The best thing about this Fox programmer is the multitude of pre-code stars all doing what they do best. There's Greta Nissen, most famously the star of "Hell's Angels" when it was conceived as a silent, when it was scrapped and Greta's heavy Norwegian accent couldn't really convince as an English bar maid, Jean Harlow won the role. Minna Gombell, always great as a toughie whether her heart was of flint or gold, Alan Dinehart, purveyor of oily smarm, Sally Blane, just as pretty as sister Loretta but not really having the steeliness to pursue a career, Louise Beavers - any film is better for her being in it, Hedda Hopper etc. Even the director, Kenneth MacKenna may not have had many directorial credits but at the time he was married to Kay Francis!!
Male lead John Boles, in 1931, was floundering. He had been bought to Hollywood in the first flurry of early musicals but now musicals were almost a dirty word and Boles hadn't yet found his niche as the stalwart, wooden type although this film was a help. In fact the only non star had the lead - Linda Watkins. She was pretty but just didn't have that special something (personality perhaps?) to separate her from the ingénue crowd. Being a Fox film it had a distinctly Continental look to it and even though a lowly programmer it contained special camera features, especially in introducing the night club sequences.
Marilyn is married to "Mr. Perfect" she thinks but Rex (surprise, surprise - it's Alan Dinehart) is anything but, in fact his business trip to Paris is only an opportunity to lavish gifts on his mistress. Marilyn and her mother decide to rent a Park Avenue apartment for 3 months (who knows why??) only to find that the occupant who has made an unexpected dash to Paris is Rex's lover!!! Instead of calling a divorce lawyer, Marilyn, now known as Sylvia Smith, takes the apartment hoping, with September's ((Beavers) help to get the low down on what makes "other women" tick!!
Now we are in familiar pre-code territory - "this ain't no sweetheart's underwear, this is a wife's underwear" with Sylvia surrounded by "back street babes" (Gombell, Blane, even Joyce Compton) who talk about "pearls as big as mothballs" and are eager to show their new pal some New York high spots. While at a party she meets Boyce Cameron (Boles), a gold mine owner who keeps gold diggers away with lots of technical engineering talk. He can see Sylvia is different and wants to take her away from her low companions and give her a normal life but when he presents her with a Park Avenue apartment .....she thinks he is like all the rest!!! - not that she would know what "all the rest" are like!! Suddenly Rex comes home broke or "financially embarrassed" after spending too much money on his petulant mistress (Nissen) but Marilyn has since found her backbone and the stage is set for a splendid showdown in Nissen's apartment. With September to back her up sparks fly!!!
With so many solid players the standard of this programmer is exceptionally high and it is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered!!
Male lead John Boles, in 1931, was floundering. He had been bought to Hollywood in the first flurry of early musicals but now musicals were almost a dirty word and Boles hadn't yet found his niche as the stalwart, wooden type although this film was a help. In fact the only non star had the lead - Linda Watkins. She was pretty but just didn't have that special something (personality perhaps?) to separate her from the ingénue crowd. Being a Fox film it had a distinctly Continental look to it and even though a lowly programmer it contained special camera features, especially in introducing the night club sequences.
Marilyn is married to "Mr. Perfect" she thinks but Rex (surprise, surprise - it's Alan Dinehart) is anything but, in fact his business trip to Paris is only an opportunity to lavish gifts on his mistress. Marilyn and her mother decide to rent a Park Avenue apartment for 3 months (who knows why??) only to find that the occupant who has made an unexpected dash to Paris is Rex's lover!!! Instead of calling a divorce lawyer, Marilyn, now known as Sylvia Smith, takes the apartment hoping, with September's ((Beavers) help to get the low down on what makes "other women" tick!!
Now we are in familiar pre-code territory - "this ain't no sweetheart's underwear, this is a wife's underwear" with Sylvia surrounded by "back street babes" (Gombell, Blane, even Joyce Compton) who talk about "pearls as big as mothballs" and are eager to show their new pal some New York high spots. While at a party she meets Boyce Cameron (Boles), a gold mine owner who keeps gold diggers away with lots of technical engineering talk. He can see Sylvia is different and wants to take her away from her low companions and give her a normal life but when he presents her with a Park Avenue apartment .....she thinks he is like all the rest!!! - not that she would know what "all the rest" are like!! Suddenly Rex comes home broke or "financially embarrassed" after spending too much money on his petulant mistress (Nissen) but Marilyn has since found her backbone and the stage is set for a splendid showdown in Nissen's apartment. With September to back her up sparks fly!!!
With so many solid players the standard of this programmer is exceptionally high and it is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered!!