Review of A Notorious Affair

Basil Rathbone, sporting an inconsistent supposed-to-be-Italian accent, is a struggling violinist caught between heiress Billie Dove and countess Kay Francis in this not terribly interesting early-talkie soap, directed stodgily by Lloyd Bacon. Dove, a silent-screen beauty who comes off reasonably well beneath the mic, marries him to the consternation of her rich, stuffy family, and as he quickly becomes the world's greatest violinist, he pursues an affair with Francis, who's beautiful, lively, and sumptuously dressed. He's a temperamental cad, so you're not really rooting for him to end back up with Billie, especially as she's being pursued by old beau Kenneth Thomson, who becomes Rathbone's doctor after he acquires some sort of Movie Disease. The whole thing would make more sense if Rathbone ran off with Francis and Thomson reunited with Dove, and the screenplay has to contort itself ludicrously to provide a Happy Ending. It's not especially compelling, but hey, some beautiful clothes, it's over in under an hour and a quarter, and you can marvel at how quickly Rathbone became a better actor.