While at the time this was an important film for the career of Katherine Hepburn, today it seems incredibly stilted and dull. This is because it is a very stuffy costume picture--just the sort of film that emphasizes costumes and stilted language (oh joy) over action and characters. Plus the main idea of the story just seems ludicrous and silly. The film begins with Katherine in love with Franchot Tone but he doesn't realize it. He soon goes off to fight in the Napoleonic Wars for 10 years and when he returns, he sees a radiant woman who he thinks can't be Hepburn because she seems so young. Now here's the silly part. Instead of telling him that she's just well-preserved, she pretends to be her own niece. Sure,...an IDENTICAL niece--in movies, this sort of thing happens all the time (and if you believe this, I'll sell you some oceanfront property in Kansas). So we have a ludicrous idea and an incredibly stilted period piece--just the sort of film that will bore most anyone who tries to watch it. My advice is try seeing some of Kate's other films--almost all of them (except for SPITFIRE) are better. I just can't see why some of the reviewers liked this film so much--it was so very, very dull.
By the way, despite all this criticism for the writing, Hepburn DID do a great job and she looked positively beautiful. I really admired how she cried real tears in one scene. Also, while I thought the plot was silly, somehow the silent version with Marion Davies worked much, much better and I do recommend you see that one instead.
By the way, despite all this criticism for the writing, Hepburn DID do a great job and she looked positively beautiful. I really admired how she cried real tears in one scene. Also, while I thought the plot was silly, somehow the silent version with Marion Davies worked much, much better and I do recommend you see that one instead.