I don't think I've ever watched a film that I thought was this flawed...that I enjoyed this much.
Let's start with the flaws. First off, in the scene where she is being blackmailed, we never see the blackmailer (it was Barton MacLane) except from behind...and throughout the film we wait for him to come back into the picture; he never does. It almost seemed as if something was cut out. Second, when her identity is exposed back in America she seems to become a totally different person; too stark a change. Third, the ending of this pic comes waaaaaay too soon; you feel like they realized they were running long so they just cut the ending to pieces.
Nevertheless, the whole story line is quite good, although it does come off as a B picture. A little better and it could have been an A picture.
Several cast members are what makes this film so good.
First off, of course, is Kay Francis. I never paid much attention to Francis until I saw her in "One Way Passage", so began watching TCM for her films. Quite a few are really good, and quite a few aren't. This film is in her peak period. She does an excellent job here, and the flaw I mentioned above (a too-abrupt change of personality)...I'll blame that on the director.
I've always enjoyed seeing Ian Hunter in films, and perhaps here as much as anywhere. Great performance. On the other hand, Paul Lukas in this film was not impressive at all. Jessie Ralph was, as usual, delightful; a wonderful character actress I enjoyed very much here. The child in the film -- Sybil Jason -- was superb; better than most child actresses of her era.
Despite the flaws, this film is good enough that I'll probably watch it the next time it comes up on TCM.
Let's start with the flaws. First off, in the scene where she is being blackmailed, we never see the blackmailer (it was Barton MacLane) except from behind...and throughout the film we wait for him to come back into the picture; he never does. It almost seemed as if something was cut out. Second, when her identity is exposed back in America she seems to become a totally different person; too stark a change. Third, the ending of this pic comes waaaaaay too soon; you feel like they realized they were running long so they just cut the ending to pieces.
Nevertheless, the whole story line is quite good, although it does come off as a B picture. A little better and it could have been an A picture.
Several cast members are what makes this film so good.
First off, of course, is Kay Francis. I never paid much attention to Francis until I saw her in "One Way Passage", so began watching TCM for her films. Quite a few are really good, and quite a few aren't. This film is in her peak period. She does an excellent job here, and the flaw I mentioned above (a too-abrupt change of personality)...I'll blame that on the director.
I've always enjoyed seeing Ian Hunter in films, and perhaps here as much as anywhere. Great performance. On the other hand, Paul Lukas in this film was not impressive at all. Jessie Ralph was, as usual, delightful; a wonderful character actress I enjoyed very much here. The child in the film -- Sybil Jason -- was superb; better than most child actresses of her era.
Despite the flaws, this film is good enough that I'll probably watch it the next time it comes up on TCM.