When Sam Goldwyn can with great conviction Instruct Anna Sten in diction Then Anna shows Anything Goes.That was of course just a small section of Cole Porter's celebrity-studded lyric for the title song of his 1934 Broadway show and up to today it was one of the very few things I knew about Sten, mostly variations on the theme that Sam Goldwyn 'discovered' her in Europe, brought her to Hollywood and lost a young fortune attempting to make her a star. The overriding impression was that she was beautiful but had the acting talent of an amoeba with learning difficulties. Now that I have seen her at last in a film produced around the time Goldwyn was actively promoting her I realise how wrong it was to believe the misinformation of the day. The fact is she was a fine actress and clearly Porter was exaggerating her speech problems to serve his lyric; as it happens she possessed a fine speaking voice and had no problem with English. If anyone is miscast here it is Ralph Bellamy who is about as convincing as a Polish farmer as Percy Kilbride would be as a Boston Brahmin. The plot has Manhattan sophisticate Gary Cooper moving into his family home in Connecticut and falling for the Polish girl (Sten) on the farm next door. If anything Sten turns in the best performance in a film that boasts, in addition to Cooper, Helen Vinson, Sig Ruman, and Walter Brennan. On the strength of this performance I intend to seek out other movies featuring Sten.

When a problematic writer (Gary Cooper) moves back to his country home with his very city oriented wife (Helen Vinson), he falls in love with the innocent Polish girl (Anna Sten) who lives next door. But her father has already promised her hands in marriage to another farmer (Ralph Bellamy), and when problems erupt between Cooper and Vinson, he finds himself falling in love with Sten and she longs to get out of this arranged marriage. But an agreement in the old world is an agreement, and any chance of getting what they wish could lead to tragedy.This very sweet and simple tale has all the elements for great drama, but somehow it never really rises to the heights which it is trying to attain. The leads are young and attractive, and the plot moves briskly, but even with excellent production design and direction by the masterful King Vidor, it still lacks that magic that could have made it explode into something special. I think that occurs because there really is no chemistry between Cooper and Sten, and their unsympathetic partners (Vinson and Bellamy) are not really fleshed out as characters. It also gives the impression that poor European immigrants were lead by an uncompassionate papa and a quietly dignified mama who always suffered in silence. In these roles, Sig Ruman and Esther Dale seem more like stereotypes than real people. Walter Brennan adds some zest to a few scenes as another local, but the end result is a drama that seems like something Lillian Gish may have starred in during the silent era.

I just watched this movie this morning on Turner Cable Movies. Gary Cooper, in my opinion, was the most handsome movie actor, ever. Writer Tony and his wife Dora move to Connecticut to his ancestral home. Actually a beautiful big country home that I would love to live in! He meets his Polish neighbors who buy a plot of land from him for $5,000. His socialite wife hates the house and the desolation of living in the country. Gary (Tony) gives his wife the $5,000 so she can go back to New York to see her old friends and "shop." The daughter of the Polish neighbor, Manya, delivers milk to Tony every morning, then cooks him breakfast, and eventually comes to take care of the house. Tony starts writing a book about Manya and her family. Manya and Tony start falling in love. But Manya is committed to marry a man whom she does not love, Frederik played by Ralph Bellamy. Then the wife comes back, and Tony tells her he wants a divorce, that he loves Manya. The wedding between Frederik and Manya takes place, but Frederik gets totally drunk and realizes that Manya loves Tony. Frederik goes off to Tony's house to kill him. Then there is the tragedy that ends the movie.When I was watching the movie, I was wondering where this movie was filmed. There is no "filming location" listed in IMDb. It is quite obvious that there are several outdoor scenes, not on a sound stage.A lovely movie. I enjoyed it tremendously.

Loved the movie. Old fashion love story despite the perhaps arguable marriage angle distraction. The scenery is BEAUTIFUL, especially good for a cold winter night's viewing by a fireplace. I thought the subtle differences in what was acceptable in the 30s and today was quite remarkable too. Especially when Cooper sat on the end of the bed during his conversation (which was by itself quite the fuss back than)with the girl. Overall the story also gives an interesting review of immigration and the nation's feelings about it. Hard work was certainly central to the movie's theme and of course the end is tragic as the guy doesn't get the girl.