34 reviews
An interesting role for Hepburn early in her career
This film is Katharine Hepburn's second film and her first in a starring role. In her first film, 1932's "A Bill of Divorcement", Billie Burke had starred with Hepburn fourth billed. Here the situation has reversed itself, and Hepburn supplants Burke in more ways than one. Hepburn plays Lady Cynthia Darrington, a member of the British gentry whose family has lost its money. As a result, she pursues aviation for both her love of it and for money to try and restore the family fortune. She has forsaken love up to this point in her life, and as the result of a human scavenger hunt at a party attended by one of her friends, she winds up at the party because she is a virgin, and Christopher Strong (Colin Clive) winds up there because he is a faithful husband to Billie Burke's character. The two meet, fall in love, and eventually this leads to the loss of what distinguished both of them in the first place.
There are several things that make this film interesting - not the least of which being that Hepburn's role turns out to be semi-autobiographical. In actuality Hepburn was an athletic and independent woman of aristocratic roots who fell for a married Spencer Tracy who also never technically divorced his wife. Then there's that metallic moth suit complete with antennae that Cynthia wears to a party - yikes! And the middle-aged Lord Strong doesn't even do a double take when she walks in wearing this outfit. So much for the stuffy image of the British aristocracy. The ending is odd since it doesn't seem consistent with Cynthia's strong independent streak. Her solution to her dilemma when she realizes that, although Strong loves her, he would only actually leave his wife out of a sense of duty to Cynthia, seems completely out of character. Also, Billie Burke does such a good job of playing the wronged wife who suffers in silence and dignity that it is really hard to sympathize with anyone but her. Finally, the title is a bit of a mystery. The title character, Christopher Strong, is really secondary to Hepburn's Cynthia Darrington, and I can't help but wonder why the film wasn't titled after Hepburn's character instead.
Director Dorothy Arzner, the only female director in Hollywood during this time, certainly took some chances with this one. Some of the film worked and some of it didn't, but I don't think it would have had a chance without Hepburn in the lead. I recommend this film to anyone interested in the evolution of Hepburn's acting style.
There are several things that make this film interesting - not the least of which being that Hepburn's role turns out to be semi-autobiographical. In actuality Hepburn was an athletic and independent woman of aristocratic roots who fell for a married Spencer Tracy who also never technically divorced his wife. Then there's that metallic moth suit complete with antennae that Cynthia wears to a party - yikes! And the middle-aged Lord Strong doesn't even do a double take when she walks in wearing this outfit. So much for the stuffy image of the British aristocracy. The ending is odd since it doesn't seem consistent with Cynthia's strong independent streak. Her solution to her dilemma when she realizes that, although Strong loves her, he would only actually leave his wife out of a sense of duty to Cynthia, seems completely out of character. Also, Billie Burke does such a good job of playing the wronged wife who suffers in silence and dignity that it is really hard to sympathize with anyone but her. Finally, the title is a bit of a mystery. The title character, Christopher Strong, is really secondary to Hepburn's Cynthia Darrington, and I can't help but wonder why the film wasn't titled after Hepburn's character instead.
Director Dorothy Arzner, the only female director in Hollywood during this time, certainly took some chances with this one. Some of the film worked and some of it didn't, but I don't think it would have had a chance without Hepburn in the lead. I recommend this film to anyone interested in the evolution of Hepburn's acting style.
Title Should Have Been Cynthia Darrington
I'm not quite sure why the title of this film is not Lady Cynthia Darrington since the film rises and falls on the action of Hepburn's character and not on Colin Clive's title role of Christopher Strong.
Clive is a most proper member of Parliament, probably a Tory, who through a treasure hunt, a la My Man Godfrey, he meets Hepburn who is a young titled woman who has an interest in aviation. In fact she's the British version of Amelia Earhart.
Clive and wife Billie Burke have a daughter, Helen Chandler, who is something of a wild child. She's having an affair with the unhappily married Ralph Forbes. But before long it's Clive and Hepburn who get involved.
Colin Clive gives us a perfect portrayal of a man going through midlife crisis when everything just seems to settle in a dull routine. He's so taken by Hepburn's vitality and independence that their affair has an inevitability about it.
Dorothy Arzner one of the few women directors around at that point also gives us one of Kate's very first feminist icon roles. Her first film, A Bill of Divorcement, had Kate as a dutiful daughter who gives up her man to care for an insane father. Kate has some critical choices to make in Christopher Strong as well.
What she does might not make sense to today's audience, but made perfectly good sense in post Victorian Great Britain. She and Clive make a wonderful pair of tragic lovers in a drama that while old fashioned still holds up.
Clive is a most proper member of Parliament, probably a Tory, who through a treasure hunt, a la My Man Godfrey, he meets Hepburn who is a young titled woman who has an interest in aviation. In fact she's the British version of Amelia Earhart.
Clive and wife Billie Burke have a daughter, Helen Chandler, who is something of a wild child. She's having an affair with the unhappily married Ralph Forbes. But before long it's Clive and Hepburn who get involved.
Colin Clive gives us a perfect portrayal of a man going through midlife crisis when everything just seems to settle in a dull routine. He's so taken by Hepburn's vitality and independence that their affair has an inevitability about it.
Dorothy Arzner one of the few women directors around at that point also gives us one of Kate's very first feminist icon roles. Her first film, A Bill of Divorcement, had Kate as a dutiful daughter who gives up her man to care for an insane father. Kate has some critical choices to make in Christopher Strong as well.
What she does might not make sense to today's audience, but made perfectly good sense in post Victorian Great Britain. She and Clive make a wonderful pair of tragic lovers in a drama that while old fashioned still holds up.
- bkoganbing
- May 6, 2007
- Permalink
B+ grade melodrama
None too subtle story of a famous aviatrix (Hepburn -- the movie calls her a "girl flier") in love with a married nobleman (Clive). They put off consumating their affair, even muttering to each other in one ridiculous scene about how "special" they are. Burke turns in a quality performance given a very standard mother role, giving her character the convincing quality it needs to withstand the transition from anger to frustration to final acceptance of the situation. A story that could not have been filmed this way 2 or 3 years later. Includes Hepburn in her infamous "moth suit." Clive does well, and Hepburn is great, but given how it's written and (especially) how she plays it, it's no surprise this film did nothing to improve her standing in the eyes of the more prurient elements in the audience. Perhaps, even, some of their later vindictiveness (including placing her on the list of so-called "box-office poison") could be seen as their own reaction to her character transferred onto Katherine Hepburn. Well directed and photographed. Unconvincing ending unhinges the movie in its final reel, but I guess last reel reconciliations by way of death were soon to be the rule in Hollywood (as they always had been in more conservative film centers), so it's good Selznick got in fairly early in the game. Will be remembered more by Hepburn's fans than by fans of good, solid movies, because she provides many of its most memorable moments.
Pre-code lovers can pass
- MissSimonetta
- Oct 21, 2013
- Permalink
Strong to the finish
CHRISTOPHER STRONG (RKO Radio, 1933), directed by Dorothy Arzner, with a haunting score by Max Steiner, began production as "A Great Desire." Starring Katharine Hepburn in her second feature film following her successful debut in A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT (1932), it pairs her opposite Colin Clive for the only time. Set in England, she plays Lady Cynthia Darrington, an enthusiastic aviatrix (possibly inspired on Amelia Earheart), who is over 21 and has never had a lover or an affair because she makes no time for it. All that changes when she meets Sir Christopher Strong (Colin Clive), whose life is not only absorbed in his political career, but with his wife (Billie Burke) and his single adult daughter (Helen Chandler) who has a married lover (Ralph Forbes), but becomes her husband after he is finally granted his divorce.
CHRISTOPHER STRONG is particularly interesting mainly because of some pre-production code stuff, and seeing Kate playing "the other woman" on screen for the only time who meets her dismal climax, something not common in a Hepburn movie. There is even a "bedroom scene" which camera focuses mainly on Kate's hand by the lamp while the viewer only hears some mono dialog exchange between her and Chris before she turns off the lights, leaving something to the viewer's imagination. By today's standards, this is nothing compared to what Hollywood would make of this particular scene today. I won't reveal any more about the plot, but this is early Kate Hepburn as the liberated woman with carefree ideas that come back to punish her. Maybe casting Hepburn in this type of role was RKO 's way of trying to develop her into a tragic heroine like MGM's own Greta Garbo. Worth a look, however, especially seeing Colin Clive in something other than that as Dr. Henry Frankenstein, his most famous performance(s) in Universal's FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935). CHRISTOPHER STRONG, which formerly played on the American Movie Classics cable channel prior to 2001, can be seen occasionally on Turner Classic Movies. It was once available on video cassette through the Nostalgia Merchant and RKO Home Video, but presently, it's out of print. Look quickly for future Warner Brothers actress Margaret Lindsay appearing in a small role as a girl who wants to get Cynthia's autograph. Not a box office success when released, but better roles for Kate in 1933 would soon follow with MORNING GLORY and LITTLE WOMEN. (**1/2)
CHRISTOPHER STRONG is particularly interesting mainly because of some pre-production code stuff, and seeing Kate playing "the other woman" on screen for the only time who meets her dismal climax, something not common in a Hepburn movie. There is even a "bedroom scene" which camera focuses mainly on Kate's hand by the lamp while the viewer only hears some mono dialog exchange between her and Chris before she turns off the lights, leaving something to the viewer's imagination. By today's standards, this is nothing compared to what Hollywood would make of this particular scene today. I won't reveal any more about the plot, but this is early Kate Hepburn as the liberated woman with carefree ideas that come back to punish her. Maybe casting Hepburn in this type of role was RKO 's way of trying to develop her into a tragic heroine like MGM's own Greta Garbo. Worth a look, however, especially seeing Colin Clive in something other than that as Dr. Henry Frankenstein, his most famous performance(s) in Universal's FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935). CHRISTOPHER STRONG, which formerly played on the American Movie Classics cable channel prior to 2001, can be seen occasionally on Turner Classic Movies. It was once available on video cassette through the Nostalgia Merchant and RKO Home Video, but presently, it's out of print. Look quickly for future Warner Brothers actress Margaret Lindsay appearing in a small role as a girl who wants to get Cynthia's autograph. Not a box office success when released, but better roles for Kate in 1933 would soon follow with MORNING GLORY and LITTLE WOMEN. (**1/2)
Early Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn is a beautiful and accomplished aviatrix in "Christopher Strong," a 1933 film also starring Clive Owen and Billie Burke, and directed by Dorothy Arzner. Hepburn's role of Lady Cynthia is loosely based on Amelia Earhart, a young, ambitious career woman who is not interested in marriage and home but rather accomplishment. She's an early feminist, and the role is perfect for Hepburn, who with her androgynous looks and strong performances would go on to play many such roles in her very long career.
"Christopher Strong" is of interest because it's early Hepburn, has a feminist theme in the early '30s, and also because it's pre-Code. Arzner does a great job depicting the love affair of Hepburn and Owen and yet shows nothing, with a hand reaching up and checking the time on a small clock...then the light is turned off and plunges the room into darkness after the lovers exchange a few words.
The problem with the movie is that it's badly dated, a '30s melodrama with tremulous, "we must be honorable," pip-pip and all that rot dialogue. Owen tells everyone at a party that he will never be unfaithful to his wife, that it is a moral charge he holds high - and seconds later he meets Hepburn and you can tell he's already falling. Owen is an odd choice of a romantic partner - he's not exactly the man one would give up everything for.
A bigger problem is the performance of Billie Burke, a fine actress. She is extremely sympathetic as the suffering wife - so sympathetic, in fact, and Hepburn seems so callous about the whole thing for most of the film, that one sides with what I'm sure is the wrong person. Also, putting up with your husband's infidelity and not saying anything brings us right back into aggressive non-feminism.
I am forced to agree with one of the other comments - yes, it is directed by an important director, yes, it stars an important, legendary star, yes, it's early feminism, and yes, it's not that great a movie, rather, an artifact. Worth seeing? To catch Hepburn in that moth costume - absolutely.
"Christopher Strong" is of interest because it's early Hepburn, has a feminist theme in the early '30s, and also because it's pre-Code. Arzner does a great job depicting the love affair of Hepburn and Owen and yet shows nothing, with a hand reaching up and checking the time on a small clock...then the light is turned off and plunges the room into darkness after the lovers exchange a few words.
The problem with the movie is that it's badly dated, a '30s melodrama with tremulous, "we must be honorable," pip-pip and all that rot dialogue. Owen tells everyone at a party that he will never be unfaithful to his wife, that it is a moral charge he holds high - and seconds later he meets Hepburn and you can tell he's already falling. Owen is an odd choice of a romantic partner - he's not exactly the man one would give up everything for.
A bigger problem is the performance of Billie Burke, a fine actress. She is extremely sympathetic as the suffering wife - so sympathetic, in fact, and Hepburn seems so callous about the whole thing for most of the film, that one sides with what I'm sure is the wrong person. Also, putting up with your husband's infidelity and not saying anything brings us right back into aggressive non-feminism.
I am forced to agree with one of the other comments - yes, it is directed by an important director, yes, it stars an important, legendary star, yes, it's early feminism, and yes, it's not that great a movie, rather, an artifact. Worth seeing? To catch Hepburn in that moth costume - absolutely.
Not the strongest
Christopher Strong is a rather short and underbaked movie. The film starts out with a young woman and her boyfriend participating in a treasure hunt where they have to find a woman over twenty who has never had a love affair and a man who has been married over 5 years who has never had an affair. The woman brings her father, the titular Christopher Strong, along and her boyfriend finds a career driven aviator Cynthia Darrington, who will cop to being over twenty and having had no boyfriends. There is an immediate attraction between Christopher and Cynthia and the bulk of the movie is devoted to the eventual consummation of their love affair and the consequences that follow.
This was only Hepburn's second movie, but Darrington is a classic Hepburn role, independent, honest, and tomboyish. Colin Clive is really too young for the role he was meant to play and has ridiculously little chemistry with Hepburn. They barely register as a couple at all.
Unless you're a fan of one of the stars or an Arzner completist, this pre-code film isn't really worth your time.
This was only Hepburn's second movie, but Darrington is a classic Hepburn role, independent, honest, and tomboyish. Colin Clive is really too young for the role he was meant to play and has ridiculously little chemistry with Hepburn. They barely register as a couple at all.
Unless you're a fan of one of the stars or an Arzner completist, this pre-code film isn't really worth your time.
- ReganRebecca
- Mar 15, 2017
- Permalink
The Real Tragedy Was Behind The Scenes
This early Katherine Hepburn picture about a daring woman pilot united the most liberated, confident and assertive female in film history, Hepburn herself, with the early sound era's most tragic female victim, Helen Chandler. Chandler was a gifted actress who gained film immortality as the exquisite blonde Mina in Dracula, only to fall victim to bad parts, bad choices, and a casual drinking habit that cost her roles and swiftly became compulsive and fatal alcoholism.
Haunting and heart-wrenching in the extreme, the film almost unintentionally sets up the brave Lady Cynthia (Hepburn) in direct contrast to the embittered, tormented and weak-willed Monica (Chandler.) Hepburn is the daring lady pilot enjoying a wicked affair with strong, solid Sir Christopher Strong, while Chandler is Strong's weak daughter, the jealous and resentful Monica.
"Of course I do whatever I choose," Hepburn announces, striding into the drawing room in her daring and very masculine attire. "What woman doesn't?" The only woman wearing pants in this movie, Hepburn hardly seems to notice that other women lack her strength. Only a few feet away we see a lovely blonde on the sofa, her eyes blazing and her hands shaking as she gulps down a drink in helpless defiance. Helen Chandler hardly needed to act as she portrays a woman whose guts have been torn out already, but her smallest gestures are still remarkable. Taking the first drink, waiting for the effect, shuddering with relief. The constant fidgeting, the inability to look anyone in the eye. The twitching of her hand when trying to wave off questions about her drinking.
As the film unfolds, Monica is supposed to be spoiled and disdainful, but Helen Chandler willingly or not somehow puts across an almost pitiable quality of spineless dependency. Monica lives in terror that her father will discover her drinking, yet hates the laughing, confident and healthy woman who has engaged his interest. Trapped in her own life of appearances and lies, her weak, sweet-faced mother can do nothing but look on worriedly as angry Monica stews on the sofa, either puffing greedily on a cigarette or gulping another drink.
In the big "party" scene, Hepburn is is calm and triumphant, while Chandler's Helen is just the opposite -- her laughter too loud, her movements too frantic, her wild gestures almost a savage parody of youthful enjoyment. It's like there's a fiend inside her, a demon who has taken the soul and left only a fragile and hopeless shell.
The demon was alcohol, and by the time this movie was made Helen Chandler was only a shell of her former self.
Haunting and heart-wrenching in the extreme, the film almost unintentionally sets up the brave Lady Cynthia (Hepburn) in direct contrast to the embittered, tormented and weak-willed Monica (Chandler.) Hepburn is the daring lady pilot enjoying a wicked affair with strong, solid Sir Christopher Strong, while Chandler is Strong's weak daughter, the jealous and resentful Monica.
"Of course I do whatever I choose," Hepburn announces, striding into the drawing room in her daring and very masculine attire. "What woman doesn't?" The only woman wearing pants in this movie, Hepburn hardly seems to notice that other women lack her strength. Only a few feet away we see a lovely blonde on the sofa, her eyes blazing and her hands shaking as she gulps down a drink in helpless defiance. Helen Chandler hardly needed to act as she portrays a woman whose guts have been torn out already, but her smallest gestures are still remarkable. Taking the first drink, waiting for the effect, shuddering with relief. The constant fidgeting, the inability to look anyone in the eye. The twitching of her hand when trying to wave off questions about her drinking.
As the film unfolds, Monica is supposed to be spoiled and disdainful, but Helen Chandler willingly or not somehow puts across an almost pitiable quality of spineless dependency. Monica lives in terror that her father will discover her drinking, yet hates the laughing, confident and healthy woman who has engaged his interest. Trapped in her own life of appearances and lies, her weak, sweet-faced mother can do nothing but look on worriedly as angry Monica stews on the sofa, either puffing greedily on a cigarette or gulping another drink.
In the big "party" scene, Hepburn is is calm and triumphant, while Chandler's Helen is just the opposite -- her laughter too loud, her movements too frantic, her wild gestures almost a savage parody of youthful enjoyment. It's like there's a fiend inside her, a demon who has taken the soul and left only a fragile and hopeless shell.
The demon was alcohol, and by the time this movie was made Helen Chandler was only a shell of her former self.
- Dan1863Sickles
- Sep 13, 2006
- Permalink
Does He Love Me, Even Though I'm Not Perfect?
- rmax304823
- Jul 15, 2011
- Permalink
Kate seduces!
In this obvious fictionalized version of Amelia Earhart, Katharine Hepburn plays the independent, strong, masculine flyer. It's perfect casting, given her offscreen persona, but what's really great about this role is the against-type aspect of it: Kate has a couple of seduction scenes in Christopher Strong and even shows off her figure in a skintight gown!
Kate makes friends with Helen Chandler, but when she meets Helen's parents, everything changes. Helen's mother, Billie Burke, is nice enough, but her father, Colin Clive, catches Kate's attention. Kate and Colin can't resist each other, which makes things awkward when Helen continues to look up to her as a mentor.
Hepburn fans will want to rent this classic to see their favorite actress act as tough onscreen as she did offscreen-and just like in real life, we get to see her turn into a softie when she falls in love with a married man. In one scene, the camera frames only Colin and Kate's wrists. It's implied that they're talking in bed together, which is why the camera doesn't pan out. Then, Kate says it's getting late, and she turns the lamp off-how risqué!
Kate makes friends with Helen Chandler, but when she meets Helen's parents, everything changes. Helen's mother, Billie Burke, is nice enough, but her father, Colin Clive, catches Kate's attention. Kate and Colin can't resist each other, which makes things awkward when Helen continues to look up to her as a mentor.
Hepburn fans will want to rent this classic to see their favorite actress act as tough onscreen as she did offscreen-and just like in real life, we get to see her turn into a softie when she falls in love with a married man. In one scene, the camera frames only Colin and Kate's wrists. It's implied that they're talking in bed together, which is why the camera doesn't pan out. Then, Kate says it's getting late, and she turns the lamp off-how risqué!
- HotToastyRag
- Apr 6, 2020
- Permalink
A strong performance from Hepburn in this early talkie melodrama
Hepburn Soars
Sir CHRISTOPHER STRONG, staunch family man and Conservative MP, finds himself falling in love with a free-spirited aviatrix.
Given splendid production values by RKO Radio Pictures, this high-class soap opera proved to be an excellent showcase for the talents of young Katharine Hepburn. Tall, angular, tomboyish, in a role patterned after Amelia Earhart, Hepburn is utterly fascinating as the woman who's never loved. Whether striding about in men's clothing or swathed in an outrageous moth costume, she makes the heartache & jubilation of her character play across her expressive features. It is almost painful to try imagining anyone else in the role. Her final scene, as she gives the ultimate sacrifice, is especially poignant.
Colin Clive seems an unlikely choice as the object of Hepburn's passion, but he acts his part with great earnestness, deftly underplaying what could have easily been a stiff & cardboard characterization. In a serious role, the wonderful Billie Burke skillfully delineates the agony of the unloved wife. Like Hepburn, she remains in the memory long after the film ends.
Helen Chandler & Irene Browne, as Clive's daughter & sister respectively, do well with their portrayals of socially irresponsible females. Ralph Forbes, as an upper class philanderer, also resonates in an important supporting role; here was an actor with the talent & charm to have become a major Hollywood star, but it was not to be.
Pioneering director Dorothy Arzner includes subtle suggestions of the sapphist in Hepburn's character, to be rejected or respected by individual viewers. As it is, certain situations in the plot show its pre-Production Code status.
Given splendid production values by RKO Radio Pictures, this high-class soap opera proved to be an excellent showcase for the talents of young Katharine Hepburn. Tall, angular, tomboyish, in a role patterned after Amelia Earhart, Hepburn is utterly fascinating as the woman who's never loved. Whether striding about in men's clothing or swathed in an outrageous moth costume, she makes the heartache & jubilation of her character play across her expressive features. It is almost painful to try imagining anyone else in the role. Her final scene, as she gives the ultimate sacrifice, is especially poignant.
Colin Clive seems an unlikely choice as the object of Hepburn's passion, but he acts his part with great earnestness, deftly underplaying what could have easily been a stiff & cardboard characterization. In a serious role, the wonderful Billie Burke skillfully delineates the agony of the unloved wife. Like Hepburn, she remains in the memory long after the film ends.
Helen Chandler & Irene Browne, as Clive's daughter & sister respectively, do well with their portrayals of socially irresponsible females. Ralph Forbes, as an upper class philanderer, also resonates in an important supporting role; here was an actor with the talent & charm to have become a major Hollywood star, but it was not to be.
Pioneering director Dorothy Arzner includes subtle suggestions of the sapphist in Hepburn's character, to be rejected or respected by individual viewers. As it is, certain situations in the plot show its pre-Production Code status.
- Ron Oliver
- Sep 8, 2001
- Permalink
Katharine's second
Monica and Harry are on a scavenger hunt organized by her aunt Carrie. The final challenge is to find a man who has been married over 5 years and is still faithful or a woman over 20 who has never had a love affair. Monica goes to fetch her father Sir Christopher Strong (Colin Clive) who is faithful to her mother. Harry gets into an accident with Lady Cynthia Darrington (Katharine Hepburn), an adventurer flier. She had never found love.
The problem is that the meet-cute is actually between Harry and Lady Darrington. There is no chemistry with Christopher. The story needs to manufacture a way for the car accident to be between Sir Strong and Lady Darrington. At least that way, there is a chance for this tragic romance to build. As it stands, it's all rather unseemly. One does not root for this relationship. It could be solved if he's a widower. This movie is still an interesting star vehicle for the up-and-comer Katharine Hepburn. It's only her second film and she outshines everybody.
The problem is that the meet-cute is actually between Harry and Lady Darrington. There is no chemistry with Christopher. The story needs to manufacture a way for the car accident to be between Sir Strong and Lady Darrington. At least that way, there is a chance for this tragic romance to build. As it stands, it's all rather unseemly. One does not root for this relationship. It could be solved if he's a widower. This movie is still an interesting star vehicle for the up-and-comer Katharine Hepburn. It's only her second film and she outshines everybody.
- SnoopyStyle
- Aug 20, 2021
- Permalink
Interesting pre-feminist melodrama, though one with all the 'woman's picture' clichés intact...
Merry madcaps in London stage a treasure hunt, with one young woman inadvertently fixing up her married politician father with a strong, independent lady-flier who's never been in love. Intriguing early vehicle for Katharine Hepburn, playing an Amelia Earhart-like aviatrix who's been too self-involved to give herself over to any man. The director (Dorothy Arzner) and the screenwriter (Zoe Akins, who adapted Gilbert Frankau's book) were obviously assigned to this project to get the female point of view, but why are all the old clichés kept intact like frozen artifacts? Billie Burke plays the type of simpering, weepy wife who takes to her bed when thing go wrong, and Hepburn's final scene is another bummer. A curious artifact, but not a classic for Kate-watchers. ** from ****
- moonspinner55
- Aug 12, 2006
- Permalink
A film made great by Kate's splendid performance
- ladylavende
- Aug 5, 2007
- Permalink
Fairer Avis
- writers_reign
- Feb 7, 2015
- Permalink
Rare Newsreel Footage-
Aviation is my hobby, and I DVRed this to see if it had any worthwhile aviation footage. The scene with the takeoffs for the around the world race is actually the beginning of the Dole Air Race (financed by the pineapple magnate), a tragic fiasco that lead to a number of deaths, two aircraft never found, and only a few of the contestants actually making it from Oakland to Honolulu. Hepburn's plane (G-FERN) might be the famous Winnie Mae, a Lockheed Vega, that was the first plane flown solo around the world by Wiley Post, the pilot that was killed with Will Rogers in Alaska. I must admit, I really did not pay much attention to the plot after listening to some English drawing room dialogue at the beginning.
Christopher Strong
The eponymous and successful politician (Colin Clive) is happily married to "Elaine" (Billie Burke) and both are trying to rein in their increasingly wayward daughter "Monica" (Helen Chandler) who is spending way too much time with the married "Harry" (Ralph Forbes). They've all read of the derring-do of aeronaut "Lady Cynthia" (Katharine Hepburn) and a chance meeting as a result of a silly bet introduces her to the erstwhile unimpeachable and loving father. Initially, they all take an hand in trying to keep "Monica" on the rails, but we can see the frequency of their associations is leading to a temptation that could have disastrous consequences for just about everyone. I thought the subject matter of this film quite racy for 1933 and the workmanlike Hepburn successfully exhibits a tom-boyish persona then seems equally at home in the shining "moth" dress that shows she can turn her sartorial hand as required to societal needs and expectations. The production is all a bit static, though, and the episodic nature of the storytelling does rather lead us by the nose. I couldn't decide if the denouement was a cop out or a clever and fitting one but that's really the only thing to ponder in this otherwise watchable but forgettable Dorothy Arzner drama.
- CinemaSerf
- Apr 3, 2024
- Permalink
What is the cost of being noble?
- mark.waltz
- Jan 25, 2015
- Permalink
Fascinating Film
The film does a wonderful job of integrating newsreel footage with its narrative. I assume that Lindbergh's triumphal Broadway procession after his return from Paris in 1927 was the basis for Darrington's ticker tape parade after her round the world flight. It was hard to believe that her aircraft insisted on such a dangerous entrance to its cockpit. The pilot had to climb in while only a couple of feet from a rotating propeller (or "airscrew" as the Brits would say). Hepburn is utterly convincing as an aviation obsessed and sexually neutral aristocrat. Her love affair with Strong is nicely contrasted with that of his daughter with her boyfriend. The film also shows how a missed appointment -- insignificant to one person but all the world to the other -- can have fatal consequences. Well-made, well-sequenced -- the kind of film they used to make in wonderful black and white.
Just Too Darn Sad
This was a good movie, but I wish I had written the script, so I could have given it a different ending.
The story of star-crossed lovers, pilot Cynthia Darrington (Katharine Hepburn) and married MP Christopher Strong (Colin Clive) is played out well, avoiding a lot of melodrama and sentimentality, and yet with enough emotion to make you feel for the characters and understand - even if you don't condone - their affair, which was based on love and not a meaningless fling. At the same time, you can't help but feel for the wife (Billie Burke), as well.
A secondary plot involves Christopher's daughter, Monica (Helen Chandler), who falls for a married man and - ironically - turns to Cynthia for advice. It's not easy being confidant to a young woman when you're sleeping with her father.
Do they continue their love, despite the hurt it'll cause others, not to mention the damage to his political career? Cynthia takes matters into her own hands, from which there's no return.
It's an old movie worth watching, but not for the faint of heart.
The story of star-crossed lovers, pilot Cynthia Darrington (Katharine Hepburn) and married MP Christopher Strong (Colin Clive) is played out well, avoiding a lot of melodrama and sentimentality, and yet with enough emotion to make you feel for the characters and understand - even if you don't condone - their affair, which was based on love and not a meaningless fling. At the same time, you can't help but feel for the wife (Billie Burke), as well.
A secondary plot involves Christopher's daughter, Monica (Helen Chandler), who falls for a married man and - ironically - turns to Cynthia for advice. It's not easy being confidant to a young woman when you're sleeping with her father.
Do they continue their love, despite the hurt it'll cause others, not to mention the damage to his political career? Cynthia takes matters into her own hands, from which there's no return.
It's an old movie worth watching, but not for the faint of heart.
- ldeangelis-75708
- Apr 8, 2023
- Permalink
Horribly dull and dated--it's only worth a peek to see the Moth!
The film is about Sir Christopher Strong (MP--member of Parliament--played by Colin Clive) and his affair with the Amelia Earhart-like character played by Katherine Hepburn. Up until they met, he had been a very devoted husband but when he met the odd but fascinating Hepburn, he "couldn't help himself" and they fell in love. You can tell, because they stare off into space a lot and talk ENDLESSLY about how painful their unrequited love is. Frankly, this is a terribly dated and practically impossible film to watch. Part of the problem is that in the Pre-Code days, films glamorizing adultery were very common. Plus, even if you accept this morally suspect subject, the utter sappiness of the dialog make it sound like a 19th century romance novel...and a really bad one at that. Sticky and with difficult to like characters (after all, Clive's wife is a nice lady and did no one any harm) make this one a big waste of time. About the only interesting aspect of this film is the costume Hepburn wears in an early scene where she is dressed in a moth costume! You've gotta see it to believe it--and she looks like one of the Bugaloos (an obscure, but fitting reference).
- planktonrules
- Aug 20, 2007
- Permalink
Wonderfully Ironic
- Therese_Letanche36
- Aug 2, 2008
- Permalink
The Sin of Cynthia Darrington
In London, bored rich and royal party guests are challenged to find a faithful husband and an attractive woman over 20 who has never had a love affair. Sounds like a tough assignment, but we have two winners. Successfully recruited are single-minded aviator Katharine Hepburn (as Cynthia Darrington) and happily married Colin Clive (as Christopher Strong). The two don't hold their status for long, however, as they are headed for bed
"Christopher Strong" may have originally been intended as a vehicle for a male star, as betrayed by the title, but the focus is clearly altered to fit Ms. Hepburn. This RKO feature is her second...
Due to subsequent reputation of its female lead, plus the gender of its director (Dorothy Arzner) and screenplay writer (Zoe Akins), it may be tempting to analyze this as a step forward in portraying women on film. No. Hepburn wears the pants only as it suits her profession ("aviatrix"). She is decked out in stunning attire and always attentive toward make-up. Most importantly, her character meets an expected end for wayward women. Better than the odd pairing of Hepburn and Mr. Clive is the subplot involving naughty upper class couple Helen Chandler (as Monica Strong) and Ralph Forbes (as Harry Rawlinson).
***** Christopher Strong (3/9/33) Dorothy Arzner ~ Katharine Hepburn, Colin Clive, Billie Burke, Helen Chandler
Due to subsequent reputation of its female lead, plus the gender of its director (Dorothy Arzner) and screenplay writer (Zoe Akins), it may be tempting to analyze this as a step forward in portraying women on film. No. Hepburn wears the pants only as it suits her profession ("aviatrix"). She is decked out in stunning attire and always attentive toward make-up. Most importantly, her character meets an expected end for wayward women. Better than the odd pairing of Hepburn and Mr. Clive is the subplot involving naughty upper class couple Helen Chandler (as Monica Strong) and Ralph Forbes (as Harry Rawlinson).
***** Christopher Strong (3/9/33) Dorothy Arzner ~ Katharine Hepburn, Colin Clive, Billie Burke, Helen Chandler
- wes-connors
- Aug 18, 2012
- Permalink
A little gem in Hepburn's career
It's ironical this film to be titled as the main male character, above all when this raises among film classics for its accurate depiction, not only of the main female one, but also of the female secondary roles. It is probably due to the fact that it is directed by a woman, but the talent of Arzner goes beyond through accurate cinematography and a sense for lyrical melodrama far from the soapy tone of the majority of its contemporaneous. Katharine Hepburn is exulting as the brave woman always a step further its era, here in love for the first time with a married man. Particularly moving is the last sequence, with Hepburn trying to achieve the altitude record with her airplane as she confronts the most relevant facts of her story. A little gem to be discovered.