The Road to Reno (1931) User Reviews

Lilyan Tashman is a habitual divorcée ...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 8 August 2010]

... in this great little drama with comic touches that has every precode element thrown into it but the kitchen sink. That's only because nobody goes near the kitchen in this film - they're either at the bar or in the boudoir. Lilyan Tashman is perfect as Jackie, the perpetually adolescent mother of two grown children - daughter Lee and son Jeff - who are in their early 20's. In spite of the fact that fourth husband Robert (Irving Prichel) is a good provider, good step-dad, and all-around good sport about Jackie's rather wild ways, Jackie is intent on divorcing him although she seems to bear the man no resentment. It just seems that her only reason is that it's time for a change, much like an impulse to buy a new hat. Both children are upset about her decision since they have great affection for Robert. However, daughter Lee has just arrived home from school and decides to accompany her mother to Reno to look after her. On the train west, Lee meets a young mining engineer, Tom(Charles Buddy Rogers), who is headed to a job interview in California. The two hit it off and a romance buds. Tom says goodbye at the stop for Reno and vows to write to Lee while she and her mother wait the necessary six weeks for the divorce. When Tom can't contact Lee he goes out to Reno to see her in person and what he finds shocks him. I'll let you watch and find out what he finds and what happens.

Like I said in the beginning, this precode has everything. Unrelated to the main characters there are shots of the Reno nightlife, a good rendition of the Reno divorce machine as it grinds out 50 plus divorces a day,one divorcée complaining about her husband refusing to pay for the correspondent, another divorcée declaring she is free, chucking her wedding ring in a stream, and immediately dragging the man she has with her into the marriage license bureau to start anew. There's also the suicide of a newly divorced woman on the stairway of an exclusive hotel with the clerk declaring how inconsiderate some people can be.

Definitely recommended for precode fans and definitely for fans of Lilyan Tashman.

Repercussions

[boblipton · 6/10 · 13 January 2021]

Lilyan Tashman is leaving this husband and will undoubtedly be marrying again. It's been her pattern for a long time, and as long as she looks as young as her daughter, Peggy Shannon, she can keep doing it, despite the protests of her son, Tom Douglas. But her self-indulgence has its price, in the rejection by Douglas of her easy-come-easy-go attitude towards spouses. Judith Wood may love him, but he starts to get dictatorial about it.

It's not a Bob Hope-Bing Crosby buddy comedy, but a serious drama about the effects of liberal divorce laws on the children. Director Richard Wallace may never have risen higher than programmers, but he was a capable studio director, and this one makes its points, a trifle melodramatically but sincerely. The capable cast that Paramount could assemble for a movie like this handles their roles well. Still, the only thing that surprised me was that Reno was already the acknowledged divorce capital of the country.

Speak Up!!!

[view_and_review · 2/10 · 31 August 2022]

"The Road to Reno" was going absolutely nowhere for the great majority of the movie. A restless woman wanted to get a divorce from a wealthy and decent man and her two kids wanted to stop her. Her husband pretty much resigned to the fact that she was moving on and let her go amicably. Where's the drama in that?

The drama came when a lecherous and lascivious man named Jerry Kenton (William Boyd) preyed upon the young Lee Millet (Peggy Shannon), daughter of the main character, Jackie Millet (Lilyan Tashman). After preying upon the daughter and getting rejected, Kenton simply moved on to Lee's mother where he was much more successful. He seduced Jackie and got her to agree to marry him, where he'd be well taken care of by her money.

There were many things to go ballistic about in this movie such as Lee (the daughter) ready to marry Tom Wood (Charles Rogers) after a mere train ride together, or Robert Millet (Irving Pichel) agreeing to pay Jackie alimony even if she remarried, or Jerry Kenton's wife having such low self worth that when she knew her husband was a cheat she still clung to him, or a young man, Jeff Millet (Tom Douglas), ruining his life for his promiscuous mother. But nothing was more enraging than Lee's silence after she was almost raped.

Yes, raped.

This was not a case of "no means yes" or a woman making a man work for it. He had her trapped in his room and he was going to get what he wanted until Lee's mom, Jackie (Tashman), came by. When Jackie entered the room Lee was standing quietly and upset while Kenton went on to make up a fantastic story as to why Lee was so upset.

And Lee said nothing!

She didn't refute his lies or tell her mother what this perverted psycho tried to do; she just left.

I know that words like "sex," "pregnant," "prostitution," and "rape" would never be uttered on screen back then, but that had nothing to do with why Lee didn't IMMEDIATELY tell her mom, "That man set upon me like a hungry wolf." I was thinking that perhaps Lee was embarrassed that she got herself into such a bad situation by being a bit of a tease, yet not knowing where such teasing could lead. And, sadly, I'm probably right.

It was a different era. Lee probably thought she was the reason Kenton was about to force himself upon her, so how could she rightfully blame him. So, instead of telling her mother, or anyone who cared, that Kenton was a predator and an attempted rapist, she simply told her mother that "Kenton was making love to the both of us" (i.e. He kissed both of them because "making love" didn't mean sex back then).

It was sad and infuriating to watch. I was literally yelling, "Tell your mom he tried to rape you!!!" as Lee let her mother fall in love with, and almost marry Kenton. It was driving me crazy--the decorum, the properness, the stark stupidity. There's a lot to like about early 20th century films, but there's a lot to hate as well.

Free on rarefilmm.

A Jerky Tale!

[JohnHowardReid · 1/10 · 21 August 2012]

I regard this movie as a dead loss. It's a difficult-to-follow tale of various misbegotten marriages, told in a jerky, deliberately haphazard style. So many irrelevant episodes are thrown into the pot that the main story becomes so charmlessly intersected that it's almost impossible to arouse one's interest in either its here-today-gone-tomorrow plot or its many repulsive characters. Silent star, Lilyan Tashman (who died in 1934), receives top billing and deserves the honor, but Charles Buddy Rogers is billed in second place, even though he is hardly in the movie at all. Buddy romances Peggy Shannon whom he meets on the train to Reno. Peggy is billed third, even though she has twice as much footage as Buddy. Incredibly, William "Stage" Boyd, who has only three or four fairly brief scenes takes fourth place. Even more amazingly, Irving Pichel, whom I don't even remember seeing in the movie at all, is prominently displayed on the movie's poster in the fifth and final position. The VintageFilmBuff DVD features an unusually long story synopsis on its back cover. This extremely detailed account mentions Pichel's brief appearance at the beginning of the movie, but also indicates that unbilled Tom Douglas, Peggy Shannon and Judith Wood had more important roles.

Matrimaniacs run amok in this fascinating Paramount Pre-Code

[melvelvit-1 · 8/10 · 29 September 2006]

Manhattan socialite Jackie Millet (Lilyan Tashman) is Reno-bound for her 4th divorce (or 5th ...no one remembers), much to the chagrin of her husband Robert (Irving Pichel) and her teen-age son Jeff (Tom Douglas) who considers Robert the father he never had. Jackie's daughter Lee (Peggy Shannon), home from college, is disappointed too, but decides to accompany her mother and on the train heading West, a romance blossoms between Lee and Tom (Charles "Buddy" Rogers), a mining engineer graduate en-route to San Francisco for a job interview. Offered an opportunity to work in the Orient, Tom writes to Lee, gets no response and goes to Reno to find out why. He's confronted with the fact that Lee has taken up with her mother's fast crowd and he strongly disapproves of their overall immorality. To make Tom jealous, Lee encourages the attentions of lounge-lizard Jerry "Ken" Kenton (William "Stage" Boyd) who is also there for a divorce. Ken's rich young wife Elise (Judith Wood) claims "If I can't have him, no one else will" and she calls New York and alerts Robert and Jeff to the fact Ken is romancing Lee. This news leaves Jeff in an agitated state and he, too, comes to Reno. When Ken woos Jackie and simultaneously tries to seduce Lee, Lee sees how foolish it was to play with Tom's affections. She's ready to marry him and relocate to Burma. Lee tells her mother of her plans but when Jackie tells Lee she's marrying Ken, anger, family shame and pent up resentments explode. As Jackie walks down the aisle yet again, shots ring out and the tale ends with a murder/suicide. Grief-stricken and repentant, Jackie urges Tom and Lee to go find happiness in Burma.

Like De Mille's pre-code Biblical epics, THE ROAD TO RENO manages to get a message across while wallowing in it's salacious subject matter. It exposes the "divorce racket" ("56 a day in Reno!" newspaper headlines scream) by showing the devastating effect serial marriage has on a family. The pulpy True Confessions-like plot also reflects pop culture of the times. Showgirl Peggy Hopkins Joyce was marrying and discarding millionaires at an alarming rate and film stars were often multi-wed. The script doesn't take itself too seriously either. A trip to Reno for a divorce is called "the cure", the celebration of one's divorce is a "freedom party" and liquor is referred to as "nerve tonic". When Lee runs wild, Tom accuses her of "going Reno". At the dude ranch, the ladies swim, horse-back ride, and take archery lessons in skimpy out-fits. Painted on the archery targets are men. A hefty dame named Blossom sails out of the courthouse squealing "I'm free!" and tosses her ring in the lake where it hits a fish on the head. She then drags the milquetoast she's with across the street to a judge to get hitched anew. They interrupt the judge just as he's hearing Mrs. Hitchcock's (gorgeous Adrienne Ames) divorce and Mrs. H isn't happy. Right after it's granted she goes back to her hotel and blows her brains out in the lobby. The prissy desk clerk sniffs "some people are just SO inconsiderate" but suddenly brightens when told he can now give the room to Mrs. Millet. Jackie is played by sleek femme-fatale Lilyan Tashman, a blinding platinum vision costumed by Travis Banton and her extravagant mannerisms and honey-toned purr border on intentional camp. The feline Tashman even makes the character's shallowness and vanity oddly endearing. It's very obvious she has no conception of the cause and effect her actions generate and excuses for her behavior are often made. Robert blames himself for the upcoming divorce because he foolishly allowed his wife male escorts as she loved to "go places and do things" and opines that early widowhood put her in a marry-go-round tailspin. She's often mistaken for Lee's sister and is momentarily dismayed to learn her daughter wants to marry ...but only because she'll become a (gasp!) grandmother. Former Follies beauty Peggy Shannon acquits herself well as Lee and even rises to the occasion when she has to scream "Stop Ken! Stop ...or I'll ...HATE you!" when he corners her in his bungalow. A Pre-Code sensibility of sexual misbehavior and disregard for the law is present throughout. The women carouse 24/7. They have all-day drinking parties before heading out at night to gamble, dance and drink some more ...even though Prohibition didn't end until 1933. Hard-bitten tart Wynne Gibson (a cross between Mayo Methot and Betty Boop) plays Mrs. It-rich, a perpetually tipsy divorcée as a running gag throughout the film. Even the attractively intense Judith Wood (as Elise) makes a drunken spectacle of herself. In Reno, divorcées are generally selfish, hedonistic and rather reckless. At The Pussy Willow Cafe, lovely Leni Stengel (Mrs. Howes) gazes longingly at the piano-player before slithering off her barstool to join him on the piano bench and Mrs. It-rich latches on to any man that happens by. On the other hand, the men in their orbit all seem decent, moral and indulgent with the exception of Ken ...and the gaggle of escorts that hovered around Jackie back in Manhattan. William "Stage" Boyd plays the villainous Ken with relish, boyishly handsome heart-throb "Buddy" Rogers emotes earnestly as Tom, and Tom Douglas plays teen-aged Jeff as a very troubled youth scarred by his mother's lifestyle. Other (uncredited) denizens of the casino are beautiful blonde Claire Dodd, darkly debonair Kent Taylor and gay blond society playboy Anderson Lawlor who was living with Gary Cooper at the time.

THE ROAD TO RENO is an Art Deco lover's dream and a must-see for anyone interested in Pre-Code Hollywood. It originally started filming with Carman Barnes in the Peggy Shannon role. Paramount promoted Carman as the successor to Clara Bow all through the spring/summer of 1931. Why she was scrapped and whatever became of her is still a mystery.

Lilyan Tashman Was One of a Kind!!!

[kidboots · 9/10 · 11 July 2013]

She usually played slinky blonde vamps and with her tongue planted very firmly in her cheek nobody took her seriously least of all Lilyan. She was so much fun to have around and was a must in these type of sophisticated pre-code comedy/dramas. Unfortunately this movie had more drama than laughs so apart from the start when she was shown clowning around with a gaggle of guys, much to the despair of her decent but soon to be ex-husband you couldn't really say she stole the movie!!

With a bubbly version of "Just One More Chance" playing in the background the audience is on their way to Reno where Adrienne Ames, as a young woman, shows the downside of quickie divorces. Her death paves the way for experienced divorcée Jackie (Tashman) to occupy her usual suite at the Reno Hotel. Confidant Lilyan was not afraid to play "old" - her children Lee (Peggy Shannon was only 8 years younger than Tashman!!) and Jeff (Tom Douglas) are both trying to convince her not to divorce her latest husband Robert (Irving Pichel) who has been a terrific father to them. Lee follows her mother to Reno to keep an eye on her and ends up being romanced on the train by engineer Tom (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) so even though Shannon wasn't the star she did have the pivotal role. When Peggy started "The Road to Reno" she probably thought the world was her oyster. Brought to Hollywood as an insurance by Paramount against the ailing Clara Bow she was immediately put into "The Secret Call" (after only a few days notice) when Clara suffered a nervous breakdown. Critics raved and predicted a bright future for the new "It Girl" but by the end of the year she had been dropped by Paramount and was working at fly by night studio World Wide. She complained her films were flimsy and lacking in merit but the unfortunate truth was that she was already a confirmed drinker and becoming unreliable.

Anyway back to the story - once in Reno Jackie takes up with a new crowd ("Skeets" Gallagher is on hand with some funny quips) that includes slimy Ken who is there to divorce his rich young wife and is on the lookout for rich wife no. 2 and mother or daughter, when he sees Jackie and Lee, he is not particular. William "Stage" Boyd was renowned for his "bad" living, drink and drugs etc (he died in 1935) and he looked awfully unhealthy in this movie - it was hard to believe beautiful Lee could fall for his oily charms. Hanging around in the background is Elsie (Judith Wood, another bright young face whose career went nowhere), Ken's drunken wife, who ominously claims "if I can't have him no one can"!! She doesn't get the chance as Jeff, realising his mother is about to marry a man who is happy to keep his sister as the main course, literally goes gunning for him!!

I thought this was a snappy little pre-code made all the better by Wynne Gibson as a dizzy divorcée ("Hey! what do you mean - my name's Mrs. It-Ritch"!!) always on hand to lighten up the movie!!