They Call It Sin (1932)

Director:

Thornton Freeland

Writers:

Alberta Stedman Eagan (novel)
Lillie Hayward (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 November 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

With time on his hands during a business trip, Jimmy Decker (who's engaged to his boss's daughter) romances small-town church organist Marion Cullen...

Plot Keywords:

Theatrical Producer | Organist | Church | Kansas | Self Sacrifice

Cast

Loretta Young	...	Marion Cullen
George Brent	...	Dr. Tony Travers
Una Merkel	...	Dixie Dare
David Manners	...	James E. 'Jimmie' Decker
Helen Vinson	...	Enid Hollister
Louis Calhern	...	Ford Humphries
Joseph Cawthorn	...	Robert A. Hollister (as Joe Cawthorne)
Nella Walker	...	Mrs. Hollister
Elizabeth Patterson	...	Mrs. Cullen
Erville Alderson	...	Timothy Cullen

Also Known As:

The Way of Life (UK)

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2639-R, 3 September 1936 for re-release)

Company:

First National Pictures

Quotes:

Marion Cullen: I've answered ads for everything from a waitress to a lady's maid, and it's always the same old story - ten girls for every job.
Dixie Dare: My trouble's just the opposite - ten jobs and only one Dixie Dare!

Soundtrack:

Where Are You

Gotta love these pre-code Loretta Young movies

"They Call it Sin" is a 1932 film starring Loretta Young, George Brent, Una Merkel, Louis Calhern and David Manners. It's about a small-town beauty named Marion who falls in love with a man, James Decker (Manners) passing through town. He is engaged to another woman. It doesn't stop him, however, from falling in love with Marion. After a row with her parents and finding out she's adopted, Marion heads for New York, hoping to do something with her musical talent, and looks up Decker. Disillusioned upon learning he's engaged, she eventually takes up with a producer (Louis Calhern) who has a bad reputation as far as women are concerned. When he realizes she's in love with someone else, he fires her from his show and steals the music she wrote. Trouble follows.

Una Merkel plays dancer Dixie Dare, Marion's roommate, and she's a riot - wait until you catch her dance act sans the cartwheels she was hired to do. George Brent is a doctor friend of Manners who finds himself falling for Marion. All in all, it's a very attractive cast. As was the style in the early '30s, Loretta is blonder here than most people will remember her. The luminous Young is gorgeous in a series of outfits. Some people criticize her acting - I have always found her very natural and believable.

There was nothing new even in 1932 about the young girl in the big bad city, but the cast makes this film fresh and holds one's attention. It's not a long movie, but for the time it lasts, it's entertaining.