Directed: Frank Lloyd

Year: 1929

Nominated: Best Director – Frank Lloyd

Plot in 25 Words: A framed man turns over a new leaf while in prison. He takes up a career in music and sings on the radio. Quite repetatively.

In My Opinion: I was really freaked out by the picture on the DVD case. The cartoon representation did not fill me with ease. I was quite nervous about what I was about to watch.

Turned out I was about to watch a performance of the title song ‘Weary River’. Not once, not twice but constantly. Oh my god. The first time I head it, I marginally enjoyed it. Richard Barthelmess has a quite pleasant voice, the song fits the tone of the film, about redemption and new starts, but after a few goes I was rightly sick of it! Although set in many different scenes and conditions, I believe they used the same recording each and every time.

The rest of the film was a bit messy and the plot seemed to be shoehorned between carbon copies of that damn song. I’ll be humming it and singing it in my sleep for weeks!

Star Performer: William Holden as the warden. Firm and straight-laced he rehabilitated his charges without coming over patronising. Truly believed him as a reformer, unlike the weak, pathetic warden of ‘Thunderbolt’.

Overall: My memories of this film will forever be haunted by that bloody song!