Joan Crawford is her usual upwardly mobile self in this melodrama co-starring Clark Gable. She plays Marian Martin, a cynical small-town girl determining to give up the idea of marriage. Kept by wealthy attorney Mark Whitney (Gable), Marian assumes a new identity as a divorced woman of the world, but her newfound life of luxury comes crashing down when Mark decides to run in the gubernatorial race. A rival leaks her real identity and Marian is forced to defend herself at one of Mark's election rallies. Her story brings the crowd to tears, however, and a relieved Mark proposes marriage. Based on a 1920 play by Edgar Selwyn, Possessed had been filmed previously in 1924 as The Mirage, a vehicle for silent star Florence Vidor.
