The Rat (1937): A weirdly charming mess of high society and low-life

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on how much you love 1930s melodrama. If you’re into the whole 'reforming the bad boy' trope, you might have a good time. If you need your movies to make perfect sense or have tight pacing, skip this. It’s a bit of a relic, really.

Anton Walbrook is doing a lot of heavy lifting here as Jean. He’s got that effortless, slightly smug charm that makes you get why the ladies are into him. But the script? It feels like it was written by three different people who didn't talk to each other.

The whole slumming socialite angle with Zelia is so very 1937. You can practically hear the screenwriter trying to make it edgy. She wants to 'reform' him, which is just code for 'I’m bored with my rich friends.' It never felt fully earned.

There's this moment in the courtroom scene—it drags on for ages. I found myself looking at the background extras instead of the lead. One of them is just staring into the middle distance like he’s trying to remember if he left the stove on at home. It’s honestly more distracting than the actual plot.

I couldn't help but compare it to other stuff from that era, like the energy you get in The Three Musketeers, though they are obviously totally different beasts. This movie takes itself way more seriously than it should.

Some random notes:

• The lighting in the Montmartre scenes is actually pretty moody.
• I still don't get why Odile just goes along with everything.
• The dialogue gets really flowery whenever they get stressed out.
• There's a coat one of the ladies wears that looks incredibly heavy.

It’s not a classic, but it isn't a total disaster either. It’s just... there. It feels like a movie made to fill a seat on a rainy Tuesday. Maybe that’s enough for some of you. It was for me, mostly.