Break of Hearts (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
Womanizing & partying Franz Roberti (Charles Boyer) is a renowned NY orchestra conductor in 'Break of Hearts', a soapy, sudsy 1935 melodrama directed by Philip Moeller. Through his mentor Professor Thalma (Jean Hersholt), Franz meets aspiring composer/pianist Constance Dane (Katherine Hepburn), one of the Professor's friends & neighbor in their Washington Square apt. building. Constance is a classic introvert whose music is everything to her. It is because of their shared passion in music that Franz & 'Connie' fall in love & hurriedly get married. But it is not long before Franz falls back to his partying ways and, when Connie catches Franz drunk {and with a society divorcee}, she leaves him.
Franz realizes that he made a huge mistake; having ruined his marriage & the love he as for Connie in the process. All the while, Connie DOES still love Franz ... but understandably can't tolerate his deceit. As such, both Connie & Franz's lives start to spiral out of control on both a personal & professional level; particularly Franz, who descends into a near-death state of alcoholism. All the while, a sweet & doting man named Johnny Lawrence (John Beal) that Connie met through Franz wants to help her pick up the pieces of her disastrous life & whisk her away as her new husband. Mild tensions reside once we come to the film's end & we see if Connie can overcome obstacles, look into herself & be Franz's savior. Is their love for each other enough?
Although the story seems cliched {even Hepburn & Boyer weren't wild about the script} ... the power of the acting still comes beaming through. Boyer is ideally cast & simply nails the material. He's hypnotic to watch and, shows us a very true-to-life portrayal of a drunk who is spinning out of control. Katherine Hepburn is great, too -- when isn't she? But she would fare better in her Academy-winning role from the same year's Alice Adams.
I also enjoyed the roles portrayed by Jean Hersholt & John Beal. All in all, this is a minor motion picture; containing soppy dialogue such as: "He needs me. It's where I belong. It's where I want to be". But I admired Robert de Grasse's soft lens photography, Max Steiner's lovely music score & Van Nest Polglase's classy production designs. Though it's no Classic, I'm glad I stumbled upon the comely 'Break of Hearts' on TV one night ... badly-named title, and all. And I have to say that the short running time {80 minutes or so ... as was customary of many 1930s films} served this story quite well.
Franz realizes that he made a huge mistake; having ruined his marriage & the love he as for Connie in the process. All the while, Connie DOES still love Franz ... but understandably can't tolerate his deceit. As such, both Connie & Franz's lives start to spiral out of control on both a personal & professional level; particularly Franz, who descends into a near-death state of alcoholism. All the while, a sweet & doting man named Johnny Lawrence (John Beal) that Connie met through Franz wants to help her pick up the pieces of her disastrous life & whisk her away as her new husband. Mild tensions reside once we come to the film's end & we see if Connie can overcome obstacles, look into herself & be Franz's savior. Is their love for each other enough?
Although the story seems cliched {even Hepburn & Boyer weren't wild about the script} ... the power of the acting still comes beaming through. Boyer is ideally cast & simply nails the material. He's hypnotic to watch and, shows us a very true-to-life portrayal of a drunk who is spinning out of control. Katherine Hepburn is great, too -- when isn't she? But she would fare better in her Academy-winning role from the same year's Alice Adams.
I also enjoyed the roles portrayed by Jean Hersholt & John Beal. All in all, this is a minor motion picture; containing soppy dialogue such as: "He needs me. It's where I belong. It's where I want to be". But I admired Robert de Grasse's soft lens photography, Max Steiner's lovely music score & Van Nest Polglase's classy production designs. Though it's no Classic, I'm glad I stumbled upon the comely 'Break of Hearts' on TV one night ... badly-named title, and all. And I have to say that the short running time {80 minutes or so ... as was customary of many 1930s films} served this story quite well.