The Stranger's Return (1933)

Louise Storr (Miriam Hopkins) has recently divorced and she's decided to leave the big city to visit her Grandpa Storr (Lionel Barrymore) in the country. There she has a lovely time and reconnects with family...but she also ends up finding solace in the arms of a nice neighbor, Guy Crane (Franchot Tone). The only trouble is that Guy is already married to Nettie...though he and his wife seem to have little in common...far less than he and Louise.Despite the underlying conflict in this film is marital infidelity, this isn't exactly the overall tone of the film...nor is it a film endorsing this (like some Pre-Code films did). It's much more a nice slice of life sort of film and the sexual tension between Guy and Louise is just a part of this. However, this also makes it an example of the sorts of topics that you might have found in the Pre- Code days (up until mid-1934) where adultery was discussed in movies...and after it was rarely mentioned at all and when it was, it was severely punished.Overall, this is a very nice, meandering sort of picture. Very well acted and well worth your time. Barrymore, as usual, steals the show but the rest are also quite good.

The stranger in The Stranger's Return is Miriam Hopkins who newly divorced visits grandfather Lionel Barrymore's farm. While there she falls for the neighboring farmer Franchot Tone who is just slightly married to Irene Hervey. Therein lies the story.Barrymore is his usual cantankerous self who has survived most of his relatives including his own children and spouse. There's a whole lot of grasping relatives who'd like a piece of his considerable estate including that farm.This film really belongs to Lionel Barrymore who is going on all eight cylinders of curmudgeonliness. For once Franchot Tone is not in formal dress though he and Hopkins seem to lack a certain chemistry.I'd watch this for Barrymore.

Lionel Barrymore is wonderful as 85-year-old Grandpa Storr, crotchety old patriarch who's spent his life running the old family farm. Miriam Hopkins is equally enchanting as the granddaughter who arrives from the city to stay. Hopkins and Barrymore are just delightful as they strike up a fast friendship. "You know, I have a feeling you aren't quite as bad as you're painted," Hopkins offers in a charming early scene where the pair get acquainted sitting on a porch swing. "Who said I was bad?" Barrymore growls back—with a mischievous smirk and slightly raised eyebrow. Stuart Erwin is excellent as Grandpa's devoted if melancholy farm hand. And Franchot Tone is just right as the educated neighbor farmer, loyal to his family and farm although he is powerfully attracted by Hopkins' charm and sophistication and misses the university where he really should be teaching. Funny and poignant, the picture is full of endearing moments and simple yet memorable episodes. The threshing day lunch, for example—when a farmer at the crowded dinner table asks Hopkins for one more piece of pie, the result is hilarious and unforgettable.

A delicate film, plenty of little marvellous details. I do not know why we cannot watch this film more times on television, because it is, in my opinion, the best film that King Vidor ever filmed. And I could watch it again and again.