The Strange Case of Clara Deane Review: Dusty, Silly Melodrama

You should probably skip The Strange Case of Clara Deane unless you have a real soft spot for those dusty, ultra-sappy 1930s melodramas. It is a movie made for people who want to have a good cry over a cold cup of tea on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

If you hate slow, theatrical acting and plots that don't make much sense, you will absolutely hate this. 😭

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Strange Case of Clara Deane (1932) through its definitive frames.

The Plot is Kind of a Mess but in a Fun Way

So, Clara (played by Wynne Gibson) is this sweet dress designer who marries this guy she thinks is a respectable insurance agent. Turns out, he is actually a total crook and gets her dragged into a robbery without her even knowing what is happening.

She gets sent to the slammer for fifteen years, which seems incredibly harsh given she didn't do anything, but hey, that's pre-code cinema for you. Before she goes in, she has to give up her baby daughter for adoption.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Strange Case of Clara Deane (1932) through its definitive frames.

The scene where she hands over the baby is so fast it's almost funny. It feels like she just handed her kid to some random people who happened to be walking past the jail gates.

The Great Time Jump

Then we jump fifteen years into the future. Clara gets let out of prison and she looks... well, they basically just put some white flour in her hair to make her look "old" but she still moves like a twenty-year-old.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Strange Case of Clara Deane (1932) through its definitive frames.

She starts looking for her daughter, but this police inspector played by Dudley Digges keeps trying to stop her. His reasons are pretty dumb, honestly, but the movie treats it like some huge moral dilemma.

It reminds me a lot of how they handled fallen women in The Red Kimono, though that one had a bit more teeth. Clara Deane just feels like a giant sponge soaked in tears.

Things I Noticed While Watching

• The baby in the early scenes is definitely a bundle of towels in some shots. I swear it didn't move once.
• Pat O'Brien shows up as a detective and talks so fast you'd think he had a train to catch.
• There is a scene where a guy is holding a teacup and his hand is shaking so bad the tea is literally splashing out. I don't think that was acting, the poor extra just looked terrified.
• The music is incredibly loud, like they wanted to make sure you knew exactly when to feel sad.

Is it actually good?

Not really, but it has that weird charm that only old movies from this era have. It's short, too, which is a blessing because if this went on for two hours I think I would have lost my mind.

If you like old black-and-white films where people sigh dramatically and stare at the ceiling, give it a go. Just don't expect a masterpiece.