This film re-teams some of the cast from 1929's Dynamite - Charles Bickford, Conrad Nagel, and Leslie Fenton. "The pagan lady" is Evelyn Brent, even though that is a bit of a misnomer, although Brent's character, Dot Hunter, does fall into the dictionary definition of the term pagan - someone who has no religion and delights in sensual pleasures.
Dot starts out as a bartender in Havana when in walks Dingo Mike (Charles Bickford) and orders up a drink that sounds like something you'd consume on a dare. He drinks the concoction down in one swallow and also manages to outsmart Dot's boss and his rum-running hooligans. You see, Dingo is a bootlegger himself. He literally sweeps the lady off her feet and they set up housekeeping in a tropical hotel full of colorful characters, some of whom are in the bootlegging business too.
Dingo takes off for a business trip, and while he's gone a fire-breathing pastor and his nephew (Conrad Nagel), a rather reluctant pastor-to-be, take up residency in the hotel. Dot is bored so she decides to entertain herself by seducing the naive young pastor. Things don't work out like she planned.
The plot is really nothing to write home about. The main attraction is Brent's acting. She gave some rather uneven performances early on in talkies having originally been a silent actress, but she's really on her mark here as a gal who has probably had a tough time of it over the years and knows how to take any loss or setback on the chin. Just don't expect a big dose of Bickford here. He's terrific when he's on screen, but he disappears completely for about half of the film.
Honorable mention goes to Roland Young as an often intoxicated doctor who plays the part of peacemaker and counselor when he can, and to Leslie Fenton and Gwen Lee as battling bootlegger husband and wife.
Dot starts out as a bartender in Havana when in walks Dingo Mike (Charles Bickford) and orders up a drink that sounds like something you'd consume on a dare. He drinks the concoction down in one swallow and also manages to outsmart Dot's boss and his rum-running hooligans. You see, Dingo is a bootlegger himself. He literally sweeps the lady off her feet and they set up housekeeping in a tropical hotel full of colorful characters, some of whom are in the bootlegging business too.
Dingo takes off for a business trip, and while he's gone a fire-breathing pastor and his nephew (Conrad Nagel), a rather reluctant pastor-to-be, take up residency in the hotel. Dot is bored so she decides to entertain herself by seducing the naive young pastor. Things don't work out like she planned.
The plot is really nothing to write home about. The main attraction is Brent's acting. She gave some rather uneven performances early on in talkies having originally been a silent actress, but she's really on her mark here as a gal who has probably had a tough time of it over the years and knows how to take any loss or setback on the chin. Just don't expect a big dose of Bickford here. He's terrific when he's on screen, but he disappears completely for about half of the film.
Honorable mention goes to Roland Young as an often intoxicated doctor who plays the part of peacemaker and counselor when he can, and to Leslie Fenton and Gwen Lee as battling bootlegger husband and wife.
