WARNING: LOTS AND LOTS OF SPOILERS!!!!
Often, the plots of films need the viewers to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy them. However, sometimes films go way beyond this--and the plot is so completely ridiculous that you can't dismiss the nagging voice in your head that says the film SHOULD have been written better. Such is the case with "The House on 56th Street"--an enjoyable but totally ridiculous film.
The film begins with a chorus girl (Kay Francis) falling for two men. One is older and vows never to marry--the other is handsome, younger and willing to make an honest woman of her. Not surprisingly, she picks the second man and goes on to have a very good life living in a fashionable abode on 56th Street in New York City. However, when she learns some time later that her older ex-lover is sick, she goes to visit him and he kills himself right in front of her!! She appears to have done the deed herself and is sent to prison for two decades for a crime she didn't commit. In the meantime, her daughter is raised by the husband and his family and they tell the girl her mother is dead.
When Francis gets out of prison, she reinvents herself. Now she is a professional gambler working with handsome Ricardo Cortez. They fall in love and move into the old house on 56th--the house he picked out and bought for them. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!??! A bit later, Kay's daughter comes to the gambling house and loses a fortune. Kay begs Ricardo and their partner to forgive the dumb young lady's debt--but they won't. A bit later, when Cortez threatens to go to the young lady's husband about this outstanding debt, the girl (Margaret Lindsay) murders Cortez. Please note: the lady is a murderer!!! So, what does Francis do? She covers for her daughter!!! Now I now that she was family, but the creepy young lady did murder someone!! How all this works out is just bizarre--so bizarre you need to see this to believe it! I would classify this film as a guilty pleasure. The plot is stupid and I won't deny this. However, it is STILL oddly entertaining and fun to watch. Silly, trivial and fun....as are many of Francis' films of this era.
Often, the plots of films need the viewers to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy them. However, sometimes films go way beyond this--and the plot is so completely ridiculous that you can't dismiss the nagging voice in your head that says the film SHOULD have been written better. Such is the case with "The House on 56th Street"--an enjoyable but totally ridiculous film.
The film begins with a chorus girl (Kay Francis) falling for two men. One is older and vows never to marry--the other is handsome, younger and willing to make an honest woman of her. Not surprisingly, she picks the second man and goes on to have a very good life living in a fashionable abode on 56th Street in New York City. However, when she learns some time later that her older ex-lover is sick, she goes to visit him and he kills himself right in front of her!! She appears to have done the deed herself and is sent to prison for two decades for a crime she didn't commit. In the meantime, her daughter is raised by the husband and his family and they tell the girl her mother is dead.
When Francis gets out of prison, she reinvents herself. Now she is a professional gambler working with handsome Ricardo Cortez. They fall in love and move into the old house on 56th--the house he picked out and bought for them. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!??! A bit later, Kay's daughter comes to the gambling house and loses a fortune. Kay begs Ricardo and their partner to forgive the dumb young lady's debt--but they won't. A bit later, when Cortez threatens to go to the young lady's husband about this outstanding debt, the girl (Margaret Lindsay) murders Cortez. Please note: the lady is a murderer!!! So, what does Francis do? She covers for her daughter!!! Now I now that she was family, but the creepy young lady did murder someone!! How all this works out is just bizarre--so bizarre you need to see this to believe it! I would classify this film as a guilty pleasure. The plot is stupid and I won't deny this. However, it is STILL oddly entertaining and fun to watch. Silly, trivial and fun....as are many of Francis' films of this era.