This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

So much average

Best movie ever!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Sometimes a barking mutt can prove to be a thoroughbred, and in the case of this Civil War era tale of brothers in spirit split because of a conflict beyond their control, that thoroughbred wins the race. James Dunn and David Manners end up on opposite sides of the split and face various conflicts as they fight for a cause they don't always understand. The storyline is a bit thin but so well presented that the short-comings are easy to overlook. Dunn, a versatile actor best known for comedy and equally adept at drama, is the focus of the majority of the story, involved with the lovely Mae Clarke who just happens to the Manner's sister. Charlotte Henry is the girl whom Manners loves. There is a lot of glowering of the old South with its gracious manners overshadowing the evils of slavery and even a brief appearance by Abraham Lincoln himself. Sea battles are intense and well done, so if this lacks in exploration of the war's issues, it makes up for that with great detail in other ways.

In 1861, United States naval officer James Dunn (as Kenneth Reynolds) courts southern born Mae Clarke (as Constance Jordan), the sister of his best friend, and fellow officer, David Manners (as Raymond Jordan). When Civil War breaks out, Mr. Manners elects to join up with the Confederate States, alongside his home state of Virginia. Inevitably, Mr. Dunn must go into battle against his former friend, as sister Clarke begs him not to… "Hearts in Bondage" reveals actor Lew Ayres to be a competent, promising director. Dunn, Clarke, and Manners don't do much for the admittedly predictable story. For awhile, it almost seemed like Henry B. Walthall was going to fight on the side of the North, but he defected to his "Birth of a Nation" roots. "Mammy" Etta McDaniel looks remarkably like her sister Hattie. George "Gabby" Hayes and Smiley Burnette are among the well spotted character actors.**** Hearts in Bondage (5/26/36) Lew Ayres ~ James Dunn, Mae Clarke, David Manners, Henry B. Walthall

This movie was made in 1936 and so we have to cut early movies a break since they were setting the standards for later improvements. Hearts in Bondage had some obvious miniatures but the special effects of naval battle were really good for the time. James Dunn was always a good actor, but somehow the military man part didn't seem to fit quite right. He was always great as character parts where he was the nice guy and I remember him in several Shirley Temple movies and A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. I saw that George Hayes and Ben Alexander were going to be in this. I never did pick out Ben Alexander (played opposite Jack Webb's Joe Friday on Dragnet) but there was no mistaking the voice of Gabby Hayes when he came into the scene. He played a squirrelly kind of part playing off Dunn in jail and then on the crew. Even though the part was strange, it is always a pleasure to see Hayes work. Mae Clark, whom you will remember as the woman that Cagney pushed a grapefruit into her face, did a decent job as Dunn's girlfriend. But it was one of those parts where just about anyone could have done it. The man who played Abraham Lincoln, Frank McGlynn, looked so much like Lincoln you believed it was him. He only had a few lines here or there but made the most of them. Western bit part players could be seen in this. Smiley Burnett was just part of the crew but he later teamed up with Gene Autry and you will remember him with the froggy voice. Another bit part in this was Charles King who (killed many times as the villain in a long list of westerns). Many more good actors involved and, although not on the list of better movies, it is still worth watching.

Although I'm not really too sure how much of this is true or not, this Civil War drama tells of how of course, the war Tour Friendships Apart and the building of the Monitor, a huge bulking ship. Although the document about how the Montor came about and the building and the actual deployment is quite interesting, the whole love story and the dilemma one lady has when two women she has, her brother, and her boyfriend are on two sides and going to war against each other is a bit silly. Again, I'm sure some of it is fictionalized, as Abe Lincoln is in there talking to the main characters about lives lost etc. But all in all, this is a competent, if somewhat dragging effort from Lew Ayres, who should know something about war films, what after being blown to smithereens in All Quiet on the Western Front.