Today We Live (1933)

Set during WWI, a British aristocrat (Joan Crawford) falls in love with an American (Gary Cooper) although she's promised to her childhood sweetheart (Robert Young). Based on the short story TURNABOUT by William Faulkner and directed by Howard Hawks (HIS GIRL FRIDAY). A stinker! Faulkner himself is credited as providing the "dialogue" for the film though the screenplay is credited to Edith Fitzgerald and Dwight Taylor. There are two action sequences which are okay and where Hawks seems to have made an effort whereas the romantic slush is cringe inducing. Crawford was fine playing stenographers and shopgirls but whoever thought of casting her as an English aristocrat had a perverse sense of humor. She and Cooper don't ignite any sparks and their on screen romance lacks credibility (they've barely exchanged a few words before they declare their love for each other). Robert Young isn't bad at all except when he has to play drunk scenes where he's just awful. I don't think even the Hawks auteurists can make a case for this one! With Franchot Tone as Crawford's brother (they would marry a few years later) and Roscoe Karns.