The Man In Possession (1931) :
Brief Review -
Robert Montgomery as a cute butler in a sweet little pre-code rom-com. Since it's an early talkie, I noticed some issues with the sound and dialogue delivery. That was quite acceptable for the time, but it did affect my viewing experience. The film felt a bit slow given the pacing standards of motion pictures. Aside from that, I don't think there's anything that can stop me from calling it a sweet little rom-com from the pre-code era. The film has very little to do with the writing and screenplay, as the story feels smaller compared to what one can expect in an 80-90 minute movie. Raymond takes a job as a sheriff's officer and is asked to take possession of Crystal's house, which has not paid debts for a long time. She asks them to come back tomorrow, but the officer leaves Raymond at her house. Raymond does all the butler's tasks while Crystal tries to woo her boyfriends in hopes of arranging money. In the meantime, Raymond's brother, father, and mother arrive at the same house for dinner, as Crystal wants to marry Raymond's son for financial gain. After dinner, Raymond and Crystal make love and realize they are madly in love with each other. What will Crystal do now? Robert Montgomery portrays a sophisticated, humble, helpful, and considerate butler who also has some stylish flair-something similar to what we saw William Powell do in My Man Godfrey (1936) later. Irene Purcell was somewhat lackluster; I'm not sure why. She seemed tepid and quite typecast, which is why the chemistry between these two did not work. The laughs weren't plentiful, but the story was sweet, and the love story was even sweeter when viewed from an early 30s perspective. Overall, it's a good, one-time flick by Sam Wood, who has had much better silent comedies to his name. I enjoyed a few moments despite its flaws.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest.
