Stephen Ashe, an upper class alcoholic defense attourney, successfully defends local mobster Ace Wilfong in a murder case. After his daughter Jan Ashe breaks her engagement to polo player Dwight Winthrop and starts an affair with Wilfong, she finds that the liason is not easily severed when she wants out. Winthrop earns Miss Ashe's true affections by killing Wilfong to break his grip on her. Now the question is, can Stephen Ashe save Winthrop with an impassioned defense speec... (Full plot summary below)
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Stephen Ashe, an upper class alcoholic defense attourney, successfully defends local mobster Ace Wilfong in a murder case. After his daughter Jan Ashe breaks her engagement to polo player Dwight Winthrop and starts an affair with Wilfong, she finds that the liason is not easily severed when she wants out. Winthrop earns Miss Ashe's true affections by killing Wilfong to break his grip on her. Now the question is, can Stephen Ashe save Winthrop with an impassioned defense speech to the jury?
Leave your thoughts about A Free Soul.
| Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)John BeifussContains what may be the first instance of the 'If it doesn't fit you must acquit' defense: Barrymore wins Gable's freedom by having the accused man place on top of his head the too-small hat that was found at the scene of the crime. |
| EmanuelLevy.ComEmanuel LevyDesigned as star vehicle for Norma Shearer, this sensationalistic melodrama about a brutal gangster (the young Clark Gable) and boozy lawyer could not have been made after 1934, when the rigid Production Code was put in effect. |
| Ozus' World Movie ReviewsDennis SchwartzDespite the talented cast, this one ends up looking preposterous. |
| User ReviewRob LFantastic story about a father and daughter's struggle to get themselves out of jams. There are some surprises in the plot, along with some snappy dialogue and great performances from the entire cast. |
| User ReviewK DA very sultry movie, something that could stand up to anything released today and wasn't held back by the Hollywood Code. Norma Shearer was outstanding, and stole every scene in which she appeared. Gable played the obsessed tough guy well. I seem to always feel sorry for any character Leslie Howard plays, but this time I was shocked to actually see his character take action. And what else can be said about Lionel Barrymore's performance but excellent. Great pre-code film, very sexy without any sex. |
| User ReviewDaniel KLionel Barrymore's shining moment in cinema. An alcoholic lawyer play Barrymore and he leads the way that in the brief period when he is not in the film, the story sinks to a sad depth as his on-screen daughter played by Norma Shearer falls in the brutality of the mobster played by Clark Gable that only the gallantry of Lesile Howard can save. The first character portrayal of a lawyer to win an Oscar, scored Barrymore the Best Actor Oscar of 1931. It is a pre-code piece of gold. |
| User ReviewAntonius BGreat performances and a lively plot make this one quite entertaining. The premise is an alcoholic lawyer agrees to give up drinking provided his daughter will stop seeing a gangster she's gotten herself involved with for the thrill of it. Lionel Barrymore is the father and turns in a performance worthy of the Oscar he received, and it's nice to see him in a very different role from old Potter ('It's a Wonderful Life') but hear that same voice. Norma Shearer plays his daughter and was also nominated; she's wonderfully natural in the role of the non-conformist 'free soul', and has a languid sexuality about her in scenes such as the one where she encourages action from her lover instead of talking, and later reclines back and asks for an embrace with "Come on, put 'em around me" before the scene fades to black, and we know what that meant. Clark Gable is the gangster, playing the heavy very well, and Leslie Howard is the 'nice guy'; eight years later, of course, they would appear together as Rhett and Ashley in 'Gone With The Wind'. It's interesting to compare what shocked people who saw this movie in 1931, and compare it to what shocks us today. The fact that Shearer's character is sexually liberated and seeks out a physical relationship, turning down Gable's offer to marry her, was scandalous. As she slinks around in a thin white dress, she purrs "Men of action are better in action. They don't talk well ... Why, I take it on the run right into your arms, don't I, darling? ... Ace, darling, I'm head over heels mad about you, but what's in the future I don't know...". We, on the other hand, are shocked at Gable's arrogance when she meets up with him three months later, after having ended their relationship. He shows his nasty side, manhandling her and making it clear that he'll make it known that they've had sex, therefore 'she's mine, she belongs to me'. His behavior isn't condoned of course and others stick up for her, but the idea that's she's ruined in some way and 'not fit for any other man' was the view in society at the time, and part of Leslie Howard's heroism is to attempt to protect her honor. Worth watching for challenging the morals of the day, and for the star-studded cast, which shine almost a century later. |
| User ReviewJames HExtremely good early classic. Lionel Barrymore is terrific in an Oscar winning performance, Norma Shearer, as always is a delight. Fine writing, the expected fine MGM production values. Poor Leslie Howard, always seeming to get dumped for Clark Gable! |
| User ReviewCameron JA Free Soul (1931) This is the movie that made a minor character actor into a romantic superstar. Famous defense attorney (and alcoholic), Stephen Ashe (Lionel Barrymore) is defending a murder suspect and gangster, Ace Wilfong (Clark Gable). An interesting "If the hat doesn't fit, you must acquit" causes Ace to get released. Here is where Ace meets Stephen's free-spirited daughter, Jan (Norma Shearer). Flighty Jan is bored with her nice-guy boyfriend, Dwight Wintrhop (Leslie Howard) and goes for the bad boy, Ace in a big way. The only problem is that Ace has fallen for Jan and when she wants to get out of the fling, Ace objects in a big way. To top that off, her dad, Stephen is hitting bottom with his drinking problem. Although, this isn't a great movie for Gable, his man-handling of Norma Shearer touched a nerve with females audiences that caused MGM to try to duplicate Gable's persona throughout the rest of his career. Unlike the legend that Gable's slapping Norma Shearer's character made him hot for the ladies (he actually only pushes her down on the couch), I think it was that him telling her that he loved her and he wasn't going to let her go that sealed the deal with his new found fans. |
| User ReviewJohn BI'm A Huge Geek Of Film, 1941's Citizen Kane Is My Favorite Film. |
