I cannot find a movie starring Norma Shearer that I like. She's always mixed up with some man, or men, in an unfavorable way and it irks me. "Riptide" is another romantic mix up that was both cliche and exaggerated.
Norma Shearer played Mary Rexford, an American in England for unstated reasons. She and Lord Phillip Rexford (Herbert Marshall) fell quickly in love--so quickly that you knew something was going to go wrong.
Five years into their magical marriage Phillip had to go to America on business.
Uh oh.
One thing 1930's romances have taught me is that you never, and I mean NEVER, leave your sweetheart alone, not even for a day. Don't believe me? I have the receipts.
In "It Happened One Night" (1934) Claudette Colbert was on the way to her husband on a cross country trip and fell in love with Clark Gable.
In "The Mystery of Mr. X" (1934) Ralph Forbes went to jail for ten days and his sweetheart Elizabeth Allan fell in love with Robert Montgomery (who also happens to play spoiler in "Riptide").
In "Man of the World" (1931) Lawrence Gray went out of town on business and lost his sweetheart (Carole Lombard) to William Powell.
In "Transgression" (1931) Paul Cavanagh left his wife Kay Francis in France for a year while he was in India on business and lost her to Ricardo Cortez.
In "Dinner at Eight" (1933) Phillips Holmes went overseas for a bit and lost his fiance (played by Madge Evans) to John Barrymore.
In "Central Airport" (1933) Richard Barthelmess was a pilot and his sweetheart Sally Eilers was his parachutist. He got injured and had a two month hospital stay. Once he healed up she was married to his brother (played by Tom Brown).
So, when Lord Phillip went to America for business in "Riptide," I knew something was going to interrupt his marriage.
And something, or rather someone, did.
His wife Mary (Norma Shearer) was home alone for the first time in years so she decided to go out and have some fun. When she heard that an old acquaintance named Tommie Trent (Robert Montgomery) from New York was in the same hotel she went to his room to invite him to some revelry.
The two began having a blast, and if you ask me, they were just a little too chummy for my tastes.
Eventually, Tommie saw an opportunity to kiss Mary. He thought he'd read her right, and maybe he had (she was laying on her back on the couch right beside him when she was just sitting up before that), but Mary caught herself.
"Now you've gone and spoiled everything," she said. That would've been the correct time to take her leave, but she stuck around a little bit longer--just long enough to give Tommie the idea that he could reel her in.
When Tommie went to go make a drink she ran away.
Running away in and of itself was sort of an admission. "I'm too weak to repel you because I desire you, so I will run away when you leave the room."
Tommie went searching for her and fell off of a balcony in the process. The fall landed him in the hospital where Mary went to visit him to make sure he was alright.
This is where the movie was a little extra.
When Mary went to visit Tommie she asked what she could do for him. I already knew what he was going to say because it was just too easy.
"Kiss me," he said as she sat on his bed leaning over him only a foot away from his face. I'm gonna say that was the standard way of talking on screen back then because of the limitations of the cameras. Still, it was cringey, especially when brother and sister or father and daughter spoke to each other that closely.
"Will you go to sleep and be quiet?" she asked as if the kiss she was prepared to give him was for the greater good. This is something I've seen in other movies and it always baffles me. A man will request a kiss or some affection from a woman he has no right requesting it from, and the woman will say something like, "Only if you'll leave," then kiss the guy as if it was a necessary evil. Hollywood gave women no backbones.
Mary proceeded to kiss Tommie and a cameraman JUST SO HAPPENED to be right there to take the photo. The picture made it to all the tabloids and Phillip (remember her husband?) was rightly incensed. He leaves for business one time and his wife is in another man's bed kissing him in front of cameras.
Mary was remorseful and apologetic. She did everything to try to convince her husband that "nothing had happened," and that he could trust her. She even went so far as to request Tommie to tell her husband nothing had happened, and I couldn't help but think, "Are you dumb?"
That is the last thing you should do! If you've been caught kissing another man, don't call that man up and have him explain to your husband that nothing more happened. Firstly, you've let the side-dude know that there's trouble in paradise and he may have an in. Secondly, you've let your husband know that you're still in contact with that man. Finally, that man is the last person your husband is going to want to see. He doesn't want to hear his name or see his face ever again. Lord Phillip said as much to Mary. She essentially had made a bad situation worse.
Now the movie could go one of two ways. They could divorce and Mary would naturally go to Tommie, or they could remain together, but Tommie would be a black cloud hovering over them. The one thing I did expect was for Mary to eventually get angry at Phillip for not forgiving her, run off, then Phillip would realize he loved her anyway and go after her.
That's pretty much what happened. With a little more unnecessary spice.
Phillip told Mary that he thought divorce was best. He couldn't shake the thought of her with Tommie plus she had a history that he knew about but had consciously overlooked.
Mary assumed the mention of a divorce was a death blow so she said F it so to speak. That same night she went ahead and slept with Tommie. So even if Phillip had second thoughts, she made sure to confirm his worst thoughts and fears. It was a hasty move that seemed to be incongruous with her goals, but maybe she was just an easy lay after all.
In the end, after another round of heart breaking, they remained together, proving that love is stronger than everything else. It wasn't so much a happy ending as it was a resignation. Phillip didn't want to let her go, and I'm sure if the movie ran another ten minutes he would've second guessed himself again. In my eyes, all of the mix ups and misunderstandings are because of high-society rules. Among working class folks a man's wife shouldn't be alone with another man. And if she is, it's going to be dealt with quickly, vociferously, and maybe even violently.
Aristocrats are so queer.
Free on Odnoklassniki.
Norma Shearer played Mary Rexford, an American in England for unstated reasons. She and Lord Phillip Rexford (Herbert Marshall) fell quickly in love--so quickly that you knew something was going to go wrong.
Five years into their magical marriage Phillip had to go to America on business.
Uh oh.
One thing 1930's romances have taught me is that you never, and I mean NEVER, leave your sweetheart alone, not even for a day. Don't believe me? I have the receipts.
In "It Happened One Night" (1934) Claudette Colbert was on the way to her husband on a cross country trip and fell in love with Clark Gable.
In "The Mystery of Mr. X" (1934) Ralph Forbes went to jail for ten days and his sweetheart Elizabeth Allan fell in love with Robert Montgomery (who also happens to play spoiler in "Riptide").
In "Man of the World" (1931) Lawrence Gray went out of town on business and lost his sweetheart (Carole Lombard) to William Powell.
In "Transgression" (1931) Paul Cavanagh left his wife Kay Francis in France for a year while he was in India on business and lost her to Ricardo Cortez.
In "Dinner at Eight" (1933) Phillips Holmes went overseas for a bit and lost his fiance (played by Madge Evans) to John Barrymore.
In "Central Airport" (1933) Richard Barthelmess was a pilot and his sweetheart Sally Eilers was his parachutist. He got injured and had a two month hospital stay. Once he healed up she was married to his brother (played by Tom Brown).
So, when Lord Phillip went to America for business in "Riptide," I knew something was going to interrupt his marriage.
And something, or rather someone, did.
His wife Mary (Norma Shearer) was home alone for the first time in years so she decided to go out and have some fun. When she heard that an old acquaintance named Tommie Trent (Robert Montgomery) from New York was in the same hotel she went to his room to invite him to some revelry.
The two began having a blast, and if you ask me, they were just a little too chummy for my tastes.
Eventually, Tommie saw an opportunity to kiss Mary. He thought he'd read her right, and maybe he had (she was laying on her back on the couch right beside him when she was just sitting up before that), but Mary caught herself.
"Now you've gone and spoiled everything," she said. That would've been the correct time to take her leave, but she stuck around a little bit longer--just long enough to give Tommie the idea that he could reel her in.
When Tommie went to go make a drink she ran away.
Running away in and of itself was sort of an admission. "I'm too weak to repel you because I desire you, so I will run away when you leave the room."
Tommie went searching for her and fell off of a balcony in the process. The fall landed him in the hospital where Mary went to visit him to make sure he was alright.
This is where the movie was a little extra.
When Mary went to visit Tommie she asked what she could do for him. I already knew what he was going to say because it was just too easy.
"Kiss me," he said as she sat on his bed leaning over him only a foot away from his face. I'm gonna say that was the standard way of talking on screen back then because of the limitations of the cameras. Still, it was cringey, especially when brother and sister or father and daughter spoke to each other that closely.
"Will you go to sleep and be quiet?" she asked as if the kiss she was prepared to give him was for the greater good. This is something I've seen in other movies and it always baffles me. A man will request a kiss or some affection from a woman he has no right requesting it from, and the woman will say something like, "Only if you'll leave," then kiss the guy as if it was a necessary evil. Hollywood gave women no backbones.
Mary proceeded to kiss Tommie and a cameraman JUST SO HAPPENED to be right there to take the photo. The picture made it to all the tabloids and Phillip (remember her husband?) was rightly incensed. He leaves for business one time and his wife is in another man's bed kissing him in front of cameras.
Mary was remorseful and apologetic. She did everything to try to convince her husband that "nothing had happened," and that he could trust her. She even went so far as to request Tommie to tell her husband nothing had happened, and I couldn't help but think, "Are you dumb?"
That is the last thing you should do! If you've been caught kissing another man, don't call that man up and have him explain to your husband that nothing more happened. Firstly, you've let the side-dude know that there's trouble in paradise and he may have an in. Secondly, you've let your husband know that you're still in contact with that man. Finally, that man is the last person your husband is going to want to see. He doesn't want to hear his name or see his face ever again. Lord Phillip said as much to Mary. She essentially had made a bad situation worse.
Now the movie could go one of two ways. They could divorce and Mary would naturally go to Tommie, or they could remain together, but Tommie would be a black cloud hovering over them. The one thing I did expect was for Mary to eventually get angry at Phillip for not forgiving her, run off, then Phillip would realize he loved her anyway and go after her.
That's pretty much what happened. With a little more unnecessary spice.
Phillip told Mary that he thought divorce was best. He couldn't shake the thought of her with Tommie plus she had a history that he knew about but had consciously overlooked.
Mary assumed the mention of a divorce was a death blow so she said F it so to speak. That same night she went ahead and slept with Tommie. So even if Phillip had second thoughts, she made sure to confirm his worst thoughts and fears. It was a hasty move that seemed to be incongruous with her goals, but maybe she was just an easy lay after all.
In the end, after another round of heart breaking, they remained together, proving that love is stronger than everything else. It wasn't so much a happy ending as it was a resignation. Phillip didn't want to let her go, and I'm sure if the movie ran another ten minutes he would've second guessed himself again. In my eyes, all of the mix ups and misunderstandings are because of high-society rules. Among working class folks a man's wife shouldn't be alone with another man. And if she is, it's going to be dealt with quickly, vociferously, and maybe even violently.
Aristocrats are so queer.
Free on Odnoklassniki.