marym52 Ann Harding stands out in the first half of the thirties-- a natural platinum blond, she kept her hair long, wore it in a low bun, and used a minimum of makeup. Her natural beauty had a foil in Myrna Loy, her co-star in several films. Loy has a chic, lacquered Art Deco beauty-- quite up-to the-minute.Harding played witty, intelligent women of strong character and soft voice.Some of her best roles were as the wife of an unfaithful husband who takes her lot with good humor and goes on to make her own successful life. This was a daring plot in its time, but the enforcement of the Production Code pulled its teeth."The Animal Kingdom" begins with Leslie Howard's friends and father getting together to discuss him. In his father's eyes, Tom Collier has wasted his life as the owner of a small press that publishes scholarly and art books. They bring up the fact that he has lived with a bohemian artist for three years. Adorable Myrna Loy says she knows all about her-- and announces her engagement to Tom.Tom arrives, and decides that if his engagement is to be announced, he should immediately go and tell Daisy, his lover, who has just arrived from studying painting in Europe.We, the audience, are prepared by this opener for a scene in which a hard-bitten Jezebel turns on Tom with violent retribution, threatening to wreck his life and his marriage. Instead, we find soft-spoken Ann Harding's radiant beauty and strength of character. She's heartbreaking as she puts her dream of life with Tom aside, and breaks with him completely when he proposes that their relationship should continue after his marriage.Some viewers are puzzled by the title. It comes during a speech in which Daisy acknowledges that Tom can be sexually attracted to other women: "After all our big speeches, we still belong to the animal kingdom." The balance of the film concerns Tom's marriage, and Daisy's continuing struggle to resist his advances. Tom wants to have his cake and eat it, too-- an exciting sex life with Cecilia (Loy) and deep affection and understanding with Daisy.Gradually, we see that Cecilia believes her only hold on men is sex, which she uses to manipulate her old friend (Neil Hamilton) and Tom. She convinces Tom to turn his press into a moneymaker by publishing drugstore paperbacks. She sweet talks Hamilton into buying out Tom's Bantam Press for a huge price. Her mistake is to throw surprise birthday party for Tom, inviting his old artistic friends so he can see what lightweights they are.At the party, Daisy reads the latest manuscript up for publication and gives Tom honest criticism on what his press has become. Tom's father presents him with a huge check to show his approval of Tom's changed life-- and to convince Tom and Daisy to move in with him at his town house. It looks as if Daisy is going to have everything she wants.Tom finally balks at the pressure to take the money, move, and sell his beloved press. Cecilia thinks she knows how to win him over-- with dinner in her cozy sitting room with the promise of a wild night in bed if he capitulates.Unfortunately, her flower and candle-filled boudoir reminds Tom of the private dining rooms of a high class whorehouse he frequented as a student in London. He starts dropping innuendo that it takes Cecilia some time to understand, complimenting her in the shallow way a whore would expect. As Cecila becomes drunk on champagne, she takes the compliments as proof she's won Tom over to her side.When Cecilia makes a seductive move to the bedroom, Tom places his father's check on the mantle piece-- just as he had left the twenty-pound note for the prostitutes.As he leaves their house, Tom announces, "I'm going home to my wife!" And that, of course, would be Daisy.After the Production Code was enforced, the nuanced view of "The Animal Kingdom" went out the window. The Loy character would be presented as such a harpy that you couldn't understand what the husband saw in her. Instead of an independent woman with her own career, Harding would be a housewife completely dependent on the husband. The plot would often center on the wife seducing the husband back to their home."The Animal Kingdom" vanished from view; in the 1950s and 60s, it was still considered too racy to revive on television. I'm so happy that it survived for future audiences. I wish it would receive the greater recognition it deserves.

drystyx It's fair to call this a "chick flick" on the basis of its romantic plot, but it's also a theatrical film. It's obviously done in stage play format, with the sort of characters one usually envisions on stage.There is a romantic triangle of Leslie Howard and two women. It does take a while before we realize how it must play out emotionally, so there is some suspense. Handsome Neil Hamilton comes out of the lion's mouth to provide the possible fourth, and I won't spoil it by saying how far he gets. I must say that when I found a movie called "The Animal Kingdom" with the hunter who met Tarzan on two safaris before becoming cat food, I thought this might be more of an adventure.Sadly, a lot of it dragged. That's the "chick flick" part, but it's also good drama. It's most conversation, but well blocked. The comic relief character of the ex boxer provides some relief from what often becomes melodramatic. Trouble is, there are long spurts in which he probably should have been inter-spliced more often.Still, it is a nice story, and best for viewing with company.

mukava991 This dreary adaptation of Philip Barry's Broadway play has two things going for it: a stunning Myrna Loy and some interesting exchanges of dialogue that would have been censored if the film had been released a couple of years later when Production Code enforcement was strengthened. On the whole, however, this film stagnates as filmed stage plays often do. The camera just sits there focusing on people entering rooms and talking, talking, talking. The story is familiar to Barry aficionados: the conflict between the old northeastern Puritan establishment values and the new, modern Bohemian mindset. This conflict is played out by Leslie Howard, nonconformist publisher of arty books whose upper crust traditionalist father disapproves of his offbeat lifestyle. Howard chooses to marry rich girl Myrna Loy while his old friend, whom he really loves but doesn't realize it at the time, is abroad. The latter character is a Bohemian enacted by Ann Harding who at one point says, and I paraphrase, "I have no money but it doesn't bother me." What?! This supposed "Bohemian" lives in a large, spotless, finely appointed apartment with a picture-window view of the East River, is dressed and coiffed as elegantly as any wealthy blueblood and seems to travel the world at the drop of a hat. Anyone with an apartment, wardrobe and lifestyle like that in 1932 could hardly "have no money." *** POSSIBLE SPOILER*** Harding is way too stodgy for her part and we end up sympathizing with the ostensibly cruel, superficial Loy who is actually so sweet, alluring, sexy, gorgeous and youthful that it comes as a shock when she is revealed to be a nasty, hard soul at the end. In addition, although Harding gets top billing with Howard, it is Loy who occupies the most screen time and who rivets our attention. Howard is at first too humdrum to be convincing as an unconventional rebel, but his later actions during intimate scenes with Loy fire up the screen, abetted by suggestive conversation. This is about as far as Hollywood would go in the carnal direction until the 60s. William Gargan is also on hand as Howard's butler who treats his boss as an equal, drinks excessively and launches into talking jags that intrude tiresomely on the business at hand. A similar subsidiary character from a later and far superior Barry film adaptation (Holiday, 1938) serves the story better. The ideal cast for this film would have been Franchot Tone as the lead and Loy/Harding in reversed roles.

midnitecoaster very good movie that the censors couldn't destroy. amazing for it's blatantly adult themes in 1932. the story hasn't aged one bit. lesile howard is brilliant in his role. i saw this on tv one night and searched for half a year to figure out what it was called. fantastic.