I liked this fine melodrama despite Joan Crawford and Gene Raymond not being among my favorite actors. Crawford's mother (Helen Ware) is a servant in Franchot Tone's household, and she is also a maid, but has to leave after she berates Tone in front of all the dinner guests for bad mouthing Raymond, who was caught stealing. She leaves with Raymond for New York City where they hope to start a new life together, intending to marry the next day. Love, apparently, has no boundaries. They find a cheap rooming house after befriending showgirl Jean Dixon and get a room where she lives. This film was released less than two months before the Production Code was strictly enforced, after which you would never see an unmarried couple sharing the same room. The scene fades to black after they kiss passionately. Of course, while Crawford is looking for a job, Raymond is enticed by singer Esther Ralston to join her act, so he never meets her at the marriage license bureau as planned. Eventually, Crawford meets and marries multi-millionaire Edward Arnold, an alcoholic to end all alcoholics. In a 1948 interview, Arnold said this was his favorite role to that date. I can't fault his acting, but his character was very irritating. Even alcoholics have periods where they are not so pie-eyed they can't walk without staggering. Meanwhile, Tone, who is Arnold's lawyer, thinks Crawford married Arnold for his money and knows she still carries the torch for Raymond, and Tone despises her for it. She admits she didn't love Arnold and it was a marriage of convenience. But when she cures Arnold of his alcoholism, Tone has a newfound respect for her. So when Crawford learns Raymond was dumped by Ralston, and she tells Arnold of her love for Raymond and asks him for a divorce, presumably without a settlement, she asks Tone to help her find Raymond, which he does. He's ill with tuberculosis, so Tone pays to get the best doctors to try to cure him.
The film is entertaining despite little of it ringing true. The way Crawford behaved at times, I expected to see a halo over her head, so Crawford fans should love the film. It also helps to know that Crawford and Tone were married in real-life the year after this film was released. There is some pleasure from the music on the soundtrack, including the very popular songs "All I Do is Dream of You" and "After You've Gone," the latter performed in a jazzy version by Candy Candido and Gene Austin. I would have liked more comedy relief, since I didn't think Arnold's actions were particularly funny. The one scene that made me laugh involved two motorcycle cops and a taxi driver, and a tip that Crawford tries to give the cops for bringing the passed-out Arnold home. Otherwise, I never even cracked a smile.
The film is entertaining despite little of it ringing true. The way Crawford behaved at times, I expected to see a halo over her head, so Crawford fans should love the film. It also helps to know that Crawford and Tone were married in real-life the year after this film was released. There is some pleasure from the music on the soundtrack, including the very popular songs "All I Do is Dream of You" and "After You've Gone," the latter performed in a jazzy version by Candy Candido and Gene Austin. I would have liked more comedy relief, since I didn't think Arnold's actions were particularly funny. The one scene that made me laugh involved two motorcycle cops and a taxi driver, and a tip that Crawford tries to give the cops for bringing the passed-out Arnold home. Otherwise, I never even cracked a smile.