Review of Sarah and Son (1930) by Silke B — 05 Oct 2011

The story of "Sarah and Son" offers nothing new. You can see that kind of story in hundreds of pre code-movies. But since "Sarah and Son" has Ruth Chatterton as the leading actress, this movie is different. She alone makes it memorable.

Sarah Storm (Ruth Chatterton with the most wonderful, heavy German accent), an Austrian Actress who tries to make it in the USA, marries her stage partner Jim (Fuller Mellish). Jim turns out lazy and not keen on work. So Sarah is responisble to feed her boy and her blow-fly of a husband. She decides to take her kid and leave her husband, but Jim is faster and sells his son to a rich couple and becomes a Marine himself.

Sarah is a broken woman without her son, and she never stops searching for him. After a while she finds Jim, deadly wounded and willing to tell her the name of the family, who bought her boy. Sarah now knows the truth, but rich people are powerful, they threaten her and offer to get her locked up as insane. The only person on her side, is the lawyer Howard Vanning (Frederic March).

Ruth Chatterton's fake, heavy German accent is wonderful. And she sings a famous German lullaby "Guten Abend, guten Nacht". I found her performance very touching, but maybe because my Mom and Gran used to sing that song for me. I wonder, if Ruth Chatterton performed that song herself?

In the final scene, Ruth Chatterton reminds me of Theda Bara. Yes, I said Theda Bara. When she stands there, with her long hair open, in a big robe, her eyes dark, big, desperate and piercing. She is small and nearly disappears in her robe, still she frightens everyone.