Awesome Movie

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"A woman can fool a man, but she has a difficult time putting anything over on her own sex." So says the veteran vixen Betty Compson as she realizes the designs that old flame Sidney Blackmer has on the newcomer to the female game, Irene Ware, scheming to trap a rich man, but naively believing that Blackmer isn't interested in her. He knows she's an opportunist but doesn't mind, watching her flirt with the pompous or foolish rich men cavorting around the pool of a fancy resort. This is society comedy poverty row style, and there certainly is a lot of that. In addition to Ware, Blackmer and Compson, there's sweet looking little old lady Lucy Beaumont as Ware's seemingly innocent companion. There's all sort of eccentric types, usually the unknowing barbs of Compson's cracks, and the men from Ware's past who expose her to a bootlegger in society who is as crass as she is sweet and innocent on the surface. Call this a scheming Cinderella story where not so noble intentions come out rewarded. As screwball comedies began taking late depression era potshots at the silly idle rich, this one took a more serious view with a sly wink, but missing the wackiness that has made the screwball comedy genre a fan favorite today.

It so strongly reminded me of other plots that at time I wasn't sure what I was watching. "Pygmalion", "My Fair Lady," "The Palm Beach Story," "The Lady Eve." Irene Ware, a former Miss United States in real life, is fired from her promising job as a waitress and runs into a drunken but avuncular Sidney Blackmer, a former rich man who is now in hock up to his neck. This was shot in 1934, mind you, and there was a depression.They concoct a scheme. Blackmer will sell shares in a phony product and with the money they will buy a new wardrobe for Ware, establish themselves at the posh Clifton Hotel, palm Ware off as a society girl only recently released from a convent school with time off for good behavior, marry her to one of the millionaires, and Ware and Blackmer will divide the proceeds.Now, a standard romantic comedy plot would have Blackmer and Ware falling for each other and getting married, hypothetical imperatives be damned. But this story introduces a young, more eligible husband for Ware, Russell Hopton. He has a little money too, but he's hardly society. He runs a trucking company and is a former bootlegger.In my humble view, it was a mistake to introduce Hopton. He sounds like a gangster and looks like a cartoon villain out the Dick Tracy comic strips. He seems to have little in the way of jaw or chin, so the whole of his head sits on his maxilla which, in its turn, sits directly on his shoulders. He can't act either.Oddly enough, Sidney Blackmer delivers a quiet performance full of a kind of fumbling wit. He gets some good lines. When he had the right role -- a seriocomic one, as in "Rosemary's Baby" -- he did much better than he did as a straight villain.Irene Ware is exceptional, especially for a former beauty queen, because she isn't staggeringly attractive. What she does have is a native but masked sensuality. Her features are plain and pure, a dish of vanilla ice cream, but the way she carries herself and the slender figure she displays in a bathing suit make it possible to grasp why she might win a beauty contest. Her performance may be the best in the movie.The woman that Blackmer finally marries, Betty Compson, is nearer Blackmer's age and has been in love with him for years. She has a heart of gold. If only her voice didn't sound like the crushing of a multitude of egg shells.It's worth a viewing. Not two viewings.

A just fired girl chasing her paycheck meets a broke drunk millionaire on a bridge. He thinks shes going to jump, like he had been intending.She takes him home to his house where they get to talking. Its decided that he will get money together, teacher her to be a lady and then set her out to his rich friends to find a husband and then pay him finders fee. Odd ball romantic(?) comedy drama is decidedly not your run of the mill Hollywood movie. Rarely has a "comedy" been so cynical. Love, even when you find it still is no match for money. The cast is excellent and keeps you watching even when you can't believe how mercenary everyone on screen is. The script is very good with lots of witty lines and exchanges (the early cooking scene is excellent). the script also provides some really good characters that are not the usual assortment of people you find in films of this, or any other sort. If there is a down side its that perhaps the film is much too cynical. There is something about its tone that while amusing prevents you from completely connecting. Certainly its worth a look since odds are you'll not find a film with a similar attitude for 40 years. 6 or 7 out of 10 depending on your mood.

The plot for this movie has been used numerous times before and numerous times since. It's the old 'poor girl' passes herself off as 'rich girl' in order to meet 'rich guy' who in turn is not so rich himself and is hoping to meet a 'rich girl' of his own.It was nice to see Edward Gargan in one of his usual slow witted character roles. This time around he plays a truck driver who has a very short almost non existent fuse which offsets some of his geniality.The early scenes between Irene Ware and Sidney Blackmer have some nice repartee particularly in the cooking scene. However most of the later dialogue in the film is fairly flat and standard.It all wraps up in about 64 minutes so you won't invest a whole lot of time or effort into seeing this through to the end.