Cinema Revisited: A Free Soul (1931)
A Free Soul
Directed by Clarence Brown. Cast: Clark Gable, Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore, Leslie Howard, James Gleason. Released June 20, 1931. 91 minutes.
A pre-code MGM drama that features a top cast of actors doing some of their best work, “A Free Soul” has a great deal of distinction. The story deals with an alcoholic lawyer who successfully defends a murderous gangster in court. The gangster then falls for the lawyer’s daughter, much to his chagrin. Her elitist lifestyle is challenged by a new life surrounded by aggressive behavior and ruggedness. The wealthy boyfriend whom she left for the gangster decides to kill the new beau, and is then himself defended in court by the drunken lawyer.
Alcoholism, premarital sex, revealing negligees, kidnapping, gambling, murder --- “A Free Soul” is a censor’s nightmare, even during the pre-code era. However, MGM wielded enough political power to override censorship in 1931 so a scene where the lawyer’s daughter lays back into the couch, reaches out and says “put your arms around me” is kept in despite recommendations that it be removed.
Clark Gable’s snarling charisma is central to the film’s dramatic power, as he bullies and slaps his way through the narrative as the gangster. Lionel Barrymore wavers from introspection to bewilderment as a shrewd lawyer whose alcoholism is too much for him to control. Norma Shearer is spunky and rebellious as the lawyer’s daughter. Leslie Howard is appropriately charmless as her elitist beau. Backing all of this up is James Gleason in a small role that benefits from his wry manner and distinctive voice. He doesn’t have the classy oratory skill of a Claude Rains or James Mason, but his inimitable “dees-dems-dose” delivery is every bit as distinctive.
Newcomer Gable was just coming off the gangster drama “The Secret Six” in which he held his own in a cast with Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, and Lewis Stone. Gable was a tough, good guy reporter in that one. In this one he gets to tap into the pure evil of a character, something he would do often during this part of his film career. His scenes with Norma Shearer are passionate and sometimes brutal. His conflict with Leslie Howard is made more interesting with the understanding that they would famously be involved in another love triangle 7 years later in “Gone With The Wind.”
Lionel Barrymore won his only Oscar for this film. Amazingly, it would be the only time he’d be nominated as an actor in his long, illustrious career (he was also nominated for directing the 1930 version of “Madame X.”). Barrymore is actually a supporting player in this movie, but there was no category for supporting actors at this time. So, he got a Best Actor Oscar for a supporting role, the only time that has ever happened. He is also the Best Actor Oscar winner with the least amount of screen time in the movie for which he won (something often credited to Anthony Hopkins for “Silence of the Lambs,” but Barrymore, in this film, has even less screen time). Barrymore’s tragic lawyer is able to muster up courageous defiance when confronting Gable about his romance with Shearer, letting him know that his status as a free man does not elevate him to the elite level of his betters. It is real Depression-era class-system stuff.
Norma Shearer got the part for this film over Joan Crawford, whom original writer Adele Rogers St. John had selected for the role (the movie was based on her account of her life). Norma’s being married to studio head Irving Thalberg likely made a difference as to who was cast. Shearer was adept at playing good girls who liked playing bad, and rich women who were attracted to the lower class. She always maintains a certain uppity manner even when she realizes her attraction to Gable is difficult to harness. When he insists they get married, she realizes her attraction to him is only sexual. She uses the situation as a bargaining tool, promising to leave him if her father gives up booze. He agrees, but cannot.
The impressive 14 minute take during the climactic courtroom scene managed to find a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest take in a Hollywood film shot in 35mm. Barrymore’s soliloquy shows his character depleting of all resources, struggling with his words, but ultimately making his point before collapsing. It is likely the scene that cinched his Oscar win.
Director Clarence Brown had a real knack for establishing shots, sometimes opening with a medium shot, and other times reeling back for a long shot with an elevated camera. He keeps everything in the frame, closing in when he wants to present the subtle nuance that each of these actors gave abundantly. Brown would have a long and successful career at MGM.
“A Free Soul” does not have quite the unrelenting grittiness that Warner Brothers or Paramount were offering during this same period, but even the gloss of MGM cannot overshadow the seamier elements in the narrative. Toss in great direction and fine acting from some of classic Hollywood’s icons, and “A Free Soul” earns its status as a pre-code classic.