Jaded club singer Anni Pavlovitch (Joan Crawford) runs into a count who devises a plan to give Anni an opportunity to swing with the swells for two weeks in a rustic Italian vacation spot in the mountains. Anni is totally seduced by the lifestyle and with time running out moves in on Maddelena Monti' s well heeled beau Rudi Pal ( Robert Young) to try an insinuate herself into the jet set lifestyle on a more permanent basis. The local postman Giullio (Franchot Tone) has also taken a shine to Anni offering her an unencumbered down to earth existence in contrast but cynical Anni is tired of the hardscrabble existence preferring pampered materialism instead.Under the rare oddity of a female studio film director (Dorothy Arzner) Crawford is allowed to stretch with more than satisfying results as she struggles with the conflict of hooking up for love or money. Arzner not only gets some impressive long takes out of Crawford but also softens her standard studio brusqueness with a touching sensitivity as her dream of easy street evaporates before her eyes. Arzner also gets fine performances out of upper crusts played by Young and a beautifully smug performance from Billie Burke without being condescending to such easy targets. The real surprise though is the sophisticated Franchot Tone as Giullio the country postman. Playing it neither broad or passionate Tone subversively bides his time with a dignity and patience that gives The Bride Wore Red a nice subtle edge and a more touching denouement.

This is a very well made film. The name Ferenc Molnar gives it credibility even though the scriptwriters probably changed everything about the great playwright's original story. It may not be "Liliom" but it has enough European styling and atmosphere - in great part due to Franz Waxman's music and some very easy on the eyes sets - that the viewer feels engaged. The cast of characters is top notch and the whole premise is intriguing. This is the kind of part Greta Garbo had done before ("As You Desire Me" anyone?) but was probably considered too old, too dignified and too un-Italian to play. In that role, the producer's first choice, Luise Rainer, would have been perfect, especially if the ending had been just a trifle more pathetic.What we get instead is Joan Crawford of the too-long, too-scary face, of the barrel chest and short stubby arms, too-low waist, too-wide shoulders, gorilla dentition, limp hair, decidedly ungirlish attitude and trowelled-on self-confidence. But what she can do with this part is give us an equally scary transformation from vulgar to vamp (and back again) that she is so familiar with, one has to admire its sheer technical acumen. She is fascinating to watch at all times. She could do this in her sleep (and probably did) and manages to strike the right note most of the time, even though she's in the wrong film. The dialogue is remarkably literate and Crawford's performance is certainly nuanced and theatrical enough to have been believable on a stage.The whole cast is excellent, with a special mention to Mary Philips as the maid and confidante Maria and Paul Porcasi as the irascible hotel manager. It's also touching to see Crawford emote with her husband of the time, Franchot Tone, who seems to be quietly directing her in such a way that she doesn't go overboard at least in their love scenes.One has the feeling that the original play must have had a lot more bite and satire of the upper classes as well as more profundity than what we're getting but it's still a pretty spectacular ensemble performance all around. With that limited script, director Dorothy Arzner does everything she can to make the story believable and engrossing, to work around her megastar's familiar tricks and to add poetic grace notes that are not lost on a European public but were probably overlooked by the American audience and critics of the time. Still, with all its disparate moments of brilliance, this film begs the question: What was Molnar's play really about?

If you are a big fan of classic Hollywood films, then the chances are you've seen several Joan Crawford films like THE BRIDE WORE RED. MGM type-cast many of its stars during this period--Greta Garbo was the super-vamp, Jean Harlow the slut who used her body to sleep her way to the top, Myrna Loy was sweet and a bit kooky and Joan Crawford was a poor girl who THINKS happiness will be found by marrying a rich man. Of course, these stars did other films, but most of their films during the 30s were true to these images. As a result, while this Joan Crawford film is very good and very well made, it was totally formulaic--so much so that an astute viewer will not be the least bit surprised where it all ends.Given that you can get past this, the movie is very good--sort of like an odd variation of the Cinderella story. An eccentric rich man (George Zucco), on a lark, decides to dress up cheap lounge singer Crawford and send her to the smartest hotel in order to fool his friends into thinking she's a rich society woman. Once there, Crawford fits in rather well and rich Robert Young is smitten. While she does not seem to love him, Crawford sees marrying Young as a way to leave her life of poverty--since Zucco will only pay for her to pretend to be rich for a short period of time. The problem is that Franchot Tone plays a sweet but poor guy she meets at the hotel and Joan finds herself falling for him but also wanting to marry Young for his money. How all this is resolved is pretty predictable but there is a certain beauty and glossiness to the production that help it still be quite watchable.By the way, I was quite surprised to see Billie Burke play against type. Instead of being rich, kooky and sweet, she's a bit of a viper! Now that's interesting, huh?Oh, and in real life, Tone and Crawford were husband and wife...briefly.

The 1930s were the years that Joan Crawford came into her own as a star, and by 1934 her movies were a must-see. She had already charmed audiences in the previous decade by playing increasingly endearing performances in silents, breaking out as a jazz-baby right at the brink of the stock market crash, and moving into talkies. In those days, an actor was given the roles the studio believed he or she could play best in order to maintain a level of success in the box-office. Joan, unfortunately, worked at MGM, and Norma Shearer was the indisputable Queen of MGM by marriage to Irving Thalberg: hence, she had the choice roles to play, and Joan Crawford got only the rejects that Shearer refused to make. Somehow, she managed to make the best of her roles, but they were always a slight variation on the same the same theme -- the young, aspiring secretary/shop girl/heroine who wants to find love, rebukes the attention of one man for another one who will give her a more financial position. The lead frequently was Clark Gable; the second lead an equally secondary movie star -- Robert Young, Franchot Tone.Once the formula began to wear itself to shreds, Joan tried to get better roles but only got the same material. This is one of the clones of her movie roster of the 30s, complete with a heavy melodrama and Adrian gowns which make their required appearances and further his reputation. One thing must be said, though -- Crawford for once is unsympathetic from start to sappy finish. Here she is pretty hell-bent on marrying rich and continuing her ruse albeit the circumstances, which seems to foreshadow the kind of power driven roles she would play in the early 50s.The movie is in its entirety decent (and Dorothy Arzner must have really been fond of Crawford as she photographs her strikingly well), the plot is unbelievable, and Crawford's do is one solid page-boy, refusing to get mussed up even after a fall from a (relatively short) cliff after a verbal tangle with Tone.