Escape Me Never (1935)

Elisabeth Bergner is near her flighty best in this drama. She’s the down on her luck “Gemma” who encounters the aspiring composer “Sebastian” (Hugh Sinclair). Now whilst he becomes fond of her, he is far more fond of “Fenella” (Penelope Dudley-Ward) who just happens to be married to his brother “Caryl” (Griffith Jones). Given that he cannot wed the woman he wants to, “Sebastian” proposes to “Gemma” and they marry, but with rehearsals for his new ballet gathering steam, it is clear that he has little interest in her or her recently arrived baby. (This baby isn’t his, and is part of a largely undercooked element of the plot, but it becomes more relevant towards the end). With the lies starting to accumulate, "Caryl" becomes suspicious and it soon looks like some uncomfortable truths aren't far away. Bergner always reminded me of the archetypal pantomime “Dandini” character. Doey-eyed, nimble, petite and maybe even a little fragile and I found the fact that she kept her accent a positive testament to the fact that she didn’t allow her success to see her become subsumed into English language culture entirely. Sinclair also peddles along capably as the selfish husband, brother and cheater and the other pair in this messy quadrangle of misery foil well enough too. What it isn’t is predictable and there is a genuine sense of jeopardy about the conclusion til fairly late on in the proceedings. I also found the look of this production much more fluid - it mixes outdoor photography with the more theatrical indoor sets quite effectively and though it is unlikely to be a film that I will remember for long, it’s a perfectly decent watch.