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IMDb > The Lady Refuses (1931)

The Lady Refuses (1931) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
5.8/10   67 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 9% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
George Archainbaud
Writers:
Robert Milton (story) and
Guy Bolton (story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Lady Refuses on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 March 1931 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance more
Plot:
A wealthy London nobleman hires a pretty but poor young girl to distract his playboy son from marrying a golddigger... more | add synopsis
User Comments:
The independent woman before she was silenced more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Betty Compson ... June
John Darrow ... Russell Courtney
Gilbert Emery ... Sir Gerald Courtney
Margaret Livingston ... Berthine Waller
Ivan Lebedeff ... Nikolai Rabinoff
Edgar Norton ... Dobbs - Sir Gerald's Butler
Daphne Pollard ... Millie - Apartment House Maid
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Additional Details

Runtime:
72 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Photophone System)
Certification:
USA:Approved (certificate number not assigned) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
[first lines]
First Bobby: [a dark, foggy street in London. Two bobbies are observing a young woman walking along furtively] New one, isn't she Albert?
Albert, Second Bobby: Must be, or she wouldn't be out on a night like this. No weather for a dog.
First Bobby: Nor for no cat, neither!
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Soundtrack:
Three Little Words more

FAQ

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful:-
The independent woman before she was silenced, 29 November 2006
7/10
Author: ScenicRoute from New York - Seattle

I agree with the other reviewers: This isn't a great movie because it is too stage bound, the plot is far-fetched, the London setting unconvincing (why not New York?), and some of the acting is wooden or uneven. However, John Darrow is convincing as a talented young man a little too enslaved by his passions, and he is sexually alive and compelling. Betty Compson is great - hers is the performance that make this and so many other pre-Production Code movies worthwhile. She has no shame about who she is (nor has Margaret Livingston, who appears to have stepped out of Valley of the Dolls), and her last speech earns the movie a 7 in my book. She is completely liberated, though she knows how to and does pay lip-service to conventional morality. It is this combination, the lip-service combined with the complete independence, that makes this pre-Production Code movie (among many) so radical. Her final scene eloquently gives the lie to conventional morality and left me agape. No need for the 1960s-lib genre with movies like this.

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Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits IMDb Drama section
IMDb USA section Add this title to MyMovies

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