Only fans of Barbara Stanwyck will find ILLICIT anything more than a tedious bore. She has a refreshing quality as a young woman who thinks marriage will spoil her relationship with a rich man (James Rennie). On the side, Ricardo Cortez hopes the marriage will turn sour so he can continue romancing Stanwyck.
That's all there is to the plot which has absolutely no pacing or any dramatic tension. The poor print quality shown on TCM hasn't been restored and the sound is on the primitive side too. Surprisingly, the film has been close captioned.
Stanwyck is the only redeeming virtue the film has. Unfortunately, the script is full of dated clichés and much of the plot has no originality whatsoever. Tedious stuff, although I'm sure pre-code addicts will have a differing opinion.
The Vitaphone orchestra conducted by Louis Silvers is quiet throughout, only giving a hint of music for the film's opening credits but the soundtrack is full of loud hissing sounds.
That's all there is to the plot which has absolutely no pacing or any dramatic tension. The poor print quality shown on TCM hasn't been restored and the sound is on the primitive side too. Surprisingly, the film has been close captioned.
Stanwyck is the only redeeming virtue the film has. Unfortunately, the script is full of dated clichés and much of the plot has no originality whatsoever. Tedious stuff, although I'm sure pre-code addicts will have a differing opinion.
The Vitaphone orchestra conducted by Louis Silvers is quiet throughout, only giving a hint of music for the film's opening credits but the soundtrack is full of loud hissing sounds.