Joan Crawford is the New York dancer who marries into a sophisticated Wisconsin farming family and through no fault of her own causes a fair bit of trouble. Her bitter sister-in-law, (Fay Bainter, always a good bitch), resents her while her brother-in-law, (Robert Young), finds himself falling in love with her. Only Young's too-good-to-be-true wife accepts her on her own terms."The Shining Hour" is a little-seen and little-known Frank Borzage picture with a strong script and a host of fine performances. I've always thought Crawford was at her best around this time, fresh and natural and not at all stiff and Sullavan was her usual tremulous self and no-one could do tremulous quite the way Sullavan could. As the brothers both Young and Melvyn Douglas, (the one Crawford marries), are excellent. Of course, what really raises this film out of simple melodrama is Borzage's astute direction, finding both comedy and tragedy in the material, making this something of an underrated and lost gem.
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