Cynara

Directed by King Vidor, Cynara follows Ronald Colman’s Jim Warlock as he cheats on his wife (Kay Francis’ Clemency) with a much younger woman (Phyllis Barry’s Doris) and is eventually forced to face the consequences. It’s a fairly standard premise that’s employed to uneven yet mostly watchable effect by Vidor, as the filmmaker, armed with a script by Frances Marion and Lynn Starling, delivers a soapy endeavor that benefits, on a rather consistent basis, from the top-tier efforts of its various performers – with the trio of stars offering up stellar work that goes a long way towards sustaining the viewer’s interest from start to finish. (It’s clear, too, that Henry Stephenson turn in a scene-stealing performance as Jim’s sardonic, cavalier friend.) And while the picture’s first half unfolds slowly and with few surprises, Cynara progresses into an unexpectedly compelling final third that’s triggered by a genuinely surprising plot development – which, despite the inclusion of a somewhat unreasonably upbeat finale, confirms the movie’s place as a predominantly solid melodrama that admittedly feels a little long even at just 75 minutes.

**1/2 out of ****