In 1823 Washington, an innkeeper's daughter (Joan Crawford) catches the eyes of five gentlemen who each will have a profound effect on her life. A naval officer (Robert Taylor), a senator (Melvyn Douglas) from Virginia, the Secretary Of War (Franchot Tone), a newspaperman (James Stewart) and President Andrew Jackson (Lionel Barrymore). You'd think a movie with this much star power would have something to recommend it but it's a dismal affair. Very loosely based on an actual incident, this Clarence Brown helmed costumer can't quite get a pulse going. Of all the movie queens of the 1930s, was there a star less suited to these period films than Crawford? Crawford's appeal was her very modern vitality which made her an audience favorite, particularly with female audiences. Flouncing around with her ruffles and ringlets here, Crawford merely looks like she wandered in from a rather dull costume party. The handsome Taylor brings a bit of youthful dash but he's killed off early in the film and the remaining gentlemen can't seem to drum up much enthusiasm except for Barrymore whose enthusiasm goes overboard into overacting. With Beulah Bondi as Mrs. Jackson, Louis Calhern, Alison Skipworth, Melville Cooper and Sidney Toler as Daniel Webster.
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