This is a woman's picture (specifically, Barbara Stanwyck's picture). The narrative skips large portions of time. What a surprise to see in the opening credits that the screenplay is based on a short story by Vina Delmar. Surely, it seems to be based on an epic novel-- and it could easily have been stretched out to 'Gone with the Wind'-style length.
The film is compromised by the constraints imposed by the production code (involving the bigamy of Joel McCrea's character and an extra-marital affair between Stanwyck's character and Brian Donlevy). But Miss Stanwyck's hard work helps pull off the story, and the flood scenes are very well photographed, especially a sequence with an overturned stagecoach and infant children. It is easily the most memorable part of the film. There is a lot of rain/water used in this picture. In one scene, the entire studio floor is visibly flooded.
Some aspects of the plot are too contrived. It is a little too easy for Stanwyck to turn back instead of going on after the bridge tragedy to find McCrea. Maybe if there had been a quick scene of her attempting to locate him, but the road being washed out where she was forced to turn back, then that would have been more believable.
Did anyone else feel as if the biographer was going to turn out to be Stanwyck's stepdaughter, or rather, the daughter of McCrea's character with his second wife? I suppose the filmmakers were prevented from showing McCrea as having committed bigamy, though the marriage certificate at the end proves it.
The film is compromised by the constraints imposed by the production code (involving the bigamy of Joel McCrea's character and an extra-marital affair between Stanwyck's character and Brian Donlevy). But Miss Stanwyck's hard work helps pull off the story, and the flood scenes are very well photographed, especially a sequence with an overturned stagecoach and infant children. It is easily the most memorable part of the film. There is a lot of rain/water used in this picture. In one scene, the entire studio floor is visibly flooded.
Some aspects of the plot are too contrived. It is a little too easy for Stanwyck to turn back instead of going on after the bridge tragedy to find McCrea. Maybe if there had been a quick scene of her attempting to locate him, but the road being washed out where she was forced to turn back, then that would have been more believable.
Did anyone else feel as if the biographer was going to turn out to be Stanwyck's stepdaughter, or rather, the daughter of McCrea's character with his second wife? I suppose the filmmakers were prevented from showing McCrea as having committed bigamy, though the marriage certificate at the end proves it.