Virtue (1932)

Director:

Edward Buzzell

Writers:

Robert Riskin (screenplay)
Ethel Hill (story)

Release Date:

25 October 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Yesterday A Lady With A Past. Today The Wife Of The Man She Loved!

Plot:

A relationship gradually develops between a savvy New York street girl and a good-hearted cab driver--who first meet when she stiffs him for the fare--but other matters keep getting in their way, including financial problems and a murder. |

Plot Keywords:

Waitress | Train | Manslaughter | Infidelity | Marriage

Cast

Carole Lombard	...	Mae
Pat O'Brien	...	Jimmy Doyle
Ward Bond	...	Frank
Shirley Grey	...	Gert Hanlon
Mayo Methot	...	Lil Blair
Jack La Rue	...	Toots O'Neil
Willard Robertson	...	Detective MacKenzie
Lew Kelly	...	Magistrate (scenes deleted)
Fred Santley	...	Hank (scenes deleted)
Arthur Wanzer	...	Flanagan
Jessie Arnold	...	Landlady
Edwin Stanley	...	District Attorney

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Edward LeSaint' in the role as "Magistrate" is in studio records/casting call lists as a cast member, but he did not appear or was not identifiable in the movie. The role of "Magistrate" was credited onscreen to Lew Kelly, but he also did not appear. And neither did Fred Santley, credited onscreen as "Hank."

Quotes:

[first lines]
Flanagan: [at the ticket window at a train station] Pretty soft for you, sister, getting the city to pay your fare to Danbury.
Mae: Pretty soft for the city I don't live in Australia. C'mon, grandpa.
Flanagan: [on the train, placing Mae's luggage on the rack] There y'are.
[to the conductor]
Flanagan: The lady goes to Danbury, chief.
[to Mae]
Flanagan: Now take my advice, sister, and keep out of New York.
Mae: [snidely] OK, grandpa. I'll remember all your advice: I'll watch my diet, go to the dentist twice a year, keep my nose clean, and pray for you every night - to break a couple of legs.
[...]

Soundtrack:

My Gal Sal

"VIRTUE Has It's Rewards But Not at the Box Office"

The above quote is one of Mae West's more famous off-screen quips and although it wasn't made about the 1932 picture VIRTUE but it could have been given this is a sharp little pre-code drama from Columbia that may have failed with ticket takers but still holds one's interest a good 70 years after production was completed.

The very young Carole Lombard stars as Mae (!!) a rather chic and smart street walker (especially compared to her contemporaries in the film) who unexpectedly finds true love with loud-mouthed cab driver Pat O'Brien who is oblivious to her past. Shortly after their wedding he finds out the truth and struggles to keep his faith in her. The script to this little programmer is by Robert Riskin and features excellent and credible dialogue, not "snappy patter" a hackneyed writer might have gone with. Lombard is superb in this and even the often predictable O'Brien does really good work here. TCM aired this long-unseen little gem with zero fanfare for the first time in December 2007, let's hope they'll also go in the vaults to get Lombard's other rare Columbia films NO MORE ORCHIDS and BRIEF MOMENT.