7/10
Strange Film
21 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This is a hard film to review. There is a lot to like and a few things to dislike in it. So lets break them down: The bad: 1: The parrot scene with the ugly black woman. The entire scene made me cringe. There was no benefit or reasoning behind this scene even being in the film. 2: The length of the film. It was only 69 minutes. There was a lot of story to tell and there simply was not enough time to tell it in. Stuff like the parrot scene, and not getting into depth David Slade's (Preston Foster) opposition to politicians and the newspapers was a major mistake. If you don't think the politicians and papers would have had a field day with him being involved with and spoilers ahead: Marrying a convicted felon like Nan Taylor (Barbara Stanwyck), and then you believe in Santa Claus. In addition, Stanwyck is almost always worth watching (Except "Walk On The Wild Side", a film without a single redeeming factor). So show us more about her (Like why she went from a preacher's daughter to being so rotten (Which is what they did in her next film "Baby Face")). The good: 1: Linda (Lillian Roth: She was really my favorite character, a person who was probably a lifer (Based on the fact she was in San Quentin before Nan got there and after she left), yet she never became a hater, and all she wanted was friendship from Nan. I usually detest singing in a film, but the scene (Spoilers ahead) of her singing to a photo of Dick Powell was well done. 2: Stanwyck: As usual I like her in this film, and in particular (Spoilers) when she punches out "Sister Susie" (Dorothy Burgess), for framing her over a letter. This is what you could have expected from Cagney. Also when Susie calls the cops for shooting Slade, and she makes her look pathetic by putting a "Do Not Disturb" sign over the keyhole where she was peeking, and this little exchange with Susie: Susie: Say, there isn't any punishment bad enough for you! Nan Taylor: Yeah? Well, being penned up here with a daffodil like you comes awful close. It is a strange film, because Roth & Stanwyck were so good, it could have been a classic, but the parts I disliked (Particularly the parrot scene) really were that bad, I had to deduct stars from it. 7/10.
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