Such a frustrating disappointment

Absolutely Fantastic

A Masterpiece!

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

What a weird one. Starts out as a relatively normal soaper about a nightclub dancer (Joan Crawford) who marries a wealthy farmer, played by Melvyn Douglas. There's all the usual tropes you would expect from a class warfare type of drama. But added to that are some bizarre characterizations from Fay Bainter as Douglas' jealous sister, Robert Young as Douglas' moody brother who is suddenly overcome with lust for Joan, and Margaret Sullavan as Young's poor wife who is the most sympathetic character in the movie until the hysterical climax. Add to this a scene with a dimwitted farm hand trying to force himself on Joan and she punches him out and you've got a pretty overwrought melodrama. Nice cast, and it's definitely interesting, but it's a little hard to take seriously at times. Soap opera fans will probably enjoy it most.

When dancer Joan Crawford enters high society by marrying wealthy Melvyn Douglas, his sister (Fay Bainter) sends their brother (Robert Young) to try and pay her off. But Crawford stands tall, marries the brother (sans the rest of his family) and enters the social world run by the Mrs. Danvers like Bainter. Only Young's pleasant wife (Margaret Sullavan) likes her, and they become quick friends (which is a rare thing for Crawford, who admittedly despises her own sex). Bainter is passively aggressively chilly with Crawford, drops all sorts of innuendos of her disapproval, and finally, all explodes when Crawford (obviously attracted to the indifferent Young) convinces Douglas to move away, seemingly for an extended honeymoon. Before you can break into a chorus of "Burning Down the House", Bainter turns into Norman Bates' mother, and Crawford is ready to pack it in.Packed with major star power (four Academy Award Winners), "The Shining Hour" is a fast-moving camp classic where Crawford, pre-Crystal Allen ("The Women") gets to be pretty bitchy, but not nasty. It is Bainter who wins that title, giving a performance far from her kindly mother role which won her an Oscar for the same year's "Jezebel". (Working with Crawford AND Bette Davis the same year....) The following year's Best Supporting Actress winner Hattie McDaniel is amusing as "Belvedere", Crawford's faithful maid. The reason for Young's initial distaste for Crawford is never really explained other than being manipulated by his sister, although there is all sorts of interesting characterization development for Margaret Sullavan's sister-in-law who is seemingly overly noble but never sickeningly sweet.Worth repeated viewing for its cast, melodramatic performances and a few funny lines, "The Shining Hour" isn't a very sunny 79 minutes, but moderately enjoyable.

I always wanted to see this movie. It was one that Joan Crawford wanted to do after so many mediocre movies in the mid-30's. But I just did not like it. It was based on Keith Winter's Broadway hit but it was probably overly sanitized for the post-1933 censors that did not allow characters to have real problems unless they were killed for their human indiscretions. The cast is tops. Youthful Joan , the lovely Margaret Sullivan, the excellent Robert Young, the charming Melvyn Douglas and the superb character actress Fay Bainter. The script just does not properly develop why these characters especially Bainter's are so conflicted. And Joan seems too mannered in that way that made it look like she was just walking through the part. Not one of Joan's classics but watchable nonetheless. Bainter walks away with it though her character's sudden change at the end does not make any sense.

This movie is far more interesting than it should be, thanks to the very articulate discussions of feelings or the lack thereof. Good acting by Joan Crawford, who is no favorite of mine and Margaret Sullivan, who is and Hattie McDaniel who always seems to bring some needed reality to any situation with an intelligence not exceeded by anyone in the film. Fay Bainter is good at playing with her claws out.