No Other Woman (1928) review: Dolores Del Río is the only thing keeping this afloat

If you are looking for a reason to watch this, it’s Dolores Del Río. That’s pretty much the whole list. If you aren't a fan of silent-era melodrama or you find the 'corrupting influence of the big city' trope exhausting, you’re going to have a hard time getting through this one. It’s a movie for people who like to watch faces and don't mind a plot that moves with the urgency of a Sunday afternoon nap.

Don Alvarado plays the husband, and he’s... well, he’s there. He has that very specific 1920s leading-man stiffness where it feels like his suit is two sizes too small and he’s afraid to breathe too deeply. When he gets rich off an oil strike, his character basically becomes a cardboard cutout of 'Man Who Is About To Make Bad Decisions.' He moves to the city and immediately falls for Paulette Duval’s character, who plays the 'Other Woman' with so much eye-rolling and cigarette-smoke-blowing that it’s a wonder she doesn't fall over.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of No Other Woman (1928) through its definitive frames.

There is this one scene in a nightclub that feels like it goes on forever. The extras in the background are doing this weird, rhythmic swaying that doesn't quite match the pace of what’s happening in the foreground. It’s one of those moments where you realize the director probably just told everyone to 'look busy' and then forgot about them. One guy near the left of the frame is just staring directly at the camera for a good three seconds before he remembers he's supposed to be eating.

The chemistry between Alvarado and Del Río is non-existent. You never really buy them as a couple, even in the early 'happy' scenes. She looks at him with this deep, soulful longing, and he looks at her like he’s trying to remember if he left the stove on. It makes his eventual betrayal feel less like a tragic fall and more like a foregone conclusion because he’s so clearly bored.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of No Other Woman (1928) through its definitive frames.

The pacing is a real problem in the second act. Once they get the money, the movie just sort of stops to show off the sets. The costumes are interesting, I guess—Duval wears a hat at one point that looks like it’s trying to escape her head—but it doesn't make up for the fact that nothing actually happens for twenty minutes. It reminds me of the drag in Head Winds, where you’re just waiting for the inevitable conflict to finally show up.

But then there are the close-ups of Del Río. The lighting in this movie is actually pretty decent, especially when it’s focused on her. There’s a shot where she’s sitting alone after finding out about the affair, and the way the light catches the tears in her eyes is genuinely stunning. It’s the only time the movie feels like it’s actually touching something real. For a few seconds, you forget how clunky the rest of it is.

The ending is exactly what you think it is. There’s a courtroom scene that feels incredibly rushed, like the writers realized they only had five minutes of film left and needed to wrap everything up. The judge looks like he wants to be anywhere else, which, honestly, I related to by that point.

It’s not a 'bad' movie, it’s just a very standard one. It lacks the weird energy of something like The Sin That Was His or the charm of Peck's Bad Girl. It’s just... fine. Watch it if you want to see Del Río at the height of her beauty, but maybe keep your phone handy for the middle section.