SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Am I Missing Something?

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The horror of World War I, a conflict with global dimensions had never been experienced by man before. With so many people in the participating countries suffering losses of family members there was a big spiritual movement among the older generation at the same time the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties was celebrated by the younger brothers and sisters of fallen soldiers.One of the best examples of this is the play Smilin' Through which was written and performed by Jane Cowl on Broadway. It's unfortunate that she was not chosen to do the lead in the first sound version on film, but Norma Shearer is a more than adequate substitute.The play Smilin' Through ran for 175 performances in the 1919-20 season on Broadway and then was made into a silent film feature with Norma Talmadge in the lead. It concerns the lost love of a man and how even with the greatest of spiritual barriers between them, there is a connection even through fifty years of separation.The man in the film is Leslie Howard who years after his bride was killed on their wedding day, gets charge of her niece when her parents are killed. The niece when she grows up and the bride in both ghostly and flashback sequences is played by Shearer.The third lead in this film is Fredric March who plays father and son. As the son who was brought up in America by his mother, he never knew his father, he's come over to Great Britain to enlist in the army of the land of his forefathers. He and Shearer take to one another, but Howard is furious at the idea.He's got reasons. March as the father is the maniacally jealous former suitor of the aunt who was killed. In fact he's the one who did it and left Howard a lonely grieving man for generations.Both March and Shearer are great in their parts. Especially March who is called on to play two very different kinds of men and being the superb actor he was, plays them both so well. As for Leslie Howard, he's in a typical Leslie Howard part, charming with a suffocating air of sadness about him, and so very British, the typical Englishman as they see themselves. Norma's part as the aunt calls for her to sing the song Smilin' Through and of course it's dubbed. There was no need of that in the third version with Jeanette MacDonald who in that version sings a nice medley of period songs. Jeanette's version does unfavorably compare with Norma's, but definitely not in the singing department. I'd like to see the Norma Talmadge silent if it still exists.You would have to made of stone like those great lions at the New York Public Library not to be moved by Smilin' Through. Given the times, this play and this film had a ready audience who wanted so desperately to believe that they would in fact be reunited with loved ones.

This Is by far the best of the three versions of the story. Shearer, March and Howard are all Magnificent. There are really two unforgettably touching parts of the film. The first is the flashback sequence on the eve of the wedding where Howard and Shearer behave like children in love and when she dies at their wedding it almost seems like Shearer has better chemistry as Moonyean with Howard than she dose as Kathleen with March either way she is a brilliant and underrated actress. The other and most moving part of the film is the unforgettable and tear jerking end when Howard and Shearer reunite in death. If one can sit through this movie and not be even a little choked up by the end, then they must be pretty cold. This is yet another example of the days gone by but not forgotten and the fact that they don't make them like this anymore. A definite 10

Smilin' Through is about a man played by Leslie Howard who must raise his friend's niece because her parents were killed. Howard, who has just lost his wife, reluctantly agrees.He begins to realize, over the years, that the girl he is raising (Norma Shearer) is very similar in looks to his deceased wife. Because of this fact, he has a strong relationship with her.One night, Shearer is off with a friend to an abandoned house. They find that someone else is there. The person who was there (Fredric March) is actually the son of the man who killed Howard's wife. And the abandoned house was where March grew up.Shearer falls for March and when Howard sees this, he becomes jealous. Tensions rise in this excellent "tearjerker." It's only flaw is that it seems to get a bit overlong for what it's trying to tell right at the very end.All of the three leads are amazing and should have been nominated for Oscars. Sadly, the only nomination it did get was Picture, which it should have won.

One of the most wonderful romances to have come from Hollywood in the 30s, Smilin Through stars three legendary actors- Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard and the gorgeous and talented Fredric March- with and without moustache! Also wearing uniform!! If that doesn't make you want to run out and buy all available copies of Smilin Through, you may want to check your pulse. You'll love it, as long as you aren't a cold-hearted beast. Its the cat's mieow. So put on the kettle for some mighty good tea, settle back with Mrs Crouch's sinkers and dumplings and maybe a slender cookie or two, and watch this fabulous romantic movie right now. 100 out of 10!