Movies from the Heart—Christopher Strong

From looking at triangle love stories last week with Trouble in Paradise, we now move to a different kind of love story—and different in two ways.

Christopher Strong [1933] by Zoe Akins, based on the novel by Gilbert Frankau, tells the story of how a woman who thinks she’s unlovable discovers love. But it’s also the story of a May-December romance between a young woman and an older, married, man.

Needless to say, this film was made before the censorship of the Hays Code came into effect. It violated lots of the morality clauses in the code.

Take a look at the trailer for the film.

As you can see from the trailer, this is a time when the studios would use the star herself to sell the film, rather than focusing on the film's plot. But the trailer does leave you wondering if this is a tragic love story, doesn’t it? But if it is, well, that’s what happens to women who dare to become involved with a married man, right?

Some of the fun of looking at older films is seeing how they navigate to the mores of their period. It sometimes seems so extreme to us, so overly dramatic. But for its time, it was right on the money.

One of the things I really like about this film is the set-up. Because in any love story, how the couple meets is part of the fun. And in Christopher Strong they’re brought together in a super cute way.

There’s a treasure hunt at this elegant country estate. And one of the things teams have to find is a married man—married for at least 5 years—who has never had an affair. AND they have to complement that find with an unmarried woman who’s never had a boyfriend.

So a team of a young woman and her boyfriend tackle this challenge together. The young woman grabs her father, Christopher Strong, as the example of a faithful husband who has never had an affair. The boyfriend grabs Lady Cynthia Darrington as she says not only has she never had a boyfriend, she thinks herself incapable of love.

Christopher and Lady Cynthia meet and both lose their status as pertains to the treasure hunt. Because he has an affair with her and she with him—and she discovers love.

One of the things that’s always amazed me is that the film is called Christopher Strong, as his character is just not that interesting. I suppose the intent is to show what happens to a man who cheats.

In any case, the film is a good example of how you get two characters into their love story. You want to find a way that seems unique, that seems really special. This is no easy task, because to some extent, it may seem like it’s all been done.

But hey, you’re the writer—and that’s your job. To come up with a really clever way for this romance to take off.

Next week, another film from 1933—Morning Glory..

Copyright © Diane Lake

24Sep23

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