Joan Crawford's first talkie Untamed (1929) is a loud, messy trip

You should watch this if you’re obsessed with Joan Crawford or if you just love seeing how awkward movies were when they first started talking. If you hate slow, stagey melodramas where people stand very still so the hidden microphones can hear them, stay far away. 🚩

The movie is called Untamed and Joan plays a girl named Bingo. Yes, Bingo. Like the game your grandma plays on Tuesday nights.

She’s been raised in the jungle by her dad, played by Ernest Torrence. He’s basically a grump with a heart of gold who dies and leaves her a massive oil company. 🛢️

The transition from the jungle to New York is so fast it’ll give you whiplash. One minute she’s wearing animal skins, the next she’s in a silk gown trying to figure out which fork to use.

Robert Montgomery shows up as Andy, the love interest. He has that very specific 1920s pencil mustache that makes him look like he’s about to sell you a faulty vacuum cleaner.

The chemistry is weird. He likes her, but he’s 'too proud' to marry a woman with more money than him. It’s the kind of plot point that feels very 1929 and very annoying today. 🙄

There is a scene where Joan sings 'Chant of the Jungle'. It is honestly the highlight because she’s doing so much with her eyes. Her voice is much deeper than I expected for a star of that era. It’s got this raspy, soulful quality that actually works.

The way she stares at the camera during that song is almost scary. It’s like she’s trying to burn a hole through the screen. 🔥

I noticed the sound quality is pretty rough in spots. You can tell they were still figuring out where to put the mics. Sometimes a character will walk three feet to the left and suddenly they sound like they’re shouting from a basement.

It’s a bit like the technical clunkiness you see in The Great Divide from the same year. Everyone is just trying their best not to trip over the cables.

The Shooting Scene (Wait, what?)

Okay, I have to talk about the ending because it’s insane. Bingo gets so mad that Andy won't marry her that she actually shoots him. In the arm. On purpose. 🔫

And then? They just... get together? He’s basically like, 'Wow, you really love me if you're willing to commit assault.' It’s the weirdest logic I’ve seen in a long time.

The 'jungle' sets look like they were made of cardboard and leftover houseplants. You can almost see the studio walls in the background of the outdoor shots.

It’s much less polished than something like The New York Peacock. There’s a certain cheapness to the production that I actually find kind of charming.

"I'm Bingo! I do what I want!" — not an actual quote, but that’s the vibe Joan gives off the whole time.

The supporting cast is mostly just there to look shocked. Gertrude Astor has a few moments but she’s totally wasted here. Same with some of the other 'civilized' New York types.

I kept thinking about The Silent Flyer while watching this. Not because the plots are similar, but because they both have that frantic, 'we don't know what we're doing' energy of early cinema.

The pacing drags heavily in the middle. There’s a lot of talking about feelings in wood-paneled rooms. It gets a bit repetitive after the third time Andy says he can't be a 'kept man'.

But then Joan will do something totally wild with her face and you’re back in. She was already a star, but you can see her becoming a Legend here. She’s working ten times harder than anyone else in the frame.

Is it a good movie? Not really. It’s kind of a mess. But it’s a fascinating mess. It’s a time capsule of a huge star figuring out how to use her voice. 🎤

I’d say it’s worth a watch on a rainy Sunday. Just don't expect it to make much sense. Especially the part where shooting someone leads to a happy marriage.

One more thing—the hats in this movie are incredible. Huge, floppy things that look like they have their own gravity. 👒

Anyway, if you like seeing the growing pains of Hollywood, give it a look. Just for the 'Chant of the Jungle' alone, really.