Hearts in Bondage (1936)
Best friends Kenneth Reynolds and Raymond Jordan are U.S. Navy officers, and Kenneth is engaged to Raymond's sister. But the eruption of the Civil War divides them, as Raymond stands by his native Virginia while Kenneth remains on duty as a Northern officer. Kenneth's uncle, John Ericsson, designs a new kind of ship, an ironclad he calls the Monitor. Eventually the war pits Kenneth, on board the Monitor, against his friend Raymond, serving aboard the South's own ironclad, the Merrimac (as it is called here). A naval battle ensues, one that will go down in history.
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Pretty Good
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
The story synopsis of Republic's 1936 "Hearts in Bondage" certainly reads like a vintage noir: A career U.S. Navy man is forced to shoot down his best friend (and the brother of his fiancée) when the friend rather stupidly leads a no-chance-of-success assault against "The Monitor" during the Civil War. To add further appeal to this offering, it was actually directed by America's most famous anti-war protester, Lew Ayres. In point of fact, it is the first of only three films (the others were documentaries) the prolific actor directed. But what a disappointment the movie actually turns out to be. The direction is mostly static and perfunctory, the hearty "acting" of eager-beaver boy scout, James Dunn (who propels himself into almost every scene) is simply painful to watch and hear, and even the action climax is to some extent subordinated to a heap of cheap laughs while George Hayes does his infamous "Gabby" impersonation. The Alpha DVD is not a great transferand rates 7 out of ten at the most.
Presumably the hearts in bondage are the friends Kenneth Reynolds and Raymond Jordan who are in the Navy but due to the forthcoming Civil War have to separate for what they perceive to be a higher cause. One staying in the North and one fighting for the South. They eventually meet in battle, not in the ordinary way but in two new ironclad battleships, the Merrimac and the Monitor. One of the friends will survive the militarily historic encounter.This is the only film directed by Lew Ayres and it isn't bad. There are some fine dolly shots, the model work for the ships is good and the battle at the end is excitingly staged. Unfortunately the print I saw was not in good shape so the good cinematography did not receive full justice.It would have been better for Lew Ayres to have played Kenneth Reynolds. James Dunn is adequate but Ayres would have added more intensity. Fritz Leiber as the irascible John Ericsson is very good. The always luminous Mae Clarke has a role that doesn't stretch her talents. The rest of the cast are OK. Frank McGlynn Sr. is spookily like Abraham Lincoln.A good story plainly told with a well filmed battle scene to finish.
Sometimes a barking mutt can prove to be a thoroughbred, and in the case of this Civil War era tale of brothers in spirit split because of a conflict beyond their control, that thoroughbred wins the race. James Dunn and David Manners end up on opposite sides of the split and face various conflicts as they fight for a cause they don't always understand. The storyline is a bit thin but so well presented that the short-comings are easy to overlook. Dunn, a versatile actor best known for comedy and equally adept at drama, is the focus of the majority of the story, involved with the lovely Mae Clarke who just happens to the Manner's sister. Charlotte Henry is the girl whom Manners loves. There is a lot of glowering of the old South with its gracious manners overshadowing the evils of slavery and even a brief appearance by Abraham Lincoln himself. Sea battles are intense and well done, so if this lacks in exploration of the war's issues, it makes up for that with great detail in other ways.
Pot boiling melodrama that is nominally about the Civil War clash of Ironclads but is really about the struggle for redemption by a naval officer with a crush on his best friends sister.James Dunn plays a a naval officer who refuses to burn the ship Merrimac when the war between the north and South breaks out. Dishonorably discharged he tries to make his way back into the fight while wooing the sister of his best friend who's gone to fight for the South. A chance for redemption comes when he and his uncle come upon the idea for the design of the Monitor.I don't know what to make of this film. Much of the film is talky romance or stiff historical discussion about the war and the film flounders around like a beached whale. The film doesn't really come to life until the ironclads finally show up some fifty odd minutes into the film. While the battle sequences are great and almost make up for the rest of the film, they still aren't enough to save the rest of the film. You'll remember the ships but little else