The Best of Everything

Encyclopedia Entry     •     Films Main

 

 

The Understanding Heart

1927

Critics' Reviews     •     Our Reviews     •     Movie Posters     •     Lobby Cards     •     Misc. Images

Click here to see photos from the film.


 

With Francis X. Bushman, Jr.MGM Silent. 67 minutes (7 reels).

US general release: 2/26/27.
Not available on VHS or DVD.

Cast: Joan Crawford (as "Monica Dale"), Francis X. Bushman Jr., Rockcliffe Fellowes, Carmel Myers, Richard Carle, Harry Clarke.

Credits:  From the 1926 novel by Peter B. Kyne. (Also serialized in Cosmopolitan magazine, March - September 1926.) Adaptation: Edward T. Lowe, Jr. Titles: Joseph Farnham. Director: Jack Conway. Camera: John Arnold. Editor: John English. Costumes: Andre-ani. Sets: Cedric Gibbons, B.H. Martin.

 

Plot Summary: Joan Crawford landed one of her first starring roles in MGM's The Understanding Heart. Based on a story by Peter B. Kyne, the story is set in tall-timber country, where heroine Monica (Crawford) has trouble choosing between wealthy Bob Mason (Rockliffe Fellows) and handsome forest ranger Tony Garland (Francis X. Bushman). Things come to a head during a raging forest fire, with Monica and her two suitors trapped in the middle of the conflagration. A spectacular rescue by airplane caps this robust actioner, which relies heavily on stock footage from the recently completed The Flaming Forest. While Joan Crawford is pretty and personable, the film is stolen by the more flamboyant second female lead, Carmel Myers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

 

American Film Institute page

IMDb page

Silent Era page

Wikipedia page

 


 

Critics' Reviews:

Betty Colfax in the New York Evening Graphic (1927):

Besides displaying no little ability as an actress, Miss Crawford screens remarkable well and shows a development so far beyond her work [in The Taxi Dancer] that one may expect important tidings of this young player.

 


 

Our Reviews:

If you've seen The Understanding Heart and would like to share your review here, please e-mail me.  Feel free to include a photo of yourself, a star-rating (with 5 stars the best), and any of your favorite titles from the film.

 

 


 

Movie Posters:

 

     

 

Above: US posters.

 


 

Lobby Cards:

Below: US lobby cards.

 

US title card. 

 

'Try and take me back to prison!'             

 

  

 


 

Misc. Images

A slide from 'The Understanding Heart.'       US herald.        New York program.

Above: US lantern slide, US herald, and US program.  Below:  Danish program, and Seattle newspaper ad.

A Danish program.          

 

 

       

 

Above: Spanish novella (34 pp; 15 x 10 cm)

 

     


 

The Best of Everything