he was great at being vile , but this movie gave him the chance to show a bit more depth , fabulous actor !

+xx xx He was indeed one of greats. My favorite film of his is "The Man Who Laughs".

+Dave dvlaries As much as I admire some of Norma's dramatic work, I'm not sure she would have necessarily made it beyond this point in time as an actress, because her acting was melodramatic in nature, and that style was out of vogue by the 1940s. In her most 'dramatic' moments, which includes the climax of this scene, it looks and sounds like she's trying to channel Sarah Bernhardt (who is one of my all-time favourites) - but unfortunately, the tide was turning, and it would no longer be fashionable for an actress to emulate Bernhardt and other Classical European actresses (World War II seems to have had a lot to do with this!). This is also why Greta Garbo left the scene. Joan Crawford, on the other hand, was able to continue her career for another 32 years, because her acting style was always more natural than Norma Shearer's and Greta Garbo's (it can look heightened from today's perspective, but next to Shearer and Garbo, it looks very naturalistic). And yes, Norma's vanity was the final nail in her coffin. Rather than trying to grow into more mature roles like Mrs. Miniver, she wanted people to regard her as a sexy kitten - hence the embarrassments 'We Were Dancing' and 'Her Cardboard Lover'. It's like she was going through a midlife crisis from which she never recovered. Joan Crawford on the other hand, was more than willing to set aside her sexy kitten image if the role called for a more mature persona.

Last 2 films were huge flops and that hairstyle was awful but I think she woulda been fine if she accepted better roles. There were actresses older than her (Irene Dunne) or her around her age (Myrna Loy & Greer Garson) doing great work. Her biggest mistake was turning down Mrs. Miniver tho.