Already in only her second film and second year in Hollywood Hepburn displays all the assurance of a veteran. The plot is pure soap and Billie Burke, lovely though she looks, has an unfortunate habit of addressing her lines - especially in her initial scene with Colin Clive - to the middle distance whilst selecting a suitable expression to complement the dialogue. If Hepburn plays a pioneer of sorts - an aviatrix clearly modelled on Amelia Earhart - director Dorothy Arzner is also something of a pioneer standing virtually alone in a Hollywood dominated by male directors. For its time (1933) the exposition may have appeared slick; a group of 'bright young things' engaged in a treasure hunt are instructed by the hostess to find someone who has been faithful to his or her spouse for more than five years and someone who has never had a love affair. The first is easy for one of the guests who simply brings her father whilst someone else brings Hepburn; the age gap is as nothing and they embark on an affair doomed to end in tears. As I said it's world-class hoke but Hepburn makes it watchable.
Review of Christopher Strong
