"Love is a rare thing. You throw it away, it may never come again." So says Kay Francis to her favorite cousin (Kay Johnson), a sweet, rich girl who has fallen in love with chauffeur Charles Bickford and plans to marry him against the wishes of her obstinate father (Winter Hall) who threatens to disown her. Bickford and Johnson marry, and move into an apartment building owned by the frenetic Zasu Pitts who always has a word of doom every time she stops into visit. Francis is married to the older Lewis Stone who allows her to have affairs but steps in when they get too intense. At first, Francis is her cousin's confidante, but as the marriage between Bickford and Johnson begins to suffer, Bickford confides to Francis whom he found at first to be pretentious and snobby. In the meantime, Johnson struggles to raise their child (Dickie Moore) while Bickford plays around with Francis. Eventually guilt takes over the two, and Francis begs Johnson to forgive her even as she plans to marry Bickford who has convinced Johnson to divorce him. But will a final meeting between Bickford, Johnson and Moore bring him to his senses about what he really wants? Not if Francis gets her way!
This pre-code drama shows its vixen (Francis) in a rather sympathetic light as the affair between her and Bickford doesn't simply happen out of nowhere and her devotion to her cousin brings on a reluctance to go forward with it. Of course, once she's involved, she's not willing to let go, and a confrontation between her and husband Stone (seen only briefly) makes her determination all the more to get Bickford down the aisle. Bickford, on his part, is obviously not content to become Francis's "fancy man", being much more independent and masculine than the stuffy members of Francis's social scene. Johnson never makes her plight turn her into a sob sister, being more intent on remaining strong for her son (an excellent Dickie Moore) and doing what she needs to do to survive. Of course, Pitts steals every scene she is in, whether talking about a spouse that ran off on her, a tenant who can't speak anymore because they are dead, or the little boy who lived in the building who was killed after being hit by a car. Only Pitts could deliver such tragic news and make the viewer laugh because of her dead-pan manner. This is one "Debbie Downer" type character that is actually amusing.
This pre-code drama shows its vixen (Francis) in a rather sympathetic light as the affair between her and Bickford doesn't simply happen out of nowhere and her devotion to her cousin brings on a reluctance to go forward with it. Of course, once she's involved, she's not willing to let go, and a confrontation between her and husband Stone (seen only briefly) makes her determination all the more to get Bickford down the aisle. Bickford, on his part, is obviously not content to become Francis's "fancy man", being much more independent and masculine than the stuffy members of Francis's social scene. Johnson never makes her plight turn her into a sob sister, being more intent on remaining strong for her son (an excellent Dickie Moore) and doing what she needs to do to survive. Of course, Pitts steals every scene she is in, whether talking about a spouse that ran off on her, a tenant who can't speak anymore because they are dead, or the little boy who lived in the building who was killed after being hit by a car. Only Pitts could deliver such tragic news and make the viewer laugh because of her dead-pan manner. This is one "Debbie Downer" type character that is actually amusing.