blanche-2 Nothing gets a woman's heart pumping a little quicker than an early Gary Cooper movie, and The Wedding Night from 1935 is no exception.Cooper is writer Tony Barratt - think F. Scott Fitzgerald - whose publisher doesn't want his next book and tells him whatever he had, he's lost it. So he and his wife Dora (Helen Vinson) take off for an inherited country home. Tony becomes intrigued by the family of Polish émigrés who live nearby, particularly the beautiful daughter, Manya Novak (Sten).Okay, here is something that confuses me. My friends are of Polish descent. They called their sister Mary Manya. So far, so good.This family's last name is Novak. That's Czech.And they say Dasvidaniya, which is Russian. Go figure.Back to the story. After the father (Sig Ruman) buys a field from Tony for $5,000, Dora wants to hightail it back to New York, now that they have some money. Tony decides to stay. He begins writing a book about the family.He and Manya fall in love, though it's unconsummated. She is engaged to Fredrik Sobieski (Ralph Bellamy) a real bumpkin, whom she doesn't love. When she decides not to marry him, her father has a fit, and the engagement is back on. Meanwhile, Tony wants a divorce.Bittersweet film with lovely performances by Cooper and Sten. Cooper in the beginning is immaculate in a suit, and he and Dora are part of the high-class social set. He did play many sophisticated roles in the '30s, but Mr. Deeds and westerns would follow. Instead of strong and silent, here he's animated and romantic.This film was apparently supposed to introduce Anna Sten to American audiences. Sam Goldwyn wanted to build her up as the next Garbo. I don't know about you, but I don't remember Greta Garbo playing a farmer with dowdy clothes. If he was going to build her up, why not showcase her beauty? She was beautiful, and her acting is very good. To me she hasn't the presence of Garbo or Dietrich, but I think Goldwyn could have given her better treatment.Helen Vinson really has the strongest role, and she was up to it.Very poignant story, directed by King Vidor, and beautifully photographed.

mark.waltz When a problematic writer (Gary Cooper) moves back to his country home with his very city oriented wife (Helen Vinson), he falls in love with the innocent Polish girl (Anna Sten) who lives next door. But her father has already promised her hands in marriage to another farmer (Ralph Bellamy), and when problems erupt between Cooper and Vinson, he finds himself falling in love with Sten and she longs to get out of this arranged marriage. But an agreement in the old world is an agreement, and any chance of getting what they wish could lead to tragedy.This very sweet and simple tale has all the elements for great drama, but somehow it never really rises to the heights which it is trying to attain. The leads are young and attractive, and the plot moves briskly, but even with excellent production design and direction by the masterful King Vidor, it still lacks that magic that could have made it explode into something special. I think that occurs because there really is no chemistry between Cooper and Sten, and their unsympathetic partners (Vinson and Bellamy) are not really fleshed out as characters. It also gives the impression that poor European immigrants were lead by an uncompassionate papa and a quietly dignified mama who always suffered in silence. In these roles, Sig Ruman and Esther Dale seem more like stereotypes than real people. Walter Brennan adds some zest to a few scenes as another local, but the end result is a drama that seems like something Lillian Gish may have starred in during the silent era.

bkoganbing Gary Cooper, in a thinly veiled characterization of F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a writer living with a socialite wife in New York City and doing quite well on the party circuit. But he's lost his muse and literally has to move back to his family's ancestral home in Connecticut where the rent is free.While there he gets involved with some Polish immigrants who have bought a lot of acreage in the Nutmeg state for tobacco growing and farmer Jean Hersholt wants some of Cooper's land. Needing the cash, Cooper agrees. He finds the people there fascinating in an sociological sort of way. And he finds Hersholt's daughter Anna Sten far more intriguing.The Wedding Night was supposed to be the launching of a new Sam Goldwyn discovery in Anna Sten. But for some reason she didn't catch on with the public though she does give a fine performance. There's a lengthy list of speculative reasons why she never caught on, some have been mentioned by other reviewers.However the best performance in the film is Helen Vinson as Cooper's wife. She starts off giving the impression she's a flighty airhead, but actually that's not the case. Vinson usually was playing the other woman in her film career, here she reverses type as the wronged wife. You do feel sorry for her, she's done nothing to deserve Cooper's infidelity.For those who are curious about Anna Sten as she's become something of a symbol as to how not to showcase a talent, The Wedding Night might be worth a look.

gjsandie Anna Sten deserved and Oscar for her portrayal, not to be made fun of and practically run out of town. Which just proves my theory that most critics tastes are in their mouth. I invited anyone who enjoys a movie of old, when it was about entertainment rather than depraved education to make the attempt to find a copy, sit back and enjoy. Goldwyn COULD pick them. Anna Sten and Cooper were something great in this movie.