ann Harding as the mistress and is obviously offering husband Leslie Howard (when she feels he's earned it) passion of an order he plainly hasn't known with Harding for some time. As in real life the characters have made exasperating life decisions (Loy herself in reality notoriously made four wholly unsuitable choices of husband). Loy is here charming but mercenary and manipulative, while Harding seems very prim for a supposedly "promiscuous" (and Yes, that's the word that Loy - no less - uses to describe her) bohemian who has allowed her physical relationship with Howard to wither on the vine, yet is still affronted that Howard should have the temerity to seek more... stimulating companionship elsewhere. (The fact that he nonchalantly leaves her apartment while she just carries on talking in the next room speaks volumes about the place their relationship has reached).Within minutes of primly branding Harding "a promiscuous little...!" Loy reveals herself to be not above finally stopping teasing poor Neil Hamilton and giving him a little of the "excitement" he's plainly been gagging for since the film began if he'll perform a professional service on her behalf. Having until now shown himself to be weak and easily manipulated, Howard at the film's conclusion draws upon hitherto unsuspected reserves of iron self-control - that would certainly have been well beyond me - to turn his back on a bedroom door on the other side of which the delectable Loy is undressed and waiting for him.All the acting is good - particularly William Gargan recreating his stage role - and Loy was always effusive in her praise for the guidance she received from the film's largely forgotten director Edward H. Griffith. I was also fascinated by the diorama of the Brooklyn Bridge visible through the window of the New York apartment occupied by the supposedly penniless Harding.

After his engagement to alluring socialite Myrna Loy (as Cecilia Henry), Connecticut publisher Leslie Howard (as Tom Collier) learns former friend and lover, artist Ann Harding (as Daisy Sage), is returning to an apartment they shared. Professing her undying love, Ms. Harding startles Mr. Howard by proposing he marry her, instead; and, as Harding notes, she is accepting Howard's numerous past proposals. Howard is conflicted, but chooses to marry Ms. Loy. Yet, Howard can't forget Harding - does he love Loy, Harding, or both? "The Animal Kingdom" is a sleepy, spineless version of Philip Barry's stage play - but, it has a good cast.**** The Animal Kingdom (12/23/32) Edward H. Griffith ~ Leslie Howard, Ann Harding, Myrna Loy, William Gargan

Leslie Howard, Ann Harding, and Myrna Loy are all members of "The Animal Kingdom" in this 1932 film based on the play by Phillip Barry. Barry in his way was a transitional playwright - he wrote about the upper class, usually negatively, but always gave a nod to the lower class - they were the ones that had more fun. Just a little bit later, plays about the upper class would go by the wayside for plays about the working class - Waiting for Lefty, Awake and Sing - as America moved through the depression.Leslie Howard plays a member of said upper class who has engaged in a Bohemian lifestyle, living with an intelligent artist (Harding). They have a no attachment, open relationship, and he takes her at her word and gets himself engaged to a gorgeous, wealthy young woman (Myrna Loy) just as Harding decides she wants to settle down and have a family. She accepts his decision, but not his offer of continuing friendship.There is a line about the "animal kingdom" in the film, but I prefer to think the title has to do with baser instincts. If Howard passionately desired Ann Harding, he wouldn't have wanted to be friends - and it's her desire of him that makes her reject his "just friends" suggestion. Let's face facts - Loy turns him on and knows it. In fact, she uses sex as a manipulative weapon, and he's putty in her hands. It's more blatant in this film than, say, "Harriet Craig" which was done under the code - but the power of sex is there.Of course, a relationship based on sexual desire and nothing else eventually grows tired, and Howard finds himself going back to talk with Harding and spend time with her. She smartly keeps running. Clearly, Howard is a man who wants to have his cake and eat it, too.Harding was an interesting leading woman - she was attractive but not beautiful and had a very low, distinctive speaking voice. She came from the Broadway stage, and her heyday in films was through the mid-thirties, though she worked consistently in films and television until the mid-60s. As was the case back then, at 31 years of age, her time as a leading lady was drawing to a close, and soon would be turned over to people like the younger Loy. Her performance in "The Animal Kingdom" is a very honest one. Loy is absolutely ravishing and wears beautiful clothes. She essays the part of the glamorous wife beautifully, reminiscent of Gene Tierney later on with the ultra-feminine facade hiding the steel underneath. Howard is handsome and thoughtful in the lead, and one can see it slowly occurring to him that he made a mistake.Very good.

This is one of the "talky-est" movies I've seen in some time and often the dialog is very stilted and even occasionally silly. Yet despite this, the film is actually very shocking and "modern" in its sensibilities and pretty entertaining--if the dialog and pacing don't drive you to turn it off before it's over! And for adults who are VERY patient, it is a film worth seeing (perhaps deserving a score of 7 depending on the audience).Leslie Howard plays a pretty wussy guy who has definitely had lived the "Bohemian lifestyle". However, by the time the movie starts, he's ready to give up his wild and fornicatious (is that a word?) past and marry Myrna Loy. It seems that although he's loved another (in more ways than one), this other woman (played by Ann Harding) wasn't the marrying kind and so he set his sights on Loy. However, once he announced his engagement, Harding suddenly has a change of heart and wants to legitimize her sordid relationship with Howard--but unfortunately, her change of heart comes too late. Howard, quite the idiot, thinks he can maintain a strong friendship with Harding WHILE STILL MARRIED TO LOY! Everyone but Howard realizes this can't happen and so naturally over time they drift apart.A bit of time passes, and slowly but surely you come to see Loy as an incredibly manipulative and controlling woman. but Howard is slow to accept this. And, at the same time, Howard becomes more and more the "whipped dog". This presents an interesting moral dilemma, as although he and Harding had obviously been a lot more than just friends in the past, at least they loved each other. With Loy, there is absolutely no love--just manipulation. Heck, she even uses sex to get her way! She truly played a person you loved to hate! Eventually the slow-witted Howard realizes just how awful and cold his wife is and FINALLY he gets to the point where he realizes he must choose. I actually really liked this aspect of the film--as I found myself yelling at the TV for him to leave Loy--which is saying a lot, because I am a very traditional person and hate the idea of divorce. Well, it turns out that Howard, too, is against divorce and ultimately just runs to Harding to shack up--marriage or not! Considering the movie deals with premarital sex, living together, the Bohemian attitudes of Harding and Howard, adultery, using sex to manipulate your man and the whole "other woman" angle, it's an amazingly sordid and adult movie--even by 21st century standards. In this light, the film is a wonderful example of an "early Code" drama and of great interest to film buffs. In other words, in the early days of the Hays Production Code of ethics and morals, the code was mostly ignored by the studios and Hays' job was mostly symbolic. The office was started in the 1920s as a result of nudity and very adult themes in films--something that might surprise many people today. It wasn't until the mid to late 1930s that the code began to be strongly enforced--well after this movie appeared.