GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

atlasmb The action in this film takes place within the rarefied air of art deco penthouses with thirty-foot ceilings. There, the central characters--Anne (Barbara Stanwyck) and Dick (James Rennie)--fall in love and make decisions about their relationship.Dick is somewhat amused--and a little intrigued--by Anne's "theories" about marriage. She see it as a hindrance to love and a guarantee that romance will die. Basically, she is a proponent of free love.Different conceptions of free love have been expressed by many notables in the fields of science and the arts over the centuries. The actual Free Love movement is a more recent development with its beginnings in the 1800s. Although its proponents espoused many various views on culture, politics and the nature of man, there were common threads--primarily a condemnation of state-sponsored marriage and the view that the institution of marriage runs contrary to the nature of man and that it impinges on the freedoms of both partners and amounts to little more than enslavement, particularly of the woman.One can see where Anne is coming from, but it is not surprising that certain aspects of traditional marriage hold a romantic interest for Anne. Dick is so in love with her that he might agree to anything she wants. But they are constantly judged by others who reflect the mores of society. Eventually, the couple agrees to live apart and love from a distance.You can probably guess where the story is going, despite the fact that this is a pre-Code production. The staging feels, rightfully, like a play. Its tone is light-hearted for the most part, centering on characters whose lives seem to revolve around emptying cocktail glasses and witty repartee. But it's a stylish production and the acting is suitable for carefree banter sprinkled with Anne's "theories". Fortunately, her free love notions do not include the social engineering leanings of others who theorized in this realm.

mircaragolr First time Stanwwyck captivated me. Attractive, cute, sensitive, intelligent. A master performance raising an overall OK movie to a different level. I fell in love with her character as an actress and as a young woman. Ann is a beautiful young lady full of sensitivity, common sense and intelligence. The movie reveals a conflict of feelings between two people triggered by their love toward each other. You would say it shows two characters with a behavior ahead of its time, but scratching the surface of the "mores" of the time, it really portraits a common conflict of love, in which the characters act in a mostly mature and civilized manner -I would add she way more mature than him, and this kind of acting does not have anything to do with the "mores" of the times. Quite the opposite,human beings have behaved maturely through history regardless of the prevailing social norms. Finally I would like to add that now I understand how Barbara Stanwick gained her reputation as a remarkable actress during her youth.

calvinnme The naming of this film must have been just to attract Depression era audiences, because there is nothing really illicit about it. However, it is a very modern look at romance and marriage considering it was made in 1931. Barbara Stanwyck plays Anne Vincent, a modern woman who is afraid that her relationship with boyfriend Richard Ives will be changed by marriage. She bases her beliefs on watching her own parents and her friends. In her parents' case she says that she knows they loved each other, but divorced anyways, and she is sure that separation from one another is what killed them. However, social pressures prevail and the two do get married.Anne's fears become realized as Richard seems to only be interested in going out when it involves other people, not just Anne. She sees him out with another woman one night when he is supposed to be working, and she decides what the two need is a trial separation from one another - to become individuals again. Throw Ricardo Cortez into the mix as someone who wants Anne's marriage to not work out, and you have the makings of an above average potboiler from the precode era.This film is mainly interesting because of Stanwyck. Without her abilities this would be a pretty forgettable film. And those fashions! With all of the ermine and feathers, this film has Barbara Stanwyck venturing into Kay Francis territory. Also lending good support is Charles Butterworth as the seldom sober friend to the young couple, and the always wonderful Joan Blondell as Anne's close friend.

ksf-2 In 1931, Stanwyck was still a young girl, with her LONG hair, child-like innocent manner, and round kid face. As Anne Vincent, she wants to stay single and happy, while her beau Dick (James Rennie) wants to get married. Along for fun is Charles Butterworth as George, Dick's sidekick. He tells the couple that they have been discovered, and totters off, for more drinks... Ricardo Cortez is also here as the ex-boyfriend Baines to stir things up; Stanwyck and Cortez had worked together on three films together in the 1930s. Look for a 25 year old Joan Blondell as Helen Childers, Anne's friend, in one of her early roles. Will things stay the same if they get married? That's the big question. Kind of a statement of the times, and even more so in a couple years when the production code will keep everything on the up and up, even when they aren't. This was Darryl Zanuck's 12th film as producer. Towards the middle of the version shown on Turner Classics, there are scratches or wear marks on the right side of the screen, not surprising for such an old film. Interesting to watch, but no big surprises.