Love, we're told by Barbara Stanwyck in director William Wellman's farming epic "The Purchase Price," isn't earned, it's given. This pre-Code, turn of the century yarn about a night club canary, Joan Gordon (Barbara Stanwyck of "Baby Face"), finds her struggling to leave her life as a bootlegger's prize and hide somewhere she won't be found. Joan has left the States and gone to Montreal. She learns about a matrimonial outfit that does Cupid's work, bringing lonely souls together as husband and wife, often sight unseen, except for photograph, and takes advantage of it. Seems her maid Emily has sent a picture of Joan to a guy, Jim Gilson (George Brent of "Jezebel"), and she has decided to marry him. Joan offers the maid a $100 to take her place and live with Gilson on his wheat farm in North Dakota. The maid accommodates her, but she warns Joan that living in North Dakota on a farm has its disadvantages. Things don't get off on the right foot for Jim and Joan. Not long after they are married, their neighbors swarm onto the place for a wedding celebration. Meaning, they drink liquor, sing songs, dance, and generally make fools of themselves. One of Jim's neighbors is shifty Bull McDowell (David Landau of "Horse Feathers") and he coerces Joan into dancing with him. Later, we learn that Jim has suffered financial woes, and his farm is teetering on bank foreclosure. McDowell offers to take over Jim's debts if Joan will act as his house superior. Jim is too proud to buckle and insists that he has a few days before he loses the farm. Meantime, the bootlegger that Joan has been hiding from shows up in town. Unbeknownst to him, Jim has saved the guy from a freezing cold night and allowed him to spent time in their house. Naturally, Joan is surprised to see Eddie Fields (Lyle Talbot of "Fog Over Frisco"), and Eddie's ardor for her hasn't cooled. Somehow, Joan gets $800 out of Eddie before Jim storms into the beer hall where they are seated together at a table, and a fight breaks out between the two. Reportedly, the fight was staged with more realism that usual after Wellman told them not to pull their punches. This is a pretty rough fracas. Jim polishes his chief rival off for keeps. Joan sneaks over to the bank and pays the $800. Furthermore, she works out a plan involving a letter addressed to Jim that states his mortgage has been extended. Jim and Joan sow a crop of wheat, and conniving McDowell sends out troublemakers to burn it down. Jim had planned to sell the wheat and pay off his mortgage. The scene where Jim and Joan battling fires in the wheat field with water sodden blankets is exciting. Of course, everybody knows that North Dakota doesn't have mountains looming in the background. Apart from this obvious gaffe, "The Purchase Price" is an eminently watchable movie. Barbara Stanwyck distinguishes herself again, and David Landau is as scheming as ever. George Brent was in the early stages of his Warner Brothers career and he appears fit and trim. He doesn't light up the screen like Stanwyck. Veteran character actor Lyle Talbot delivers another sturdy performance as the married bootlegger who refuses to take no as an answer from Joan. The chief problem with "The Purchase Price" is that it concludes abruptly not long after the wheat field fire. Ultimately, as entertaining as it is with its message about love, Wellman's film could have provided greater closure.
Review of The Purchase Price
