Lack of good storyline.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Right of Way, The (1931) ** (out of 4) A hot shot, loud mouth and obnoxious attorney (Conrad Nagel) is beaten and left for death. A fisherman finds his body, takes him home and soon the attorney recovers but he can't remember who he is. With the help of a nurse (Loretta Young) he learns how to be nice but will the past catch up with him? This is one of those early talkies that talks way too much. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that this 65-minute movie had more dialogue than a three hour movie of its time. Another major problem is the casting of Nagel who delivers a very bad and embarrassing performance. Young isn't given much to do either. Previously made in 1915 and 1920.

I am giving The Right of Way (1930 copyright date on the opening credits, not 1931) a perfect 10. Never have I laughed so hard and so prolonged through any motion picture. This movie is completely priceless and proves you don't have to see anyone slip on a banana peel in order to laugh until you are breathless and giddy from lack of oxygen.Conrad Nagel got his start in silent pictures and was a romantic lead in many B and A pictures over the years. Because of his politics Louis B. Mayer disliked him and often put him in silly vehicles which didn't show off his acting talents to their best advantage. Conrad is obviously hamming it up through this picture, maybe to get even with Louis B., maybe because he just wanted to have some fun with a deadly dull and stupid early talkie script.Conrad makes this picture. He's the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. Forget Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy and WC Fields. Conrad in The Right of Way is the right way to go for complete belly laughs until you drop.See this movie! But don't take it seriously or you'll miss the point!

Not to be disrespectful of the early days of talkies, but if you see this one listed on TCM, skip it. It absolutely creaks with age. Set in Quebec, "The Right of Way" is a melodrama about a rather mean attorney nicknamed "Beauty" (don't ask me why) who gets involved in a bar fight when he goes to see his thieving brother-in-law in a bad part of town. As a result of the beating he takes, he develops amnesia and is brought to a rural area by a man he defended. When he regains consciousness, he remembers nothing, and takes the name Charles Mallard. He falls in love with the lovely daughter of the postmaster, played by Loretta Young. Young, radiant and beautiful, was about 18 when she did this film. Except for a naturalistic Young, the acting is outrageously bad, intensely melodramatic, with many lines said with tremulous voices. As is often the case in the early days of sound, the actors weren't used to the medium yet so their timing is off. And the French Canadian accents - horrific. I can't agree with one of the posters about Conrad Nagel - yes, he was over the top, but so was his atrocious dialogue. He at least didn't drag the pace.Not good.

I fell asleep whilst watching this utter load of bilge and so went and watched most of it again.Where does one start.The court scenes are laughable.After all how could a barrister walk out of court whilst a Judge sums up.If he misdirects then how is the barrister to know.However the most ridiculous moment comes when Nagel is told his true name having lost his memory,and because of this suddenly regains his memory.It all comes back to him in an instant!Other than Loretta Young it is clear that the actors do not have a clue how to act for the talkies.We have gestures and looks and abysmal attempts at accents.This is a film to avoid unless you want a cure for insomnia