In early 1931, Dance, Fools, Dance became the first time Hollywood legends Joan Crawford and Clark Gable worked together. Apparently audiences liked what they saw, as the Crawford/Gable duo returned at the end of 1931 with Possessed.

Marian Martin (Crawford) lives in Erie, Pennsylvania and works in a factory. Fellow working-class stiff Al Manning (Wallace Ford) hopes to marry her, but Marian dreams of a life outside this blue collar setting.

One day Marian sees wealthy Wally Stuart (Skeets Gallagher) on a train that passes through town and he invites her to see him in New York. She follows up on this dream and ends up in love with lawyer Mark Whitney (Gable), though this may not become the fantasy life she envisioned.

When I watched Fools a few years back, I thought Gable and Crawford demonstrated good chemistry but she overacted relentlessly. I chalked that up to all the time she spent in silent films prior to Fools, whereas the more natural Gable came into 1931 with less experience.

Crawford proves substantially more impressive in Possessed, as she manages to avoid the hammy pitfalls of her Fools performance. Not that she doesn’t still lean big at times, but Crawford’s turn seems more in keeping with the era’s standards and not as wild-eyed as in Fools.

Crawford and Gable become the primary attraction here, and almost the only attraction. Actually, the supporting actors add flair to the proceedings, so I can’t fault the cast for the movie’s concerns.

The basic blandness of the story turns into its biggest weakness. I find no fault with the barebones of the narrative, as the tale of a gold-digger who gets what she wants but regrets it shows potential.

Unfortunately, Possessed tends to plod as it works through its plot and character points. None of the roles seem especially intriguing and the flick unfolds in an oddly dull and lifeless manner.

At only 77 minutes, Possessed also comes across as strangely padded. We get more than a few superfluous scenes that add nothing to the experience.

Crawford and Gable boast enough charm to keep us with Possessed. However, the movie seems too directionless and inert to succeed.

Possessed appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Expect a generally solid image for a 95-year-old movie.

Sharpness usually fared well. A few shots came across as a little ill-defined, but the image stayed mostly distinctive and concise.

I saw no problems with jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent. Grain seemed fairly natural and the film lacked obvious print flaws.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, and low-light scenes demonstrated positive clarity. Overall, the image held up well over the years.

As for the DTS-HD monaural soundtrack of Possessed, it never stood out as great. However, it seemed more than acceptable when I considered its age. <

Speech occasionally showed some edginess. However, those moments occurred infrequently, and the lines always remained intelligible.

Effects remained well within the realm of acceptability for their age and only showed minor distortion. Music lacked much dynamic range.

No issues with background noise manifested during the film. Nothing here excelled but the track worked fine for something from 1931.

The disc boasts two shorts circa 1931. We get Love Tails of Morocco (16:21) and Bosko the Doughboy (7:00).

Part of the “Dogville” series of live-action reels, Tails shows a bunch of pooches who explain why they joined the French Foreign Legion. I can’t help but fear that the filmmakers used less than humane methods to get the dogs to “act”, but some comedic value ensues nonetheless.

Doughboy takes Mickey Mouse ripoff Bosko to the battlefield in WWI. Bosko never caught on for a good reason, and this becomes a forgettable cartoon.

As a story of a woman who appears to get everything she wants but not quite as she imagined, Possessed comes with potential. However, the end product tends to meander and lack bite. The Blu-ray brings appealing picture and audio along with two bonus shorts. The actors help carry Possessed but they can’t make it better than mediocre.