It's fun watching Kay Francis seduce Russian General Walter Huston in order to save real-life husband Kenneth MacKenna (a scientist) in this early talkie. MacKenna's life is at stake for insubordination (he'd rather cure people than kill them) -- Francis tries a ploy to get husband MacKenna pardoned. She becomes an entertainer at a local brothel (she even sings in her audition with Jobyna Howland). Francis gets real tough with Huston during his pursuit and interest in her. Her portrayal shows the complexity of her emotional conflict as she finds her self falling for the general while trying to hold on to the loyalty she feels for her husband. It's quite a performance and a multi-faceted opportunity that Francis plays to the hilt. Francis and Huston were a good team (4 films together) and it's too bad this one isn't more available to viewers.
10 Reviews
It grows on you
AlsExGal25 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
The first time I watched this I was somewhat confused. What kind of a film is this trying to be? I asked myself. Fortunately it was Christmas break so I could watch it again, and that second viewing put some matters into perspective.
In Russia in 1914, Marya (Kay Francis) is loved by young doctor Victor Sablin (Kenneth MacKenna), but she does not return those sentiments past friendship. He talks her into marrying him anyways, with him having a full understanding that she likes him and admires his work in finding serums for deadly contagious diseases (never named oddly enough), but nothing past that. They are on the brink of the cure for a disease when WWI breaks out and Victor is conscripted into the army as a lieutenant, putting an end to their work together. Complications ensue.
At the beginning of the film I was OK with Victor's character, but by the end of the film I just wanted to take him into a room and slap him around for an hour or so and stick a pacifier in his mouth. He is a whiner extraordinaire. He whines about the war, he ignores his duty as a soldier - reading science books instead of doing routine inspections, because he thinks it is up to him to decide what is more important. He whines as though WWI was thought up by General Platoff (Walter Huston) because he was bored with peace, and when he is condemned to death for insubordination, he whines some more.
Marya loves her husband, even though she may not be IN love with him. General Platoff has complete say over Victor's fate, so Marya goes to see him to try and get a pardon - she has only a few precious days before Victor is to be shot. When she can't get to him dressed in black as a potential widow, she decides to get to him through her feminine charms. Now Platoff is apparently a guy who has a use for females only for sexual reasons - the army is his true wife, but Marya manages to win his heart, and for the first time, Platoff actually begins to heed that organ. Marya has an unexpected side effect occur too - she begins to fall in love with the general, while still having strong feelings of loyalty to Victor. How will all of this work out? Watch and find out.
The wildcard in this film is Jobyna Howland as Alexandra Stroganov, the owner of the brothel in which Marya pretends to work while she is charming Platoff. She comes off howlingly and intentionally funny, and at first I wondered what she was doing here, but she really was needed as some comic relief to keep this rather bleak Russian tale from being too bleak. Don't worry - it's not as though the Marx Brothers have been inserted into All Quiet on the Western Front.
Let me also commend Kay Francis' acting here. This is mainly her show. She does a great job playing a woman in a true moral dilemma. Catch it if you can, but, like me, you may need to watch it twice to appreciate it.
In Russia in 1914, Marya (Kay Francis) is loved by young doctor Victor Sablin (Kenneth MacKenna), but she does not return those sentiments past friendship. He talks her into marrying him anyways, with him having a full understanding that she likes him and admires his work in finding serums for deadly contagious diseases (never named oddly enough), but nothing past that. They are on the brink of the cure for a disease when WWI breaks out and Victor is conscripted into the army as a lieutenant, putting an end to their work together. Complications ensue.
At the beginning of the film I was OK with Victor's character, but by the end of the film I just wanted to take him into a room and slap him around for an hour or so and stick a pacifier in his mouth. He is a whiner extraordinaire. He whines about the war, he ignores his duty as a soldier - reading science books instead of doing routine inspections, because he thinks it is up to him to decide what is more important. He whines as though WWI was thought up by General Platoff (Walter Huston) because he was bored with peace, and when he is condemned to death for insubordination, he whines some more.
Marya loves her husband, even though she may not be IN love with him. General Platoff has complete say over Victor's fate, so Marya goes to see him to try and get a pardon - she has only a few precious days before Victor is to be shot. When she can't get to him dressed in black as a potential widow, she decides to get to him through her feminine charms. Now Platoff is apparently a guy who has a use for females only for sexual reasons - the army is his true wife, but Marya manages to win his heart, and for the first time, Platoff actually begins to heed that organ. Marya has an unexpected side effect occur too - she begins to fall in love with the general, while still having strong feelings of loyalty to Victor. How will all of this work out? Watch and find out.
The wildcard in this film is Jobyna Howland as Alexandra Stroganov, the owner of the brothel in which Marya pretends to work while she is charming Platoff. She comes off howlingly and intentionally funny, and at first I wondered what she was doing here, but she really was needed as some comic relief to keep this rather bleak Russian tale from being too bleak. Don't worry - it's not as though the Marx Brothers have been inserted into All Quiet on the Western Front.
Let me also commend Kay Francis' acting here. This is mainly her show. She does a great job playing a woman in a true moral dilemma. Catch it if you can, but, like me, you may need to watch it twice to appreciate it.
Mortal Sin
st-shot13 March 2022
Director George Cukor gets his feet wet as a co-director with Louis Gasnier ( Reefer Madness) in The Virtuous Sin, a basically three person melodrama that manages to fail in nearly every department. Featuring an incredulous storyline and unconvincing performances it stumbles from scene to scene while Kay Francis models fur coats and frocks seducing a general (Walter Huston) in attempts to set her husband free from the brig.
Soldier, scientist Victor Sablin is on the verge of a medical breakthrough that will save millions but WW1 breaks out and Gen. Platoff (Walter Huston) prioritizes his killing enemy instead. Sablin balks and is tossed in the brig. His wife Marya (Francis) devises a plan to save him by working in a brothel that the General frequents on occasion. It works but unforeseen fallout accompanies.
All dressed up with no talent to show, Francis clumsily connives while maintaining naivete, her coquetry hackneyed. Huston is a cantankerous curmudgeon, loud and brash with zero romantic chops. As Marya's husband (eventually in real life as well) Ken McKenna overacts monstrously to every revelation while Jobyna Howland does a dull Mae West brothel madam. Compositionally the scenes are draped in typical Paramount gloss but come across limp much in part to the listless performance of the leads and uninspired direction of one man on the way up and one on the way down. Their conferences together probably showed more drama.
Soldier, scientist Victor Sablin is on the verge of a medical breakthrough that will save millions but WW1 breaks out and Gen. Platoff (Walter Huston) prioritizes his killing enemy instead. Sablin balks and is tossed in the brig. His wife Marya (Francis) devises a plan to save him by working in a brothel that the General frequents on occasion. It works but unforeseen fallout accompanies.
All dressed up with no talent to show, Francis clumsily connives while maintaining naivete, her coquetry hackneyed. Huston is a cantankerous curmudgeon, loud and brash with zero romantic chops. As Marya's husband (eventually in real life as well) Ken McKenna overacts monstrously to every revelation while Jobyna Howland does a dull Mae West brothel madam. Compositionally the scenes are draped in typical Paramount gloss but come across limp much in part to the listless performance of the leads and uninspired direction of one man on the way up and one on the way down. Their conferences together probably showed more drama.
So deliciously bad, this has to be seen to be believed!
mark.waltz5 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This over-the-top melodrama should be seen in repertory with the 1934 Kay Francis camp classic "Mandalay" for its exotic setting, outlandish situations and the presentation of its heroine (in both cases, Kay Francis) as a hard-luck heroine who turns to sin to survive and to protect her man. As absurd as it was in its plotline, "Mandalay" was subtle in comparison to this early talkie drama that almost seems like an operetta in the way it is played out. The only thing it is missing to be operetta is the presence of Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in the leading roles, although it does have one aria so badly sung you might find yourself howling. The basic premise has Kay Francis loosening her morals after her army officer fiancee, Kenneth MacKenna, is sent to prison by general Walter Huston whom Francis decides to seduce to get released. She goes to work in the cafe of the outrageous madame Jobyna Howland (completely out of her mind as she screeches each line as if she were a witch cackling) and even tries to seduce a buffoonish guard (Lew Meehan who reminded me of Sterling Holloway) in order to find out exactly when the general will return then screams for help to get away from him when she spots Huston. When Huston sees her in Howland's "cafe", he "demands" Francis entertain him by thrusting her arms around his neck. Francis actually finds herself falling in love with Huston, and when MacKenna is released thanks to Huston, he vows to find the man whom Francis seduced to free him and kill them.
As an early film in the career of the legendary director George Cukor, this is an interesting example of how "more becomes less", meaning that it has emotional themes that go all over the place and is at one moment moody and somber, then silly and frivolous. As the second of four films for Huston and Francis, it attempts to be sincere, but ends up silly. Involved at the time with Ms. Francis, Kenneth MacKenna is perhaps one of the worst actors I've seen to grace the silver screen, with an obvious lisp that made Francis's own speech impediment seem absent, and braying every line as if he wanted to be heard down the block from the theater where this film would be playing. Even if the rumor is true that MGM's John Gilbert's voice was sabotaged by Louis B. Mayer's orders, it wasn't as annoying as MacKenna's is here. Every moment Howland is on screen just gets more and more silly, and it's even more difficult to imagine her actually being a madame as is subtly implied. When the unbilled singer starts to yowl her aria in the cafe sequence, I had to reach for some aspirin. Then comes along Ann Brody as the helium voiced housekeeper. After all that, I felt bad for whoever was in the sound booth, because by the time this was done, my ears were ringing from all the unpleasant noises coming from my TV.
As an early film in the career of the legendary director George Cukor, this is an interesting example of how "more becomes less", meaning that it has emotional themes that go all over the place and is at one moment moody and somber, then silly and frivolous. As the second of four films for Huston and Francis, it attempts to be sincere, but ends up silly. Involved at the time with Ms. Francis, Kenneth MacKenna is perhaps one of the worst actors I've seen to grace the silver screen, with an obvious lisp that made Francis's own speech impediment seem absent, and braying every line as if he wanted to be heard down the block from the theater where this film would be playing. Even if the rumor is true that MGM's John Gilbert's voice was sabotaged by Louis B. Mayer's orders, it wasn't as annoying as MacKenna's is here. Every moment Howland is on screen just gets more and more silly, and it's even more difficult to imagine her actually being a madame as is subtly implied. When the unbilled singer starts to yowl her aria in the cafe sequence, I had to reach for some aspirin. Then comes along Ann Brody as the helium voiced housekeeper. After all that, I felt bad for whoever was in the sound booth, because by the time this was done, my ears were ringing from all the unpleasant noises coming from my TV.
"To be loyal I had to be disloyal."
AAdaSC25 November 2010
Marya (Kay Francis) gets friendly with Gen. Platoff (Walter Huston) in order to save her husband Victor (Kenneth MacKenna) from being executed. This involves sleeping with him. The outcome may not be what you expect.
This is an enjoyable film although it drags in parts and is quite stagey, eg, the characters sometimes deliver their lines facing the camera and each scene fades out before we start the following scene. Kenneth MacKenna is a real arse-hole in this film twatting on about his own personal honour. Kay Francis has become a slag to save his life and the prick just seems ungrateful. Thank goodness the film ends in the way that it does. I liked Walter Huston's character in the film - he is a tough general - and I felt sorry for him when he realized that he had been used by Kay Francis. I thought that he delivered the best line of the film in the battle scene where he grabs Victor back from going over the bunker to certain death. His command is "You're alive and you will please remain that way!"
The film keeps you guessing as to what Marya's tactic is going to be in order to secure Victor's release. In the end, it's nothing more than being a slut so it's slightly disappointing in terms of an exciting plot. Jobyna Howland has some funny moments as the brothel madam "Alexandra". Overall, the film is OK.
This is an enjoyable film although it drags in parts and is quite stagey, eg, the characters sometimes deliver their lines facing the camera and each scene fades out before we start the following scene. Kenneth MacKenna is a real arse-hole in this film twatting on about his own personal honour. Kay Francis has become a slag to save his life and the prick just seems ungrateful. Thank goodness the film ends in the way that it does. I liked Walter Huston's character in the film - he is a tough general - and I felt sorry for him when he realized that he had been used by Kay Francis. I thought that he delivered the best line of the film in the battle scene where he grabs Victor back from going over the bunker to certain death. His command is "You're alive and you will please remain that way!"
The film keeps you guessing as to what Marya's tactic is going to be in order to secure Victor's release. In the end, it's nothing more than being a slut so it's slightly disappointing in terms of an exciting plot. Jobyna Howland has some funny moments as the brothel madam "Alexandra". Overall, the film is OK.
Who Came Up With This Story?
boblipton20 May 2020
Kenneth MacDonald hates being in the Russian army. General Walter Huston thinks he should spend less time reading medical books and do army stuff, there being a war on and all. MacDonald virtuously tells him off, so Huston unreasonably orders him shot. This upsets MacDonald's wife, Kay Francis, who conceives the plan of masquerading as a good-time girl in the local bar, seducing Huston, and getting him to rescind his order as a favor.
In other words, it's nonsense, conceived of by people who know nothing of Russians, armies or Generals, but they knew to make sure that Miss Francis had a lot of clothing changes. For decades, this great beauty and excellent actress was denigrated as simply a clotheshorse. With vehicles like this, even opposite Huston, what was the poor women to do except learn her lines and negotiate a better salary?
Piffle like this, with a Russian background, was common in the late silent and early talkie eras. All those tales of impoverished royalty! All those cruel, tyrannous aristocrats! All those horrible Bolsheviks! And being Russian, of course, they had the greatest writers: Tolstoy, Gorky, Pushkin.
Actually the story is told by Robert Heinlein that his second wife, learned Russian specifically to read those great novels in the original language. According to him, she said they gained something in the translation.
Well, considering the source, maybe. At least Miss Francis looks great.
In other words, it's nonsense, conceived of by people who know nothing of Russians, armies or Generals, but they knew to make sure that Miss Francis had a lot of clothing changes. For decades, this great beauty and excellent actress was denigrated as simply a clotheshorse. With vehicles like this, even opposite Huston, what was the poor women to do except learn her lines and negotiate a better salary?
Piffle like this, with a Russian background, was common in the late silent and early talkie eras. All those tales of impoverished royalty! All those cruel, tyrannous aristocrats! All those horrible Bolsheviks! And being Russian, of course, they had the greatest writers: Tolstoy, Gorky, Pushkin.
Actually the story is told by Robert Heinlein that his second wife, learned Russian specifically to read those great novels in the original language. According to him, she said they gained something in the translation.
Well, considering the source, maybe. At least Miss Francis looks great.
Not great, but has its moments
gbill-748773 November 2023
"I think love is like a wave; if it comes on you unawares, nothing can stop it from sweeping over you."
1930 sure was a big year for putting the word "sin" in a movie title. Here the setting is WWI Russia, and we get both virtue and sin served up, with an emphasis on the former (unfortunately, ha!). Kay Francis plays a woman who marries a scientist with the agreement that they'll share their most intimate moments in the laboratory only, not the bedroom. He's working to cure a disease, she doesn't mind being his assistant, but then the war breaks out, and he's drafted. Wanting to continue on with his research, he soon runs afoul of an ill-tempered General the soldiers call "Iron Face" behind his back (Walter Huston), and is sent to prison. His wife hatches a plan to cozy up to the General in order to secure his freedom, hence the "virtuous sin," but doesn't count on falling in love.
The construction of the plot, with the chaste marriage and the honorable affair, has the weakness that it's geared towards making everyone involved a good person, feeling artificial as a result. (Obviously, forget any type of reality to this feeling like Russia, but that probably goes without saying). The clandestine meetings between Huston and Francis held promise and I suppose it was amusing seeing them see-sawing under the stars, but the film lacked sizzle and the film began to lag a bit in the middle. The resolution to the love triangle is not surprising, and not very satisfying either.
The film was most interesting when Francis's character was just beginning to immerse herself into a cabaret that officers attend to carouse with chorus girls. At first she's told by the man next door that it's "no place for a lady," motioning his hands over his chest as if he had breasts, which was priceless. There is a noticeable skip in the film shortly afterwards, suggesting that further dialog was cut, either by a local censorship board at the time, or by Joseph Breen & Co. After the Code was being enforced, upon it re-release. She then talks to the Madame of the club (Jobyna Howland), leading to this exchange:
"I want to - to buy your, your backgrounds." "Well, I have been told my back is rather fine."
Inside she finds women dancing around showing a lot of leg, and sitting in the laps of the officers. My favorite was the woman with a riding crop who sucks on the end of her cigarette seductively three times before having it lit (at 28:12, my goodness). Meanwhile, Kay Francis is adorned with her ornate headpiece, and looks fabulous, also briefly singing. The overall production quality is quite good too, as there are beautiful sets and outdoor scenery, and some pretty decent sound by the standards of 1930, background hiss notwithstanding. It fell short because of the story, but I thought it was worth seeing for its stars.
1930 sure was a big year for putting the word "sin" in a movie title. Here the setting is WWI Russia, and we get both virtue and sin served up, with an emphasis on the former (unfortunately, ha!). Kay Francis plays a woman who marries a scientist with the agreement that they'll share their most intimate moments in the laboratory only, not the bedroom. He's working to cure a disease, she doesn't mind being his assistant, but then the war breaks out, and he's drafted. Wanting to continue on with his research, he soon runs afoul of an ill-tempered General the soldiers call "Iron Face" behind his back (Walter Huston), and is sent to prison. His wife hatches a plan to cozy up to the General in order to secure his freedom, hence the "virtuous sin," but doesn't count on falling in love.
The construction of the plot, with the chaste marriage and the honorable affair, has the weakness that it's geared towards making everyone involved a good person, feeling artificial as a result. (Obviously, forget any type of reality to this feeling like Russia, but that probably goes without saying). The clandestine meetings between Huston and Francis held promise and I suppose it was amusing seeing them see-sawing under the stars, but the film lacked sizzle and the film began to lag a bit in the middle. The resolution to the love triangle is not surprising, and not very satisfying either.
The film was most interesting when Francis's character was just beginning to immerse herself into a cabaret that officers attend to carouse with chorus girls. At first she's told by the man next door that it's "no place for a lady," motioning his hands over his chest as if he had breasts, which was priceless. There is a noticeable skip in the film shortly afterwards, suggesting that further dialog was cut, either by a local censorship board at the time, or by Joseph Breen & Co. After the Code was being enforced, upon it re-release. She then talks to the Madame of the club (Jobyna Howland), leading to this exchange:
"I want to - to buy your, your backgrounds." "Well, I have been told my back is rather fine."
Inside she finds women dancing around showing a lot of leg, and sitting in the laps of the officers. My favorite was the woman with a riding crop who sucks on the end of her cigarette seductively three times before having it lit (at 28:12, my goodness). Meanwhile, Kay Francis is adorned with her ornate headpiece, and looks fabulous, also briefly singing. The overall production quality is quite good too, as there are beautiful sets and outdoor scenery, and some pretty decent sound by the standards of 1930, background hiss notwithstanding. It fell short because of the story, but I thought it was worth seeing for its stars.
I had a hard time caring about Victor and his plight...which is tough considering it's THE theme of the film!
planktonrules25 November 2023
"The Virtuous Sin" is set during WWI in imperial Russia. A scientist working on some formula has just been drafted into the army. While he is right that working on his formula is more important than being in the army, Victor is an idiot. He's insubordinate and makes VERY bad choices. In the end, General Platoff (Walter Huston) is so infuriated at Victor that he orders him to be placed under arrest! Soon, he's sentenced to death for insubordination...something he really did seem to bring upon himself.
As for Victor's soon to be widow, Marya (Kay Francis), she learns what has happened and vows to help Victor. But her attempts to appeal the case are ignored so she comes up with another idea...to vamp the general and get him to do her bidding...even if that might mean sleeping with him to save her husband. What's next?
There were two problems with the story that kept it from being better. First, it felt very tough to feel sorry for Victor. He was an idiot and it's difficult to care about his plight. Second, the story is a bit old fashioned and stodgy...the sort that soon would go out of style. As far as Huston and Francis goes, they seemed to try hard to make it a good film but the script was schmaltzy and forgettable.
As for Victor's soon to be widow, Marya (Kay Francis), she learns what has happened and vows to help Victor. But her attempts to appeal the case are ignored so she comes up with another idea...to vamp the general and get him to do her bidding...even if that might mean sleeping with him to save her husband. What's next?
There were two problems with the story that kept it from being better. First, it felt very tough to feel sorry for Victor. He was an idiot and it's difficult to care about his plight. Second, the story is a bit old fashioned and stodgy...the sort that soon would go out of style. As far as Huston and Francis goes, they seemed to try hard to make it a good film but the script was schmaltzy and forgettable.
I Love to Hate Kay Francis Movies
view_and_review4 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Women can't help but falling in love. They can't achieve a task that involves a man because their hearts will get in the way. That's what this movie has told us. This and "Office Wife" and "Dishonored" and so many other movies from the 30's. Women, especially if Kay Francis is playing the character, cannot help themselves around men.
Kay Francis is the worst when it comes to her roles. "Dangerous Curves," "Behind the Make-Up," "Transgression," "For the Defense," "The Scandal Sheet," "Ladies' Man," "Guilty Hands," "Street of Women," and "Jewel Robbery" are all examples of Kay Francis playing the adulteress, or the mistress.
"Virtuous Sin" takes place in Russia 1914 and Kay Francis plays Marya Ivanova Sablin. She passively married Victor Sablin (Kenneth MacKenna) though she didn't love him. She told him she didn't love him and that she'd never found love. He wanted to marry her anyway in hopes that one day she could learn to love him. Her whole "never found love" spiel was foreshadowing of the worst kind. If a man or woman EVER says they've never found love, then without a doubt they'll find love.
Marya and Victor were getting along fine until Victor was drafted. She went to beg General Gregori Platoff (Walter Huston) to release her husband from his duty because he was a great scientist working on something important. She got in maybe two words before he shut her--and all the other women whose husbands and sons were drafted--down.
Victor went to war and was made a lieutenant, but he continued to neglect his duties as a soldier. He was stripped of his rank and made to do menial tasks as punishment. One day he lost his head and went off on the general. For that he was sentenced to death. He was to remain in prison for a week before facing a firing squad.
When Marya heard the news she jumped into action. She would pretend to be a cabaret girl to get close to the general and try to influence him to change his mind about executing Victor. Her only real tool to accomplish this was her sexuality and female charm. She turned it on and it worked all too well. The general fell in love with her.
But here's the problem: she also fell in love with him.
Firstly, it didn't even make sense because the general was a ruthless brute. But I guess "ladies love brutes" (the title of a 1930 movie starring George Bancroft). If women aren't falling in love with charming, suave gentlemen they are falling in love with unrefined, unromantic, ogres who find it hard to say nice things (see "Virtue," "Office Wife," and "Beauty and the Boss" to name a few).
Secondly, Marya was turning on her sexuality as a tool to get what she needed, why did it have to be or become authentic? The same thing happened in "Dishonored" when Marlene Dietrich played an Austrian spy who fell in love with the enemy and even committed treason for him. Maybe Hollywood and audiences saw it as something romantic back then, but I see it as perpetuating a ridiculous stereotype. What we got back then were either women who wanted money, men, or both, and there was no limit on either. If there were two nice guys, she'd fall in love with both of them.
"The Virtuous Sin" was just another bad romance that employed the hated love triangle. And really, at this point in time, I think I watch Kay Francis movies just to find more reasons to hate her.
Free YouTube.
Kay Francis is the worst when it comes to her roles. "Dangerous Curves," "Behind the Make-Up," "Transgression," "For the Defense," "The Scandal Sheet," "Ladies' Man," "Guilty Hands," "Street of Women," and "Jewel Robbery" are all examples of Kay Francis playing the adulteress, or the mistress.
"Virtuous Sin" takes place in Russia 1914 and Kay Francis plays Marya Ivanova Sablin. She passively married Victor Sablin (Kenneth MacKenna) though she didn't love him. She told him she didn't love him and that she'd never found love. He wanted to marry her anyway in hopes that one day she could learn to love him. Her whole "never found love" spiel was foreshadowing of the worst kind. If a man or woman EVER says they've never found love, then without a doubt they'll find love.
Marya and Victor were getting along fine until Victor was drafted. She went to beg General Gregori Platoff (Walter Huston) to release her husband from his duty because he was a great scientist working on something important. She got in maybe two words before he shut her--and all the other women whose husbands and sons were drafted--down.
Victor went to war and was made a lieutenant, but he continued to neglect his duties as a soldier. He was stripped of his rank and made to do menial tasks as punishment. One day he lost his head and went off on the general. For that he was sentenced to death. He was to remain in prison for a week before facing a firing squad.
When Marya heard the news she jumped into action. She would pretend to be a cabaret girl to get close to the general and try to influence him to change his mind about executing Victor. Her only real tool to accomplish this was her sexuality and female charm. She turned it on and it worked all too well. The general fell in love with her.
But here's the problem: she also fell in love with him.
Firstly, it didn't even make sense because the general was a ruthless brute. But I guess "ladies love brutes" (the title of a 1930 movie starring George Bancroft). If women aren't falling in love with charming, suave gentlemen they are falling in love with unrefined, unromantic, ogres who find it hard to say nice things (see "Virtue," "Office Wife," and "Beauty and the Boss" to name a few).
Secondly, Marya was turning on her sexuality as a tool to get what she needed, why did it have to be or become authentic? The same thing happened in "Dishonored" when Marlene Dietrich played an Austrian spy who fell in love with the enemy and even committed treason for him. Maybe Hollywood and audiences saw it as something romantic back then, but I see it as perpetuating a ridiculous stereotype. What we got back then were either women who wanted money, men, or both, and there was no limit on either. If there were two nice guys, she'd fall in love with both of them.
"The Virtuous Sin" was just another bad romance that employed the hated love triangle. And really, at this point in time, I think I watch Kay Francis movies just to find more reasons to hate her.
Free YouTube.
Reckless behavior and what is best for her
jarrodmcdonald-17 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
In THE VIRTUOUS SIN Kay Francis has a lot of chemistry with Walter Huston. (It was the second of four films they made together.) She also has a great deal of chemistry with second lead Kenneth MacKenna, whom she would marry off screen a year later. The story relies on her having rapport with Huston, more than she is supposed to have with MacKenna. But because she's involved with MacKenna in real life, she can't turn off her feelings for him.
There are lines of dialogue at the end where her character is supposed to tell MacKenna that she never really loved him, which doesn't ring true. Then, ironically, he tells her that he will give her a divorce...and in 1934, they did divorce, and she never remarried.
This precode gem is artistic yet commercially viable. There is a splendid segment midway through the picture where Francis and Huston walk through a wooded area and have fun on a makeshift seesaw. I've really never seen anything like that before- a distinguished looking couple, playing outdoors like children.
There is also a segment earlier in the movie when Francis joins a group of prostitutes. She thinks that if she can entertain with them and meet the general (Huston), she will be able to obtain a pardon for her husband (MacKenna) who is facing death by a firing squad.
The proprietress revels in how her girls' naughty reputations bring military men into her establishment, which means a lot of cash for her. Jobyna Howland, who plays the morally challenged madame, is deliciously over-the-top in all her scenes.
THE VIRTUOUS SIN is a polished adaptation of a Hungarian stage play, done with a Hollywood studio budget, that has an eye towards box office returns. So even though Miss Francis plays a woman who makes promises and breaks them, her heart is still reformed in the end.
Most of the reckless behavior that occurs during the movie can be blamed on the war...the characters are simply not in their right minds given the circumstances. But when the war comes to an end, and the soldiers go back to their lives in industry, most of the pieces can be picked up again and even rearranged in a way they should have been arranged before.
While this is for all intents and purposes a Kay Francis picture geared for a female audience, there is plenty of war-related action that focuses on the men. In particular, there is a sequence near the end that involves bombs blasting and guns blazing, where it looks like both men may die. Of course, they live and this leads into how our heroine obtains her happy ever after...which does not come because of any man's death, but because both the men in her life do the right thing and agree on what is best for her.
There are lines of dialogue at the end where her character is supposed to tell MacKenna that she never really loved him, which doesn't ring true. Then, ironically, he tells her that he will give her a divorce...and in 1934, they did divorce, and she never remarried.
This precode gem is artistic yet commercially viable. There is a splendid segment midway through the picture where Francis and Huston walk through a wooded area and have fun on a makeshift seesaw. I've really never seen anything like that before- a distinguished looking couple, playing outdoors like children.
There is also a segment earlier in the movie when Francis joins a group of prostitutes. She thinks that if she can entertain with them and meet the general (Huston), she will be able to obtain a pardon for her husband (MacKenna) who is facing death by a firing squad.
The proprietress revels in how her girls' naughty reputations bring military men into her establishment, which means a lot of cash for her. Jobyna Howland, who plays the morally challenged madame, is deliciously over-the-top in all her scenes.
THE VIRTUOUS SIN is a polished adaptation of a Hungarian stage play, done with a Hollywood studio budget, that has an eye towards box office returns. So even though Miss Francis plays a woman who makes promises and breaks them, her heart is still reformed in the end.
Most of the reckless behavior that occurs during the movie can be blamed on the war...the characters are simply not in their right minds given the circumstances. But when the war comes to an end, and the soldiers go back to their lives in industry, most of the pieces can be picked up again and even rearranged in a way they should have been arranged before.
While this is for all intents and purposes a Kay Francis picture geared for a female audience, there is plenty of war-related action that focuses on the men. In particular, there is a sequence near the end that involves bombs blasting and guns blazing, where it looks like both men may die. Of course, they live and this leads into how our heroine obtains her happy ever after...which does not come because of any man's death, but because both the men in her life do the right thing and agree on what is best for her.
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