I can sum up in six words the reasons to see this movie: Lee Tracy, Lee Tracy, and Lee Tracy. He's in top form in this combination of melodrama and crime film. Unfortunately, despite some clever dialog, the plot of this pre-code is almost painful.
Molly Louvain (Ann Dvorak) is being pursued by hustler Nicky Grant(Leslie Fenton) and bellboy Jimmy Cook (Richard Cromwell), but she's preparing to marry a rich man who will take her away from a life as a cigar clerk. After being dumped by her rich boyfriend, she takes off with Grant.
Fast forward three years, and Louvain has had the rich boyfriend's baby, and Grant has gone from being a traveling salesman to a small time crook.
After a policeman is murdered, Molly finds herself hiding from the law. Complications ensue, none of which are really resolved in the end.
Dvorak wasn't much of an actress. She does the best she can with the script, which can't decide if she's a hard-boiled vamp or an innocent victim, sometimes changing direction within a scene. It's difficult to generate a lot of sympathy for Molly, since whenever she's faced with a decision, she automatically makes the worst one possible. Her best scene is one where she briefly flashes her assets while changing clothes, which may explain why her career hit the skids after the Production Code.
Fenton, Dvorak's real-life husband, is good in the role of sleazy crook Nicky Grant, the kind of role at which he excelled. Richard Cromwell's stilted, wooden delivery always drives me insane, and here is no exception.
But it's Tracy, as the journalist who is falling for Molly even as he tries to get the story of her capture, who is really the reason to see this film. He keeps the film watchable and entertaining, even through the train wreck of a script.
Molly Louvain (Ann Dvorak) is being pursued by hustler Nicky Grant(Leslie Fenton) and bellboy Jimmy Cook (Richard Cromwell), but she's preparing to marry a rich man who will take her away from a life as a cigar clerk. After being dumped by her rich boyfriend, she takes off with Grant.
Fast forward three years, and Louvain has had the rich boyfriend's baby, and Grant has gone from being a traveling salesman to a small time crook.
After a policeman is murdered, Molly finds herself hiding from the law. Complications ensue, none of which are really resolved in the end.
Dvorak wasn't much of an actress. She does the best she can with the script, which can't decide if she's a hard-boiled vamp or an innocent victim, sometimes changing direction within a scene. It's difficult to generate a lot of sympathy for Molly, since whenever she's faced with a decision, she automatically makes the worst one possible. Her best scene is one where she briefly flashes her assets while changing clothes, which may explain why her career hit the skids after the Production Code.
Fenton, Dvorak's real-life husband, is good in the role of sleazy crook Nicky Grant, the kind of role at which he excelled. Richard Cromwell's stilted, wooden delivery always drives me insane, and here is no exception.
But it's Tracy, as the journalist who is falling for Molly even as he tries to get the story of her capture, who is really the reason to see this film. He keeps the film watchable and entertaining, even through the train wreck of a script.