Before he was the crazed naval skipper in Mutiny on the Bounty, Charles Laughton, in his Hollywood debut (he gets an extended intro in the credits), played an insane submarine commander here. … What Laughton does with his face and body as Tallulah Bankhead’s husband, crazy-jealous first of Cary Grant and then Gary Cooper, seems prep work for Hunchback of Notre Dame. (Simon Callow, in his Laughton bio, calls his acting here obvious and banal.) … Cooper is as beautiful…

Watched this for Melvyn Douglas (a favorite) and the Douglas-Joan Crawford pairing, the first of their four movies I’ve seen. … Some nice lines and funny bits as boss lady Crawford comes down from her pedestal, but it’s slow getting there despite its not-crazy runtime. … Crawford is her most assured marching around barking orders, less convincing (but her prettiest/hottest) literally letting her hair down. … Also, Roland Young has a funny scene putting up his dukes, brave Allen Jenkins…