Forsaking All Others

Infobox Film
name = Forsaking All Others


image_size =
caption = Original theatrical poster
director = W.S. Van Dyke
producer = Bernard H. Hyman
writer = Play:
Edward Barry Roberts
Frank Morgan Cavett
Screenplay:
Joseph Mankiewicz
narrator =
starring = Joan Crawford
Clark Gable
Robert Montgomery
music =
cinematography = Gregg Toland
George Folsey
editing = Tom Held
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = flagicon|USA December 23, 1934
runtime = 83 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0025132

"Forsaking All Others" is a 1934 motion picture directed by W.S. Van Dyke, and starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery. In this "comedy of errors", three friends of long-standing are involved in a love triangle. The screenplay was written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, which was based upon a story by Edward Barry Roberts and Frank Morgan Cavett. "Forsaking All Others" is the sixth of eight cinematic collaborations between Crawford and Gable.

ynopsis

Mary Clay feels as if she is the happiest woman alive because she is about to wed Dillon Todd, a man whom she has loved since childhood. That same day, Jeff Williams, another childhood companion, returns from a long business trip to Spain, and is equally ecstatic that he can finally propose to Mary, whom he has always loved. When Jeff discovers that Mary is about to wed Dill, he keeps his feelings a secret and agrees to give the bride away. He also secretly orders dozens of cornflowers for Mary, knowing that they are her favorite flowers. The night before the wedding, however, Dill runs off and marries Connie Barnes, a woman with whom he had had an affair in Europe some months before. Mary then goes to the country with her aunt Paula to get over Dill, and when Jeff and their friend Shep visit, she claims to be completely over him. Soon after, however, she jumps at the chance to attend a party which she was invited to by Connie. Dill, who by now realizes his mistake, wants to see Mary again as well. Jeff warns Mary not to get involved with a married man, but she goes to see Dill anyway. One day, while Mary and Dill are riding in the country, their car breaks down, a rainstorm starts, and they take refuge in Aunt Paula's country home. Dill calls his valet to bring another car, but tells him to wait until the morning to bring it. Despite the circumstances, the evening is spent innocently, but the next day Paula convinces Jeff and Shep to get Mary away to avoid a scandal. Connie, meanwhile, has been told everything by Dill's valet and races to Paula's. Jeff arrives first and, realizing that nothing has happened, tries to cover for Mary, but Connie still demands a divorce. Some time later, it is again Mary and Dill's wedding, but this time it is Dill who is left at the altar when Jeff tells Mary that he has always loved her, just as he is about to sail for Spain. When she learns from Shep that it was Jeff, not Dill who sent her the cornflowers, she realizes that she loves Jeff. When he finds Mary on the boat, Jeff tells the steward to quickly bring the captain to perform a wedding.

Cast

* Joan Crawford.... Mary Clay
* Clark Gable.... Jeff Williams
* Robert Montgomery.... Dillon 'Dill' Todd
* Charles Butterworth.... Shep
* Billie Burke.... Aunt Paula
* Frances Drake.... Connie Barnes Todd
* Rosalind Russell.... Eleanor

Reception

"Variety" commented, "On the performance end, it is one of Miss Crawford's best." [Quirk, Lawrence J.. "The Films of Joan Crawford". The Citadel Press, 1968.]

ee also

* Joan Crawford filmography
* Clark Gable filmography

References