Sinners in the Sun (1932)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Alexander Hall

Writers:

Mildred Cram (novel)
Samuel Hoffenstein (writer)

Release Date:

13 May 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

A New York fashion model finds herself being pursued by a poor but honest garage mechanic and a rich philanderer. |

Plot Keywords:

Model | New York | Beautiful Woman | Based On Novel

Cast

Carole Lombard	...	Doris Blake
Chester Morris	...	Jimmie Martin
Adrienne Ames	...	Claire Kinkaid
Alison Skipworth	...	Mrs. Blake
Walter Byron	...	Eric Nelson
Reginald Barlow	...	Mr. Blake
Zita Moulton	...	Florence Nelson
Cary Grant	...	Ridgeway
Luke Cosgrave	...	Grandfather Blake
Ida Lewis	...	Grandmother Blake
Russ Clark	...	Fred Blake
Frances Moffett	...	Mrs. Fred Blake
Pierre de Ramey	...	Louis
Veda Buckland	...	Emma
Rita La Roy	...	Lil

Also Known As:

The Beachcomber (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Just One of Those Things

A beautifully written and sometimes magnificently played serious movie. Chester Morris and Carole Lombard love each other, but she is terrified of the corrosive effects of the life of poverty that she foresees with Morris. So they break up and they drift into lives as a kept woman and a gigolo.

The two are almost perfect in their roles; Chester Morris plays a character who is almost unable to phrase a clear thought and pulls it off beautifully, for a wonderful payoff scene. Miss Lombard only fails in one scene, towards the end, when she is contemplating suicide: I blame the heavy-handed direction of it rather than her performance. But the movie is riddled with wonderful performances: the always excellent Alison Skipworth as Lombard's supportive mother; Reginald Barlow as the father who gives her no chance; Adrienne Ames and Walter Byron as their likable seducers. Particularly good is Rita La Roy, an actress whom I have never noticed before, as a kept woman who kills herself -- alas, this was her best part in the movies, After her career faded out she sold yachts, Cary Grant is also present in a small role, in his second movie, but if you're not paying attention to the soundtrack you could easily miss him: his voice was far more distinctive than his good looks at this stage of his career.

There is a happy ending, but it feels forced. That is the one flaw in this movie. Otherwise it is well worth your time.