CHANGE OF HEART is a disappointing, by the numbers drama despite a good cast headed by Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Ginger Rogers, and James Dunn. The foursome is shown on college graduation day as they plan to go as a group to New York to make their fortunes, Janet as a writer, Charlie in big business, Ginger as a stage actress, and James as a radio crooner. They room together in apartment but after several months in the Big Apple fail to make any headway. Curiously, none of the group has ever really dated although Janet is in love with Charlie who is in love with Ginger who is in love with James who is in love with Janet. It strains credibility than no one other James (gently rebuffed by Janet) has tried to make something of it.
Ginger is successful in crashing social circles and is pursued by a millionaire and for awhile leaves the little clique. James achieves his dream of being a radio star in a ludricious plot twist by confronting a radio producer and demanding to be heard (which we hear about but don't see, it would have been too ridiculous as an actual scene). When Ginger announces her engagement to the millionaire, lovesick Charlie is suddenly at death's door with a vague sickness that leaves him bedridden and in need of Janet's constant attention and nursing. Charlie pulls through, announces he is in love with Janet now, she confesses her long crush on him and they become engaged. Meanwhile, fickle Ginger breaks off with the money man, writes Charlie a mush note confessing her love and while Charlie goes through with the marriage to Janet, he and Ginger start seeing each other for "lunch".
It's disappointing to see this likable cast in this silly soap opera which consistently lacks credibililty. Janet and Charlie, of course, are one of the great screen teams yet it's absurd that he could suddenly fall in love with her after years of thinking of her as just a pal. The movie refuses to accept the possibility that his new affection is due to gratitude and sensitivity for all she did for him during his illness but the viewer won't be so unrealistic.
Gaynor, Farrell, and Dunn were all in their late twenties playing young people just out of college and while it's acceptable for actors in that age range to play such, trouble is Dunn, basically a character actor, has no youthfulness in his persona and seems a decade older than his real age. Ginger Rogers, newly a "name" thanks to her first picture with Fred Astaire, does well in an atypical role as a blonde bombshell (though several of her early roles were also flirts) but her character lacks credibility as someone whose supposed to be a close friend yet also a potential homewrecker. She goes through three beaus in a film set in about a year's time and while there is a promise she will settle down with her first choice, can there be any doubt this gal will soon encounter man number four? And don't get me started on the insane subplot of Janet working at a charity shop with elderly Beryl Mercier which discreetly works as a means to find homes for orphaned babies, Mercier and Gaynor convincing the wealthy people who donate their old clothes that what they really want are kids of their own!
Of note is the (very) fleeting appearance of Shirley Temple as the gang is on the plane to New York. Shirley is an extra in a scene that runs barely ten seconds, has no lines and is only seen in profile for a moment and then just the back of her head. Apparently filmed before but released after STAND UP AND CHEER, the film that was Shirley's big break, the producers of CHANGE OF HEART manage to give her end-credit billing for this, probably one of the tiniest parts ever in a movie to receive screen credit outside of films that billed a supporting actor who actually wasn't in the final cut of a film!
