cinehunch
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
01
Why this pick
Like A Free Soul, this sophisticated Pre-Code drama gives Norma Shearer a spirited heroine pushing back against polite society’s sexual double standards, with a brisk, emotionally frank adult tone.
02
Why this pick
Its boldly unapologetic heroine, illicit desire and cynical view of respectable marriage share A Free Soul’s distinctly Pre-Code freedom and glamorous, morally unsettled energy.
03
Why this pick
A stylish, fast-moving Pre-Code portrait of an independent woman who reverses conventional romantic power dynamics, matching the earlier film’s fascination with female autonomy and social transgression.
04
Why this pick
Barbara Stanwyck’s determined working heroine enters a world of wealth, danger and criminal menace; it has the same tough, adult Pre-Code charge and escalating tension around a charismatic underworld figure.
05
Why this pick
Its relentless, provocative rise through a corrupt male world makes it a sharper and more ruthless companion to A Free Soul’s interest in female self-determination and the hypocrisies of respectability.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
Defense lawyer Stephen Ashe (Lionel Barrymore) successfully defends known gangster Ace Wilfong (Clark Gable) from a murder charge, despite his knowledge of Ace's other illegal activities. His upper-class family has all but disowned him and his daughter Jan (Norma Shearer), due to Stephen's alcoholism and Jan's free spirited willfulness. Jan is engaged to clean-cut Dwight Winthrop (Leslie Howard), but their relationship is threatened when she meets Ace and becomes enamored with him and his exciting life.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
Stephen Ashe
Eddie
Grandma Ashe
Ace Wilfong
Jan Ashe
