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Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

If you want to see a film that shows you just how antiquated some of the early talking pictures were, try watching "The Lady for Scandal". It's a terrible film...one that practically puts you to sleep as you watch.The film begins with an upper-class Brit getting engaged to an actress and the entire family acting scandalized. When she and her fiancé arrive at the family estate, instead of fireworks, everyone talks and talks and talks and talks. And the problem with this is that it is all VERY mannered, very low energy and about as exciting as watching paint dry! Even Basil Rathbone, who is a lovely actor, is really dull in this one...and has LESS energy than a typical zombie. Insufferably dull and awful.

Is this film ever a throwback. Hard to believe that back in those days in very class stratified Great Britain that the upper classes would get all in a snit over the idea of one of their titled people marrying an actress. Yet that is the subject of The Lady Of Scandal.Who in this case happens to be Ruth Chatterton a rather celebrated actress on the London stage. Young Ralph Forbes proclaims that he's going to marry Chatterton so his family and extended family invite her to a weekend in the country to look her over. Once there however she's not happy with this snooty crowd. And her father Robert Bolder in an Alfred P. Doolittle type attitude doesn't want her marrying into them either.Which is all right with cousin Basil Rathbone if she doesn't marry Forbes. He's got his own title to offer. He's also got a married mistress on the side.The Lady Of Scandal had a respectable run in London's East End. But I rather think it didn't do well in the USA. This is one of those foreign works that Americans by and large just wouldn't get. Granted that people here wanted escapist entertainment during the Depression. But these people don't seem to have a clue.Ruth Chatterton does fine in a most dated work that I doubt we'll ever see a remake of.

The Lady of Scandal (1930)** (out of 4) This early talkie features Ruth Chatterton playing Elsie Hilary, a British actress who is engaged to a man from a snobbish rich family. Everyone in the family objects to her "nature" except for Edward (Basil Rathbone) who finds himself falling for her. THE LADY OF SCANDAL remains somewhat watchable due to its fun leads but the sad reality is that this is just another early talkie with way too much talking. You know, I truly understand that in the early days of sound people wanted to hear people talk. I do wonder what they truly felt about these movies back then but when you view them today you pretty much just shake your head because of all the dialogue. I mean, to simply tell someone who want to go out and eat takes about ten pages of dialogue because everything just gets so drawn out. This non-stop talking is what really damages this film and keeps it from being more entertaining. What does keep the film at least watchable is the performance of Chatterton who comes across incredibly delightful. She comes out doing a chorus dance and singing a song, which was pretty funny and I liked the way she handled each of the family members who are against her. I've often been very critical of Rathbone's early work but I was shocked to see that he too was rather good here. The supporting cast of character do fine work as well with each of them fitting their roles. Of course, even with all the dialogue the writers weren't able to come up with a way to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. There's never a bit of suspense as to what's going to happen and the ending is something you'll see coming from a mile away.

British playwright Frederick Lonsdale had many of his drawing room comedies transferred to the screen, and this is one of his best. Ralph Forbes is in love with Ruth Chatterton, a British star actress, and forces the issue of marriage by announcing their engagement in the newspapers. He is the son of staid Lord Crayle (Herbert Bunston), who gathers the family together at his estate to try to determine what to do about it. They consider offering her a sum of £5000 to deny it when Forbes brings her to the meeting. Except for Basil Rathbone, the family is dead set against the marriage and think Chatterton too low in society. In a funny twist, her father, Robert Bolder, arrives to object to the marriage too. He thinks Chatterton is a genius at providing entertainment for the masses, and doesn't want her marrying beneath her station. He suggests they approve the engagement providing the marriage is delayed for six months, by which time Forbes should be totally bored with her. They agree and so does Forbes and Chatterton. She stays at the estate and brings about a transformation in the most reserved members. It was fun to watch Herbert Bunston do a solo modern dance to the tune of "Lulu Comes Home." And Frederick Kerr, who normally doesn't drink, gets drunk as he extols the virtues of the "gulley washers" Chatterton introduces him to. Meanwhile, Rathbone and Chatterton fall in love, but she is also aware he has been carrying on a long-term affair with a married Parisian woman, who he had said earlier he would marry if he could. He promises to give up the woman, but things change as they hear on the radio that the husband of that woman has died. Now Chatterton feels that woman will always be between them, but Rathbone is adamant about giving her up. Chatterton puts through a call to her in Paris and hands the phone to Rathbone, who has some difficulty going through with his plan. And Forbes has some ideas about his life, too.