When Halliwell Hobbes describes his and Beryl Mercer's son as a wastrel sad to say he was proved right. The son who grows up to be played by Robert Montgomery is just that. It's a term of the century before the last and more used in the United Kingdom than here. I wish it was in more usage now because it describes many that I've known.Those people also don't have the good luck to have a happy ending fall from right out of the blue as is in Lovers Courageous. We get to see a bit of Montgomery's life going from place to place and occupation to occupation never 'finding himself'. Eventually he meets and charms Madge Evans in South Africa, daughter of British admiral Frederick Kerr. They marry without his approval and live a life of not so genteel poverty.I've known a few in my life so that this kind of movie about a wastrel won't find a friendly audience with me. Nevertheless the cast does a fine job.But I doubt you'll believe the ending either.

The dichotomy in reviewer assessments of Lovers Courageous has, I fear, more to do with the reviewers' life experiences than the film. Those that waited for that special someone, knew almost immediately that he or she was the one, spent their whole life thinking of no one but that person and that total commitment was reciprocated, arguing only over "gift of the magi" details, surmounting family difficulties through togetherness and basically living a wonderful life, know this film is true and expresses itself beautifully. If this is corny, well, life can sometimes be corny if you're very, very lucky.Montgomery and Evans are perfectly matched and show true love seldom achieved in film. Young's portrayal is subtle and effective until the final resolution. For once Kerr isn't his usual bumbling good heart mumbling inanities under his breath; he's a perfect nasty. With few exceptions the rest of the cast performs well. The dialog is exceptionally crisp. I had wished that the depths of despair weren't quite so deep; it descended into unfortunate melodrama, making the end too pat. All the same, it brought back memories of finding true love. For that I'll always be thankful.

It's very stagy. Clearly, it was a play. Though opened up, with flashbacks and scenes on lakes, it is like a play -- and a very stodgy one, at that. Indeed, it's like what we imagine the Robert Montgomery character's play would be, based on the few lines we hear.Montgomery is supposed to be English. His American accent is explained by his going to Canada and then South Africa -- if one views that as an explanation. Madge Evans was a charming performer but one wouldn't know that from her performance here. Beryl Mercer comes through well, as Montgomery's mother. And Roland Young, in a minor role, is good. Was he ever not good? The problem with this is that it's hard to believe the trajectory of Montgomery's life as it's portrayed. It's hard to believe he suddenly became a fine playwright. And it's quite difficult indeed to care about the romance between him and Evans. When many people think of early sound movies, they think of grandiose fluff like this. And that's a shame, since there are so many gems to be mined.

This screen adaptation of a play by Frederick Lonsdale about a young man who has spent his life wandering about the globe, collecting experience so he can become a playwright -- Robert Montgomery -- and the young aristocrat who marries him and is disinherited for her taking up with a wastrel - Madge Evans -- creaks pretty badly as it goes through its predictable plot twists. Director Robert Z. Leonard and the unnamed screenwriters make some effort at opening up the script, but still wind up having the leads conduct most of their earnest dialogue in two-shots. Also, frankly, Robert Montgomery is miscast. He never quite managed to do accents convincingly and he seems overwhelmed, although he carries out his self-effacing courtship of Miss Evans most charmingly.Nor do most of the other actors manage to be more than straw men. The two exceptions are -- unsurprisingly -- Beryl Mercer, who made a specialty in kindly, clueless mothers -- her best known role was Lew Ayres' mother in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT -- and the always delightful Roland Young, who gets to play someone with brains and heart, who comes up with most of the plot twists here.All in all, not a movie to search out unless you are a fanatic for any of the personnel involved.