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Top 10 Norma Shearer Movies

Top 10 Norma Shearer Movies

5/30/2017

2 Comments

 
  1. The Divorcee
  2. A Free Soul
  3. The Women
  4. ​Riptide
  5. Private Lives
  6. Marie Antoinette 
  7. Barretts of Wimpole Street
  8. Let Us Be Gay
  9. Lady of the Night
  10. Lady of Chance
Norma Shearer Bio
the divorcee
The Women
Let Us by gay
 The Rationalization:  

It's easy for me to pick the top 2 because my only experience with Norma Shearer before seeing The Divorcee & A Free Soul was The Women.  The early pre-code films are such a radical departure from what I had watched and read about Shearer that they couldn't help but blow me a way.  The overt sexuality and carefree attitudes towards fidelity and decorum are eye opening for most viewers unaccustomed to pre-code films.  Even if the Academy Award she won for The Divorcee is reflective of different criteria then, the character and the performance are fantastic.  The scene in A Free Soul when she brazenly lays down on the chaise lounge and offers herself to Clark Gable's gangster character Ace Wilfong (Top 10 greatest character name) is worth every penny for admission!  The Women is a classic film through and through and Shearer is very good in the somewhat thankless character of the wronged wife.  The dressing room scene with Shearer & Crawford is a fantastic battle of wills, strength vs strength as both actresses/characters shift from power to weakness as the scene plays out.  The stories from the set between her & Joan Crawford are also priceless.
I probably overweight the value of Shearer's pre-code work by ranking Riptide & Private Lives above Barrett's Of Wimpole & Marie Antoinette and I can't argue that both may be more mature performances, but I like what I like.  Maybe it's Robert Mongomery that breaks the tie, I don't know (but I bet it's the first time he's been a tiebreaker).  The casual banter between he & Shearer is entertaining, if light as a feather.  For whatever reason, Tyrone Power just doesn't look right in those period costumes in Marie Antoinette, although Robert Morley is wonderful as King Louis XVI.  
Let us Be Gay is an odd one because the normally totally put together Shearer appears unrecognizable in the opening scenes as the dowdy, neglected wife of a philandering husband.  She more than redeems her beauty and captivating presence in the later scenes, all the while trying to stay out of the scene-chewing way of Marie Dressler.  I like this movie, but it's only the conclusion that leaves me less than thrilled.
I couldn't neglect Shearer's silent work, so I've included both Lady of the Night & her last silent Lady of Chance as representative of the fine work she did before sound came in.  Check out the Norma Shearer Bio for a more compete overview.
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2 Comments
Amy Winans
12/30/2017 10:09:01 pm

Great list, but no Strange Interlude which I would definitely include. That was pioneering work there, even if it was a very weird movie. ;-)

Reply
Vee
4/9/2021 07:23:55 pm

Thank you for recognizing “The First Lady Of The Screen”.
I agree with all of your favorites not necessarily in that order but it great to see Norma get some recognition.

I would have to add to your list “Romeo and Juliet”. She is brilliant and the Ball Scene is magical and I can’t imagine any of her contemporaries carrying it off except maybe Vivien Leigh who was unknown at the time. I would also add “Smilin’ Through”, “Escape”, and “Idiot’s Delight” to the list of her best films.

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  • Home
  • Top 10 Lists
    • My Top 10 Favorite Movies
    • Top 10 Heist Movies
    • Top 10 Neo-Noir Films
    • The Top 10 Films of the Troubles (1969-1998) >
      • The Troubles Selected Timeline
    • Top 10 Films from 2001
    • Director Top 10's >
      • Top 10 Film Noir Directors
      • Top 10 Coen Brothers Films
      • Top 10 John Ford Films
      • Top 10 Samuel Fuller Films
      • Top 10 Alfred Hitchcock Films
      • Top 10 John Huston Films
      • Top 10 Fritz Lang Films (American)
      • Val Lewton Top 10
      • Top 10 Ernst Lubitsch Films
      • Top 10 Jean-Pierre Melville Films
      • Top 10 Nicholas Ray Films
      • Top 10 Preston Sturges Films
      • Top 10 Robert Siodmak Films
      • Top 10 William Wellman Films
      • Top 10 Billy Wilder Films
    • Actor/Actress Top 10's >
      • Top 10 Joan Blondell Movies
      • Top 10 Clark Gable Movies
      • Top 10 Ava Gardner Films
      • Top 10 Gloria Grahame Films
      • Top 10 Jean Harlow Movies
      • Top 10 Miriam Hopkins Films
      • Top 10 Grace Kelly Films
      • Top 10 Burt Lancaster Films
      • Top 10 Carole Lombard Movies
      • Top 10 Myrna Loy Films
      • Top 10 Marilyn Monroe Films
      • Top 10 Robert Mitchum Noir Movies
      • Top 10 Paul Newman Films
      • Top 10 Robert Ryan Movies
      • Top 10 Norma Shearer Movies
      • Top 10 Barbara Stanwyck Films
    • Top 10 Noir Films (Classic Era)
    • Top 10 Pre-Code Films
    • Top 10 Actresses of the 1930's
  • Reviews
    • Quick Hits: Short Takes on Recent Viewing >
      • Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache
      • Elevator to the Gallows ('58)
      • Days of Heaven
      • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
      • Incindies (2010)
      • In the Mood For Love (2000)
      • Last Picture Show Teaser Intro
      • Le Silence De La Mer ('49)
      • The Princess Bride ('87) Intro
      • Pulp Fiction ('94) Intro
    • The 1910's >
      • The Lubitsch German Silents
    • The 1920's >
      • The Odessa Steps Sequence as Continuing Film History
      • Sunrise (1927)
      • Wild Orchids ('29)
    • The 1930's >
      • Becky Sharp (1935)
      • Blonde Crazy
      • Bombshell ('33)
      • The Cheat
      • The Conquerors
      • The Crowd Roars
      • The Divorcee
      • Frank Capra & Barbara Stanwyck: The Evolution of a Romance
      • Heroes for Sale
      • The Invisible Man (1933)
      • L'Atalante (1934)
      • Let Us Be Gay
      • My Man Godfrey
      • No Man of Her Own (1932)
      • Platinum Blonde ('31)
      • Reckless ('35)
      • The Sign of the Cross (1932)
      • The Sin of Nora Moran (1932)
      • True Confession ('37)
      • Virtue ('32)
      • The Women
    • The 1940's >
      • Casablanca (1942)
      • The Story of Citizen Kane
      • Criss Cross (1949)
      • Double indemnity
      • Jean Arthur in A Foreign Affair
      • The Killers 1946 & 1964 Comparison
      • The Maltese Falcon Intro
      • Moonrise (1948)
      • My Gal Sal (1942)
      • Nightmare Alley
      • Notorious Intro ('46)
      • Overlooked Christmas Movies of the 1940's
      • Pursued (1947)
      • Remember the Night ('40)
      • The Red Shoes (1948)
      • The Set-Up ('49)
      • They Won't Believe Me (1947)
      • The Third Man
    • The 1950's >
      • The Asphalt Jungle Secret Cinema Intro
      • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ('58) Intro
      • The Crimson Kimono (1959)
      • A Face in the Crowd (1957)
      • In a Lonely Place
      • A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
      • Mogambo ('53)
      • Niagara (1953)
      • The Night of The Hunter ('55)
      • Pushover Noir City
      • Rear Window (1954)
      • Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
      • Red Dust ('32 vs Mogambo ('53)
      • The Searchers ('56)
      • Singin' in the Rain Introduction
      • Some Like It Hot ('59) >
        • Some Like it Hot Intro (Beyond the Bay)
    • The 1960's >
      • The April Fools (1969)
      • Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
      • Cape Fear ('62)
      • Cool Hand Luke (1967) Intro
      • Dr Strangelove Intro
      • For a Few Dollars More (1965)
      • Fistful of Dollars (1964)
      • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1968)
      • The Hustler ('61) Intro
      • The Man With No Name Trilogy
      • The Misfits ('61)
      • The Umbrellas of Cherbourg/La La Land
    • The 1970's >
      • Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
      • American Graffiti Introduction
      • Chinatown Introduction
      • The Friends of Eddie Coyle ('73)
      • Jaws Intro
    • The 1980's >
      • Blood Simple ('84)
      • A Christmas Story Intro
      • Scarface (1983)
    • The 1990's >
      • The General (1998)
    • 2000's >
      • Belfast (2021)
      • Blonde (2022)
      • Hunger (2008)
      • In Bruges (2008)
      • Joy Division
      • Mank (2020)
      • No Man's Land (2001)
      • Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
      • Wall-E
      • Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
      • The Top 10 Films I watched in 2020
  • Artists
    • Actors/Actresses >
      • Joan Blondell
      • Faye Dunaway: 1967-1976
      • The Noir Villainy of Dan Duryea
      • Clark Gable Bio
      • Jean Harlow Bio
      • Veronica Lake
      • Norma Shearer
    • Directors/Producers/Cinematographers >
      • Founders Series: Alice Guy-Blache
      • John Alton
      • Joan Harrison-Producer/Writer
      • Hitchcock & Cary Grant
      • William Wellman
    • Books >
      • Book Reviews >
        • Book Review: Clark Gable by D. Bret
      • Pre-Code
      • Actor Bios
      • Film Noir
      • Director Bios
      • Studio Head Bios
      • Hollywood History
    • Studio
  • Resources
    • Sight & Sound Top 100 2022
    • NOTES >
      • American Graffiti Notes
      • Anatomy of a Murder Notes
      • The Asphalt Jungle Outline
      • Breakfast Club Notes
      • Citizen Kane Notes
      • It's A Wonderful Life Notes
      • Rebel Without a Cause Notes
      • Singin' in the Rain Notes
    • CMBA Interview/Profile
    • Bay Cinema Society Press
    • Hollywood History >
      • Production Code
      • Film Noir
  • Video Introductions
    • Video Introductions
  • Last Picture Show Notes
  • Paul Verhoeven