The Animal Kingdom (1932)
Publisher Tom Collier has built an unconventional life with the painter Daisy Sage, but marries the polished, wealthy Cecelia instead. As his wife steers him toward respectable society and away from his struggling literary press, Tom comes to see which woman is really his partner and which is his mistress.
Adapted from Philip Barry’s stage comedy, the film let Leslie Howard repeat the role he had originated on Broadway. The Animal Kingdom is valued now as a frank pre-Code look at marriage and money, notable for casting Myrna Loy against type as the conventional society wife rather than the free-spirited “other woman.”
Background
The Animal Kingdom was directed by Edward H. Griffith and adapted from Philip Barry’s Broadway play. It stars Leslie Howard as Tom Collier, a publisher who has built a loose, unconventional life with the painter Daisy Sage, played by Ann Harding, before marrying the wealthy Cecelia, played by Myrna Loy. The film is a comedy of manners about class, marriage and the pressure to conform. It was released in 1932 by RKO, and it is an early example of Myrna Loy playing the sophisticated society roles that became her trademark.
What to watch for
Pay attention to the dialogue, which follows Barry’s play closely and depends on witty exchanges between characters who think they understand one another. Howard’s Tom is caught between two women, and much of the film’s comedy comes from his indecision. Harding gives the picture its emotional core, while Loy’s Cecelia is a cool, controlled presence. The sets and costumes reflect the upper-middle-class world the story is set in. Notice how much of the drama is conveyed through conversation rather than action, which is typical of early sound adaptations of stage plays.
