Bachelor Apartment (1931) really stars Lowell Sherman as Wayne Carter, the owner of the apartment, which comes equipped with hot and cold running women. One evening, while his is entertaining a recent conquest, Helene Andrews (Irene Dunne) arrives, looking for her younger sister. Turns out, Carter's manservant has enticed the girl there, pretending to be the wealthy Carter. Attracted to the out-of work Helen, he offers her a job in his organization - and help sister Lita (Claudia Dell) get a chorus job. The course of true love does not, of course, run smooth. We had seen Lowell Sherman before - playing the drunken director in What Price Hollywood? We found him a lot more believable there, than as a roue being pursued by an endless number of women. WHY they found him so attractive, was beyond us. Our conclusion - he is quite wealthy, though that did not explain the constant presence of Agatha Carraway (Mae Murray), his former lover, who is now married and eager to restart their affair. Either he is the world's greatest lover, or something else is going on here. Regardless, the film, as a result, is very risque, amusingly so. We particularly enjoyed the scene where Helene appears in a bathrobe to protect Carter from Agatha's irate husband. The costuming, especially Dunne's business clothing is quite impressive. The wardobe for Murray is very over-the-top, but it perfectly matches her rather loud persona. It is worth noting that our star, Lowell Sherman is the director here as well. While not a great film, this is a fun one, and is worth a view. Certainly an opportunity to see Dunne at the start of her impressive career is always welcome. And while Sherman is not our idea of manly beauty, he is an amusing actor. Here's a scene to whet your appetite:
We'll be starting a number of Constance Bennett movies over the next few weeks. The first is What Price Hollywood? (1932) in which Ms. Bennett plays would-be actress Mary Evans. The film opens with an unseen woman looking through a magazine. The ads show us just what the stars use to make themselves beautiful. The woman who is looking at the magazine is using the stockings, and makeup that the ads recommend. The camera pulls back to show a our heroine, who is living in a tiny apartment, with a Murphy bed. No star she, just a simple waitress waiting for her big break.
That night at work, she befriends director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman), a good man, but one with too large an affection for alcohol. He reluctantly agrees to help Mary, but her stiffness and inexperience is evident; he decides to recast the role with someone else. The next day, Mary convinces him to give her one more chance. And thus, America's Pal is born - Mary Evans becomes a star. Certainly, this is so close to A Star is Born as to be the original source material for the 1937 Janet Gaynor film. But, we understand from the TCM commentary, no credit was given by either this film, nor the Judy Garland film in 1954, to this lovely movie (the former was produced by David O. Selznick, and the latter was directed by George Cukor, the producer and director of this film). For those of you familiar with the later films, take a look at this clip, which is very reminiscent of something that occurs in both of the later versions:
And a wonderful film it is! Several scenes are especially worth mentioning. The opening scene we described above is one. Here is a clip from that, which contains a small tribute to the man who would become the King of Hollywood, Clark Gable:
Another, is the scene in which Mary, having been fired from her first acting job by Max, goes home and spends the night practicing her lines. Ms. Bennett is just fabulous as she stubbornly attempts to master her craft.
We should also tip our hat to the male lead for this film - Neil Hamilton, best known to a generation as Commissioner Gordon in the 1960's television show, Batman. As children of the Batman generation, it was fun to see Mr. Hamilton in a totally different (and much younger) role.
