The Right of Way (1931)

The Right of Way is a pre-code melodrama from First National Pictures. It was made in 1930 but not released until 1931.

The setting is Quebec. Charley Steele (Conrad Nagel) is a very successful trial lawyer. He’s very much a cynic. He has just won a case but he is convinced that the man he defended was in fact guilty of murder. This just adds to Charley’s self-loathing. He combines self-loathing with self-pity and he deals with both these afflictions by getting drunk as often as possible, and staying drunk.

He is trapped in a loveless marriage with Kathleen (Olive Tell) which doesn’t help.

Adding to his woes is Kathleen’s worthless kid brother Billy. Billy is a spectacularly unsuccessful gambler. He’s also a pathetic weasel and a coward. Charley and Kathleen have come to his rescue countless times but on this occasion Billy has helped himself to the contents of Charley’s safe. The money he stole doesn’t belong to Charley, it belongs to a trust fund administered by Charley so this is going to cause Charley considerable embarrassment.

Charley’s attempt to get the money back ends disastrously.

The movie then changes gears abruptly. The setting shifts to the Canadian wilderness. Charley no longer knows who he is. He has a new life, of sorts. And a sweetheart. Rosalie Evantural (Loretta Young) nursed Charley back to life and they have fallen madly in love.

There are of course some major obstacles to their love, about which they as yet know nothing.

This is pure melodrama and melodrama is not only an unfashionable genre but a much despised one. Even worse it’s a seriously misunderstood genre. It has its own conventions, like any other genre. The conventions of other genres are taken for granted while the conventions of melodrama are a stumbling block for many viewers.

It’s odd that melodrama is looked down upon on the grounds that it is unrealistic and non-naturalistic while these same qualities are happily accepted in genres such as horror, science fiction, westerns and romantic comedies.

The Right of Way certainly relies a good deal on coincidence but coincidence is one of the conventions of melodrama.

There’s also plenty of over-the-top emotionalism.

The acting here is very much in the melodrama style. I don’t mind that but it bothers a lot of people.

Olive Tell’s performance as Kathleen is certainly exaggerated. Conrad Nagel is outrageously hammy but he’s a great deal of fun.

The exception here is Loretta Young. Her performance is very naturalistic and very assured. She’s also charming and gorgeous.

Somehow, despite their different acting approaches, Nagel and Loretta Young manage to get some decent romantic chemistry going.

The problem with this movie is not the melodrama or the creakiness (and it does have some of the creakiness associated with the talkies of 1929 and 1930). The problem is the moralising.

We think of the pre-code era as a time when movies were raising questions about traditional morality. They were generally not seeking to overturn traditional morality, merely suggesting that perhaps it need not be applied rigidly and mercilessly. It need not be all about punishment. It’s worth bearing in mind that this did not apply to all movies made during this time. The Right of Way has no doubts about where it stands. There can be no flexibility, no mercy, no forgiveness.

The Right of Way is difficult to recommend. It’s not exactly enjoyable viewing. If you’re expecting pre-code verve, sparkle and cheekiness you won’t find any here.

This movie is paired with another First National pre-code offering, The Truth About Youth, on a single disc in the Warner Archive series. The Right of Way gets an acceptable transfer.