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6.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Christopher Strong remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have a thing for pre-code dramas or just want to see a very young Katharine Hepburn basically inventing the 'cool girl' archetype, then yes. Watch it. If you need your movies to have tight, fast-paced editing and zero melodrama, you’ll probably find this one a bit of a slog. It’s an old-school affair that demands you sit still and pay attention to faces rather than explosions.
There is this moment early on where Hepburn is just walking across a room in a moth costume. It’s bizarre. Like, truly odd. But somehow, she sells it. She looks like she belongs in that ridiculous outfit, which is exactly why she became a star. She doesn’t just act; she dominates the frame.
The chemistry between her and Colin Clive is… well, it’s complicated. Clive plays the married politician with a sort of weary sadness that makes you wonder why he’s even in the room. He’s the anchor, but she’s the one trying to fly off the map. It reminds me a bit of the tension you see in The Sporting Venus, where duty keeps getting in the way of what people actually want to do.
The pacing is a bit wonky. Sometimes, the scenes just stop. Not like a dramatic fade-out, but like someone forgot to write the ending of the page. You get used to it, though. It feels less like a polished product and more like a stage play that someone decided to film on a Tuesday.
Some of the supporting cast are clearly just there to fill space. You have these background players wandering around looking stiff, waiting for their next cue. It’s charming in a 'they definitely didn't have enough budget to hire better extras' kind of way. ✈️
The flying scenes are mostly just models and some shaky back-projection, but the feeling of the thing holds up. Hepburn makes you believe she wants to be up there in the clouds away from all the boring politicians and their stuffy dinner parties. She looks more at home in a cockpit than in a living room.
It’s not a perfect movie. Actually, it’s kind of a mess in the second half. But I’d take this kind of messy, star-powered drama over the sterile, clean stuff we get today any day of the week. At least here, you can see the effort. You can see the ambition.
It’s a strange little time capsule. Worth a look if you’re curious about how movies used to handle women with actual goals before they decided to just make them the girlfriend in every other picture. 🎞️
IMDb —
1930
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