If you like watching people make *really* bad life choices while wearing 1930s hats, you'll probably get a kick out of this. It’s for anyone who misses the era of movies where everyone spoke like they had a secret, but if you want something fast-paced, just stay away.
It’s a Pre-Code movie, which means it’s way more honest about stuff like pregnancy and 'sin' than movies were just a few years later. You can feel the freedom they had before the censors really clamped down on everything. 🔓
Sylvia Sidney plays Patricia. She has these huge, sad eyes that seem to take up half the screen whenever she's thinking about her mistakes.
She’s in love with Dan, played by Phillips Holmes. Dan is... well, he's kind of a jerk who looks like he's made of porcelain.
He leaves her right when things get serious. Like, he literally just vanishes to go study abroad or something while she’s dealing with the reality of being a 'fallen woman' in 1931.
I noticed that the college scenes at the start feel incredibly fake. Nobody is actually studying; they’re just leaning against pillars and talking about 'life' in that very dramatic, old-timey way.
There is a scene where Bing Crosby and The Rhythm Boys just show up. They sing a song, everyone dances, and it feels like the movie accidentally fell into a musical for five minutes. 🎤
It’s actually quite jarring. One second she's crying about her future, the next second Bing is crooning and everything is fine.
Then things get heavy. Patricia gets pregnant and Dan isn't around, so she marries the 'safe' guy, played by Norman Foster.
You can tell she hates it. The way she looks at her new husband during dinner is almost painful to watch because she’s so clearly somewhere else.
The movie is a bit clunky with its sound, which happens alot with these early talkies. You can almost hear the actors standing perfectly still near the hidden microphones so the audience can hear them.
It reminds me a bit of the vibe in
And the Children Pay, where the drama just feels heavy from the very first frame.
One thing that bugged me was how the 'lover' Dan comes back later. He just strolls back into the picture like he didn't ruin her life and expects everything to be the same.
And Patricia? She’s still into him. It makes you want to reach into the screen and shake her for being so silly.
*Why do we do this to ourselves?*
The lighting in the later scenes is actually pretty good. It gets all moody and dark once the college fun is over and the 'real world' sets in.
It’s not as weird as
Felix Puts It Over, but it has that early 30s experimental feel where they weren't sure if they were making a play or a movie.
There’s a moment where a character stares at a door for way too long. I think the director forgot to yell cut, or they just really wanted us to look at the woodwork.
Or maybe they just wanted us to feel the *emptiness* of the room. 🕳️
The dialogue is very 'theatrical.' People don't just talk; they *proclaim* things to the ceiling.
'Oh Dan, why must it be this way?' That kind of thing happens every ten minutes.
I think I liked it more than I expected to, even if the plot is basically a soap opera with better acting.
It's definitely more interesting than
The Love Piker, mostly because Sylvia Sidney is just so much better than the script she's given.
She has this way of trembling her lip that makes you forget the plot is kinda thin. She’s carrying the whole movie on her shoulders.
You should watch it if you're home on a rainy Tuesday. It’s got that specific kind of gloom that feels cozy if you're in the right mood.
Don't expect a happy ending. 1931 wasn't really big on those for women who 'made mistakes,' even before the code.
The print I saw was a bit grainy, which actually helped the mood of the darker scenes. It felt more like a memory.
The ending comes up fast. Like the movie just ran out of film and decided to stop right there in the middle of a thought.
It’s messy. It’s dramatic. It’s very 1931. I still can't get over those hats, though. They look like little buckets upside down on their heads.
Overall, it’s a weird little time capsule. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s *human* in a way that modern movies sometimes forget to be.
Also, keep an eye out for the background extras during the party scenes. Half of them look like they have no idea where the camera is. It’s great.
