Untamed

Untamed (1929)

** (out of 4)

After her father is murdered, Bingo (Joan Crawford) gets taken away from the South American jungles and heads to New York City. Even though she pretty much grew up as a wild child, her father's friend (Ernest Torrence) is given control of her and he objects when she falls in love with a poor boy (Robert Montgomery) so the two kids must prove that they're right for one another. This early talkie from MGM is about as predictable as it can get and it's highly doubtful that the viewer isn't going to know what's coming from around each corner so this film is pretty much just for Crawford fans who must see everything the actress did in her career. The entire film has a pretty strange vibe to it because when we first meet the Bingo character she's doing some crazy tribal dance and you really think that she's some wild child that you'd expect to see in a Lon Chaney film. After no time she settles down to be quite normal and this here is never really explained but Crawford's performance was pretty interesting. She was somewhat over-the-top in a good way while playing the wild child but she settled down during the section portion of the film and in the end she's the only reason to watch this thing. It's rather amazing to see how well she transformed into a sound star and you have to think that she was among the best to do so. Montgomery isn't too bad in his part but the screenplay does him no favors. Torrence is a tad bit all over the place but I still enjoyed watching him. At just 85-minutes the film is a little creaky in spots and there's no doubt that the pacing is a bit off. Still, Crawford fans might want to check it out but others should stay clear.

Yet another one of those late 1920s - early 1930s "a poor man cannot possibly marry a rich woman because everyone will think he's doing it for her money only" movies. It's a bit of inconsequential trivia, and overlong to boot (85 minutes), but it's fun to watch a young, beautiful Joan Crawford as a fiery Latin America wildcat - cum - New York society girl, and Robert Montgomery already shows in this early role why he was one of the best leading men of his era. The film does feature one sequence that I've never seen before: an impromptu boxing match (complete with ring and bell) in the middle of a high-society party! And although the ending is predictable, the means by which we get there are not. ** out of 4.

But not too bad, with some comedic moments, my favorite unintentional one being when Montgomery knocks back a shot and the liquid dribbles down the shoulder of his tuxedo!! Cut! Wait, just leave it in, who will notice. This is an early talkie, anyhow. Next scene! Joan is lovably fresh in her first talkie as the improbably nick-named Bingo, falling head over heels in love with poor but noble Andy McAllister. When she gets the monkey off her back (literally; she's grown up in the jungle), she moves to the city with her "uncles" (really her father's friends who are charged with her care) and enters society, with a little help from the MGM make-up, hair, and deportment departments. Can Bingo and Andy make a go of it? Will Andy go back to his girlfriend? Will Bingo realize one of her "uncles" likes her in that special way? As others have said, it's a wildly improbable tale but it is fun to watch such an early talkie, when everything was so awkward and painful, like adolescence. Montgomery in the fight scenes was indeed pale and slender; in fact, a muscular double had to be used for him during the strip-search scene in "The Big House." Oh, well. Men were littler then. Some of us like the suave, intellectual type.

Not a bad way to spend 90 minutes. Interesting to note the use of card titles in this movie, and also Joan's rather stilted emoting, both holdovers from the silent days which really were just days behind at that point. Such a curiosity in this day and age...

Untamed is famous for being Joan Crawford's first talkie, a curiosity. I had heard it was only a mediocre film by both fans of Crawford and those who really do not care for her. I was surprised that I liked it so much considering these reviews; Untamed is a good quality early talkie and a bright spot in Crawford's early career.

Crawford plays "Bingo," an untamed girl from the jungles of South America whose father dies, leaving her with a large oil inheritance. Some old friends of the family escort her to New York where she is to live in luxury, but they are startled when she abruptly falls in love with Robert Montgomery. They convince her that there are hundred of men like him in New York; she goes there to find that she yearns for him more than ever. She finds that he misses her too and the two plan to get married, until Crawford's uncle meddles again. The end of this film is quite shocking, and there are plenty of moments to entertain throughout.

Unlike her later 1930s films, Crawford is wild and free here, sort of like a Trilby yet to find her Svengali. Her personality is radiant and she acts much more like a savage than a society girl. This pre-code film has her kicking her legs up to throw up her skirt, sleeping in a man's room, seeing him before he is dressed, drinking large quantities of alcohol during Prohibition, and condoning violence, an unladylike characteristic. Montgomery is terribly handsome in this film, a great romantic lead for Crawford. Perhaps this is the reason they starred in several other films together. The two sing several times here; neither has an outstanding voice, but the music helps add some realism and entertainment to the screen.

Overall, this is not only a curiosity, but a great early film. It does not suffer from the slow pacing, static camera, wordy dialogue, and loud silences that other early talkies did. Be sure to give it a proper chance.

The first talkie for pretty much every actor or actress from this Era is either lesser known or painfully mocked. Perhaps the only actress with a lucky first talkie was Greta Garbo.

Despite this being "A Crawford film I hate" in my book, I don't technically hate it. I wouldn't watch it again, but if it were playing on TCM one day or I saw a copy in a store, I would probably watch/buy it.

Untamed does, after all, have an unfair advantage in my book by having Joan Crawford, who I like, and Robert Montgomery, who I also like. It's very creaky, and manages to be overlong despite only having a runtime of just under 90 minutes. But it's also the first talkie of both stars, and both would go onto better (and much worse) things. Joan definitely looks the part of "wild girl" when she's supposed to, blunders in society when she's supposed to, and has chemistry with Bob. Her character is definitely adorable. She also kind of looks like Gloria Swanson in the first thirty or so minutes of this film- did anyone else notice that? For someone who "couldn't act" She does a decent job. So does Robert Montgomery.

There are rather obvious fade to black scenes where you can tell that there were meant to be title cards, but hey, it was 1929. The stars get a chance to charm their way through the film, even with rather stupid dialogue (Joan's characterization is adorable, unfortunately Robert is stuck playing a cad even more caddish than his usual cad), sing off-key (far from the worst I've ever heard), mime playing a guitar romantically (not Joan), and get into a fight (looks kind of comical, but there you go- it was 1929).

Maybe it would be better if I viewed this film as a quaint little antique, but I don't like looking at films like this like that, and I don't like people who look at films like this like that.

I came for Joan, and I saw Joan, and I was satisfied, and that was all that mattered.

Who cares that the plot stunk?