Mary Turner (Joan Crawford) is sentenced to three years in prison after being unjustly convicted of theft by her employer, store magnate Edward Gilder (Purcell B. Pratt). When Mary is released, she is unable to find a job, and so begins a blackmail racket with Joe Garson (Robert Armstrong). She has returned from prison with three goals in life: make money, stay out of prison, and revenge herself on Gilder. Gilder’s son Bob (Kent Douglass) presents an easy target for the last goal. This week, we’ll discuss Paid (1930). This is a film that begins well. It starts at a good pace; the story is clearly laid out, and the scenes flow easily from one to the other. And then we get to the end, which is slow to the point of inertia. Scene after scene tell the same story, and there is no good reason why we need to see every character questioned by the police over and over. The film manages to cover Mary's prison time concisely. We wished that the conclusion had done the same thing. Mary Turner uses the knowledge she gained about the law to fulfill her first two goals - to make money and stay out of jail. The schemes that Joe and Agnes Lynch
(Marie Prevost) devise work just this side of the law - have Agnes
become the paramour of an older, rich man; get plenty of evidence in the
form of love letters; inform said man that Agnes is under-age and
expects marriage. The money flows in, and they are technically not
blackmailing the man. Joan Crawford is excellent as a woman who goes from a poorly paid clerk, to an inmate who uses her prison time to read up on the law; to a sophisticated criminal. Her training in silent films serves her well; with just a hint in her eyes, she is able to convey all the information the audience needs.
Ms. Crawford badly wanted this part - she'd been making a career playing flappers, and she wanted a role with meat on it. But producer Irving Thalberg intended the part for his wife, Norma Shearer. Luckily for Ms. Crawford, Ms. Shearer became pregnant just before filming began, and Ms. Crawford actively pursued the role again, convincing Mr. Thalberg to give her a chance. She even insisted on doing the prison scenes without makeup to make them more convincing. It paid off - the success of the movie assured her of continued dramatic parts (TCM article). We've had mixed reactions to Kent Douglass (aka Douglass Montgomery) in two other films of his that we've viewed. This was his first film, and he is so much more comfortable here than he was in Waterloo Bridge(1931). Certainly, Bob is far less naive than Roy Cronin, and perhaps that is the issue. Bob is a more realistic character, and Mr. Douglass plays him that way. Sure, Bob is a tad innocent, but he deals with the issues forced on him truthfully and with determination.
Joe, however, is really more caricatured. He's a loose cannon and prone to violence, making him his own worst enemy. Quite frankly, he doesn't really have the nerve to be a swindler. Without Mary there to calm him, he would blow the scheme and end up in prison. Robert Armstrong does a decent job with the character but he's not given a lot to work with. Mr. Armstrong is best remembered as Carl Denham in King Kong (1933). He had served in the army in World War I, and returned to take up acting, first in London and then in silents. He transitioned to sound films easily, though he primarily worked in character parts, westerns, and B films. By the 1950s, he moved to television, appearing in shows such as Cheyenne, Have Gun - Will Travel, and Wagon Train. Married four times, his last marriage, to Claire Louise Frisbie lasted from 1940 until his death (from cancer) in 1973. His lifelong friend, Merian C. Cooper (the producer of King Kong) died 16 hours after Mr. Armstrong.
The McGuffin concerning the Mona Lisa in the latter half of the film is actually based on truth (AFI catalog). The painting was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and not found until 1913. That the painting now back in the museum is not the original (and that the real Mona Lisa is in some wealthy collector's private room) has been posited on more than one occasion.
This was the fourth version of Within the Law, the play on which the film is based. It started as a stage play on Broadway in 1912. In 1916, it was a short, starring Muriel Starr and a full length version starring Alice Joyce in 1917. This was followed by a 1923 version (with Norma Talmadge); in 1928, the play was revived on Broadway, with Claudette Colbert as Agnes. Following our version, the story was filmed again in 1939, with Ruth Hussey as Mary. The story was also done twice in India (as Intaquam (1969) and Pagabattina Paduchu (1971).
If you are willing to put up with the boring bits of the second act to see Joan Crawford, we recommend this - you can always fast forward through some of the police interrogation. In the meantime, we'll leave you with this scene from the film's opening:
We were in the mood for a comedy this week, so we selected Kansas City Princess (1934), starring Joan Blondell
as Rosie Sturges and Glenda Farrell
as her best friend, Marie Callahan. Though technically this film was released after the Code was being enforced, it has a lot of the earmarks of a pre-code film. For one thing, our two heroines are clearly on the make for rich husbands, at whatever cost, and they are usually up to hijinks that hint at the risque. The movie was filmed in the pre-code era, and originally set for a July release (making it on the borderline of Code enforcement), but Joan Blondell was pregnant (with son Norman S. Powell - the biological child of her first husband, George Barnes, but adopted son of second husband Dick Powell), so the studio opted to wait to release the film until October, after her child's birth. This TCM article gives a quick overview of the film's history. The plot is fairly simple. Rosie is seeing petty gangster Dynamite Carson (Robert Armstrong), much to the disgust of Marie, who thinks Rosie can get a more wealthy husband. Dynamite presents Rosie with an engagement ring, but Rosie isn't quite sure (thanks to Marie) that she WANTS to be married to Dynamite. So, she goes out on a date with Jimmy the Dude (Gordon Westcott), who appears to be wealthy, but, it turns out, is an even more petty thief than Dynamite. Jimmy proceeds to steal Rosie's engagement ring, which forces Rosie and Marie to skip town, rather than tell Dynamite how the ring was stolen. The girls disguise themselves as Outdoor Girls of America (shades of The Major and the Minor!) to board the train, then manage to get two men to pay their boat fare to Paris, after they get "stranded" on the ship. However, Dynamite is in hot pursuit, having discovered his ring in Jimmy's possession.
In one of the three films in which they appeared together, Glenda Farrell and Joan Blondell make a fun team. Their chemistry is good, and both can talk at the speed of light - Farrell especially is adept at the rapid dialogue, as noted in the article above. We were amused at the change in mores from the 1930s - our leads are manicurists, and have opted for that occupation because they are more likely to meet wealthy men (something that we are not as used to in the 21st century. The nail salon has become the haven for women, and not even wealthy women). We've noticed this before, primarily in Hands Across the Table, but it is still an interesting cultural phenomena.
Robert Armstrong's Dynamite is not the brightest bulb in the pack. It never occurs to him that Jimmy stole the ring from Rosie (and he lets Jimmy keep it!). He blithely assumes Rosie is engaged to him (he never really ASKS her to marry him - he just presents her with a ring, which he shoves on her finger). The biggest flaw in the character is that he just isn't really all that scary; he's more stupid and obsessed and tenacious. One rather think that the much smarter Rosie could deflect his interest without a great deal of effort, if she wanted to.
Before we go, a few words on two of the supporting players. We have Hugh Herbert
as Junior Ashcraft, a benign, albeit wealthy idiot who serves as a means to get Marie a wealthy husband. At least Herbert wasn't clapping his hands all the time (as you can tell, I'm not a fan). The other is Osgood Perkins as detective
Marcel Duryea. We had never seen Mr. Perkins before, so it was interesting to finally see the father of actor Anthony Perkins. He's good here, though a bit slimy (but he is supposed to be offputting). Perhaps we will get to see him again, though he had a very short film career - appearing in only 21 films before he died of a heart attack at age 37.
We leave you with a scene from the film. Gotta love the Pre-codes!
If you've seen Singin' in the Rain, then you are familiar with the comic take on the beginning of sound films. The Racketeer,
from 1929, is an actual example of this phenomenon. The film features Carole Lombard as a
former society lady named Rhoda Philbrook, who left her husband for a
violinist Tony (played by Roland Drew). The only problem is, Tony is a drunk
and now Rhoda is reduced to cheating at cards in order to get enough
money to live. While working the tables, she meets the racketeer of the
title, Mahlon Keene (Robert Armstrong). He is smitten with her, and
eventually offers her marriage. Thinking her life with Tony is over,
she assents. But then, her life gets complicated. By today's
standards, this is not a good film. It is static and somewhat boring at
times; resembling in some ways a filmed play (with a lot less
movement). BUT it is an excellent sample of how the survivors of
silents were coping with the advent of sound. Of course, the actors
don't move very much. The film is very talky, but you can see the
beginning of something great. Lombard is lovely in the lead, and seems comfortable in the new mode (though some vestiges of silent film acting
remain). Armstrong (who never has been a favorite of mine), is fine as
Mahlon. He is stiff, but much of that is probably the camera restrictions. While there is not a lot to in this film to make it appealing, do give
it a look. It is a window back into the past - a baby step in the growth
of a new industry. TCM had a very nice article about the film during a Lombard festival.
Search for Beauty is the final entry in the Pre-Code
Hollywood DVD set, and what a hoot. Buster Crabbe (of Flash Gordon and
Buck Rogers fame) plays an Olympic swimmer who becomes an editor for a
health magazine, only to discover the owners are interested in a
sex magazine. One interesting point is that the movie opens at the 1932
Los Angeles Olympics, showing Crabbe's character, Don Jackson, winning
the gold medal in the 400 meter swim meet - the event for which Crabbe
actually won his gold medal. His best girl is played by Ida Lupino
(appearing as a platinum blonde!). Both are hired by the magazine to
give it credibility, while the publishers fill the rag with salacious
pictures and stories.
There is lots of innuendo here; there are
also male and female swimmers in showers; beauties in bathing suits and
tight training outfits; ladies dancing on table tops in lingerie. In this musical number, you can get a glimpse of some of the milder aspects of the movie:
But parts of the movie are even a bit racier: there
are also naked male bottoms. Early in the film, we venture into the
locker room at the Olympics, to witness several young men running to
showers bare bottomed.
We found the combination of Buster Crabbe, as our
upright hero, and Robert Armstrong, as our loose-moraled publisher (his
character, Larry Williams, just got out of jail as a result of selling
non-existent oil wells) amusing. And, of course, it is never hard to
have James Gleason in a movie, even when his character is not quite on
the right side of the moral.
Finally, do watch to see the scene in
which Ida Lupino listens to two female writers relating the sensational
stories they have written for the magazine. These two look like they
should be teaching Latin, not writing salacious stories!
