Synopsis
Visiting Paris from her home in New York, Valentine Winters (Crawford) reunites with her mother, Diane (Frederick). They have been separated since Valentine was a child. Diane lives in a house owned by André (Albert Conti), her lover. Diane does not want Valetine to learn that she is André’s mistress, and he moves out before her arrival. Valetine meets her mother’s friends, including chronic drunkard Tony (Owsley), who wants Valentine to become his lover. She refuses, but he remains fun company, and they go partying together. The drunken Tony crashes their car, and Bob Blake (Hamilton) rescues them. Bob is visiting Paris with his rich, high society parents. Bob and Valetine, immediately attracted to each other, fall in love and become engaged.
During a dinner for Bob’s parents at Diane’s house, Tony and a wild group barge into the party. André also arrives, and Bob is shocked to learn that Diane is his mistress. Bob denounces Diane and asks Valentine to marry him at once. She refuses angrily and tells him to leave. Diane and Valentine move into a small apartment and attempt to make a new life for themselves. Valentine hides her unhappiness, but Diane knows that she still loves Bob. In order to free her daughter, Diane goes back to André. Valentine, angry and confused, decides to live the same kind of life as her mother. She goes to a hotel with Tony. At this point, Bob takes charge of the situation. He makes up with a repentant Diane, and she leaves André. Bob goes after Valentine and carries her out of the hotel. Valentine finds her mother in Bob’s car, and they all go away together.
Discussion
This Modern Age is obviously intended for Joan Crawford’s female fans, who came to empathize with her romantic problems and admire her clothes (designed by Adrian). The film has several unusual aspects for a Crawford vehicle of the time. She plays a trusting and naive young woman, rather than the worldly-wise skeptic she often portrayed. The film has a second major female role. PaulineFrederick, a veteran and persuasive actress, plays an experienced, jaded woman. Although the plot centers on the two women, neither is capable of solving their problems, and the rather judgmental leading man takes control of both of them. Crawford was not advantageously cast as a passive and naive young female, and the film lacks the vitality expected of a Pre-Code Crawford picture.
Between 1930 and 1940, Nick Grinde directed several B-level feature films a year. This film and Shopworn (1932), starring Barbara Stanwyck, are his only A-level efforts. Perhaps the heads of MGM also thought the film lacked punch. Neil Hamilton was handsome but an unimpressive, actor. Compared to Robert Montgomery and Clark Gable, he was deficient in force and sex appeal and rapidly faded as an MGM leading man.