The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932) - Fun, messy Pre-Code gold digging

You should absolutely watch this tonight if you love Pre-Code movies where women treat rich men like personal ATM machines. If you hate early talkies where the actors look like they are shouting at a hidden microphone in a flower vase, you will probably despise it.

It is basically the blueprint for every single "how to marry a millionaire" story that came later. Only this one is much dirtier and way more fun. 🍾

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932) through its definitive frames.

The Plot (Or What Passes For One)

Three best friends—Jean, Polaire, and Schatze—are living in a fancy penthouse they definitely cannot afford. They spend their days drinking champagne and looking for rich suckers to pay the rent.

Joan Blondell plays Jean, and she is easily the best thing in the whole movie. She has this look on her face like she knows exactly how stupid every man in the room is.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932) through its definitive frames.

Enter Boris, a wealthy pianist played by David Manners. He makes a weird bet with Jean that he can make her actually fall in love with him, which feels like a terrible idea from the start.

Naturally, things get messy when Boris gets distracted by Polaire’s piano playing. Jean gets incredibly jealous, and the whole friendship starts to split at the seams.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932) through its definitive frames.

It is not quite as chaotic as Judy Forgot, but the sheer speed of the dialogue is something else. Some lines are thrown away so fast you almost miss them.

Small Things That Made Me Laugh

The sound design in these early 1930s movies is always a trip. At one point, a character pours a drink, and the sloshing noise is so incredibly loud it sounds like someone emptying a bucket into a bathtub.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932) through its definitive frames.

Also, the clothes are ridiculous. Joan Blondell wears this one hat that looks like a giant, velvet pancake sliding off her head. 🥞

Here are some other things I wrote down in my notebook:

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932) through its definitive frames.

• The "bet" makes zero sense: Why would Boris bet gold? Who even has casual gold bars lying around in 1932?
• Madge Evans' piano playing: She is clearly not playing that piano, her hands are just bouncing on the keys like she is trying to catch a fly.
• The butler has about three lines but steals every scene he is in just by looking deeply disappointed in everyone.

Why It Works (And Why It Doesn't)

The movie gets noticeably better once the girls stop arguing and start scheming together again. Their chemistry is the real anchor here, even when the plot gets a bit silly with the romance stuff.

If you have seen Shanghai Rose, you know how awkward these early sound dramas could get. This one mostly avoids that by just keeping everyone moving and talking at a million miles an hour.

The ending is incredibly sudden. It feels like the director realized they only had two minutes of film left and just decided to stop shooting.

But honestly? It is a great slice of pre-censorship Hollywood that does not care about being polite. 🍸