The transition to sound was not easy for many actors and actresses but this was no problem for Tallulah Bankhead. She's fabulous, natural and totally mesmerising in this, turning a rather ordinary story into something compelling.
It's the ordinariness of the story which makes this so believable. OK, the characters are multi-millionaires living in a society which none of us ever knew but through natural acting and intelligent writing we believe what we're seeing. So often in films from this era, when the story revolves around the upper echelons of society, the characters are so unattached and remote from our own lives we can't relate to them. This is different; the characters are likeable.
Even Clive Brook, Mr Stiff Upper Lip himself who often comes across as cold, wooden and lifeless is someone we care about. He loses all his wealth in the Wall Street Crash but like most normal people, he just gets on with life - he doesn't become a gangster which some movies suggest was the only available choice! In addition to a realistic story and script, another reason this is better than average is because of director George Cukor. He admitted that when he made this, he really hadn't learned yet how to make pictures but even so, you can tell there's talent here.
What really makes this special is Tallulah. Perhaps you need to know a little bit about her to be enamoured by her? She was a fascinating young woman - one of London's "Bright Young Things." A hard drinking, chain smoking, drug using, sex obsessed wild child of the 1920s who hosted parties stark naked. But she was also campaigner for human rights and equality. Her reasons for going to Hollywood simple: to get enough money to pay off her massive gambling debts, to become rich and to have sex with Gary Cooper. All her goals were easily achieved.
In this, her very first talkie, she's a lot more subdued than in her other films and that adds to its authenticity and believability. She is also less of the explicit sex grenade which she played in her other films but nevertheless although she doesn't act provocatively or even dress in anything remotely sexy, she's naturally seductive. Both she and Cukor were very disappointed with this film and that led to some poor reviews slating her as not being suited to the movies but that was in the context of some very high expectations. This is neither a classic or an outstanding picture but it's so much better than a lot of lazy, copy-and-paste reviews suggest. It's not her best film but it's still a beautifully made, emotional and grown up melodrama.
