Love Is a Racket (1932) User Reviews

Cynicism draped with roses

[krorie · 6/10 · 16 April 2006]

This almost seventy-five year old programmer holds up amazingly well due in large part to the skilled acting of the leads, a witty script that keeps everything lighthearted, and the masterful direction of William A. Wellman. The title may sound silly but if the viewer watches the entire film, "Love is a Racket" is explained by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. at the very end via a harangue on the ephemeral nature of romantic love.

Filled with cynicism draped with roses Fairbanks learns about love from all the wrong people, in particular from the wily, ambitious Mary Wodehouse (Frances Dee), who has been spoiled rotten by her Aunt Hattie Donovan. Seems Mary has been bouncing checks and wants Jimmy Russell (Fairbanks) to bail her out. When he attempts to retrieve the hot checks by asking the holders to wait a while before cashing them, he learns that a mobster has picked them up already. When Jimmy finds the mobster dead, he takes possession of the checks and makes it all look like a suicide unawares that his columnist buddy, Stanley Fiske (Lee Tracy), is watching.

This little gem from the early days of the Great Depression is well worthwhile and still entertaining even after seven decades.

a racket indeed

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 24 December 2007]

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. decides that "Love is a Racket" in this 1932 film directed by William Wellman and also starring Ann Dvorak, Frances Dee and Lee Tracy. Fairbanks Jr. is Jimmy Russell, who writes a Broadway beat column. He's in love with a young actress (Dee) who finds herself in debt to a criminal and asks Jimmy for help.

The story is okay, with a twist at the end. What impressed me the most is how underrated Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is. He's just wonderful here, as he has been in many other films - perhaps he never got that one breakthrough role. He was in an era of stultifying competition - Errol Flynn, Brian Aherne, David Niven, Ronald Colman - but acting-wise, he was very versatile, talented and charming.

The acting overall is quite good and doesn't suffer from some of the melodramatic work seen in early films.

Understandable

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 18 May 2017]

The title is something Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. concludes at the end of this film. Perfectly understandable after all he goes through in the running time.

Fairbanks is a reporter on the Broadway beat modeled after of course Walter Winchell who was just going into high gear in his career. The column that Fairbanks writes dishes dirt on both the Broadway and gangland scene and how they mix on more than one occasion. As such he's made an enemy out of gangster Lyle Talbot whom I think is based on Owney Madden.

Promising Broadway newcomer Frances Dee has gotten into a nice jackpot with bum checks that Talbot has assumed the debts for. He wants payment however one way or another.

Fairbanks is crazy about her even though Ann Dvorak is crazy about him. He certainly goes above and beyond for her in the film and no good deed goes unpunished.

Lee Tracy has a nice part in a sidekick role for Fairbanks. Warren Hymer is one of Talbot's gunsills. Hymer has a little more menace to him than usual, but just as dumb.

This is a nice pre-Code drama, note some of the items when the camera goes to Fairbanks's column. Some really nice and saucy double entendre there.

In the best Walter Winchell style of course.

Just misses being a pre-Code classic

[bensonj · 7/10 · 31 October 2000]

This is a highly entertaining film that just misses being a pre-Code era classic. Doug Jr. is a Broadway columnist and Tracy his sidekick in this comedy-melodrama told in Wellman's odd straight-ahead style. Doug's a winning hero, and Frances Dee perfect as a truly sexy, selfish bitch who could string anyone along. Warren Hymer is better than usual as a doofus who's nonetheless fairly quick witted. Tracy is a bit muted, but, as always, is a joy to watch. In this cynical world, the high road is NOT doing an expose of milk price-fixing. The wise-cracks are plentiful and fun, but they don't quite jump up off the paper.

pretty good D Fairbanks jr flick

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 14 December 2007]

A "pretty good" starring role for the dashing Douglas Fairbanks jr, who had good movies and bad movies. Here, he is a newspaper reporter Jimmy Russell, trying to catch a gal who cannot seem to settle down. Co stars are Ann Dvorak (Merrily we Live and Three on a Match) and Frances Dee (Little Women, Human Bondage), and Lee Tracy (Dinner at Eight), who has a most interesting biography on his page on IMDb. Oddly, we don't really know much about his character in this movie... he's just kind of there. Dedicated black- and- white- movie watchers will see Eddie Kane and Gino Corrado, who play waiters at Sardi's restaurant – they were assistants or sidekicks in just about every movie made since dirt was invented. Of course Russell (Fairbanks) has an adversarial relationship with his newspaper boss (although this film probably pre-dated most of the others that used that ploy).... and there are a couple of other hard to believe things going on here, but I won't spoil any plot monkey-business. Watch for the cool telephone gadget at the very beginning....and a long, lecture on love and life at the very end.

Love Is Never Having To Say You're Sorry

[boblipton · 7/10 · 5 April 2023]

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Is the Broadway columnist for a big New York paper. He's also in love with gorgeous Frances Dee, just back in the City with her aunt Cecil Cunningham. She's trying to promote a career, either on the stage or Park Avenue, and Doug is trying to help her with the former, as well as a fortune in rubber checks she's passed. But gangster Lyle Talbot is also interested in the lady, and has paid off the checks. He's expecting something in return. Can newspaper pals Lee Tracy and Ann Dvorak figure out where Fairbanks has been kidnapped to?

With that title and William Wellman directing, I was expecting a sardonic comedy; after all, he would helm NOTHING SACRED and ROXIE HART. But Wellman was a master of the tough-men-bonding-in-tough-circumstances stories that Howard Hawks and John Ford liked to tell, and it became clear about halfway through that this movie is about that. The humor starts to drain out of movie about a third of the way in, along with the idea of romantic love. It is replaced, though, with love born of respect and risks faced together. Nor does it limit itself to men, with Miss Dvorak giving one of her graceful, understated performances.

Like a friend you make on holiday

[1930s_Time_Machine · 6/10 · 8 September 2022]

The quality of films from 1931 was variable to say the least but if William Wellman's name was on the credits you could be assured of getting slick, professional and expertly made entertainment.

This is no exception although it's not exceptional.

Although Douglas Fairbanks Jr is definitely Clarke Gable if your studio can't afford the real Clarke Gable, he's fabulous in this. He's like someone you meet on holiday and think you've known since school. How he manages to do this is something only a few actors can do. His character is not unlike the role he played a year later in (the much better) 'Union Depot' but a bit more cynical. The rest of the cast too are all exceptional as well - everyone one of them. It's brilliantly put together, it's got excitement, plays with your emotions with menace, excitement and hope and you will enjoy watching this ...but somehow 24 hours later, like that bloke you met on holiday, you'll have forgotten it as though you were at the bathtub brew, had a great time somewhere but can't quite remember.

Maybe because it's so well made (not just for 1931) you don't notice how lightweight the story actually is. Maybe because you'll forget that you've seen it is a good excuse to watch it again - it's worth it.

Decent

[Michael_Elliott · 28 February 2008]

Love is a Racket (1932)

** (out of 4)

Boring melodrama about a gossip writer (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) who falls in love with a struggling actress (Frances Dee) but she might be two timing him with a gangster (Lyle Talbot). William A. Wellman must have fallen asleep in the director's chair because there's not an ounce of energy in this film. Even by 1932 standards the film seems dated and rather routine. There's really not a single thing going for it as we sit there waiting for something to happen yet it never does. Fairbanks is very bland and boring in his role. At the end he gets a big speech about love, which comes off very silly. Frances Dee is good in her role but she doesn't have too much to do. Lee Tracy and Ann Dvorak co-star.

Wellman in the zone

[michaelchager · 7/10 · 1 November 2023]

This was released by First National loaded with top star prospects. The problem is how seriously should the reporter take covering up a murder. Is it part of the ethics of the newspaper racket that sometimes you make it up or underreport. Or if it is a racketeer victim is it in the category of his occupational hazard. Or is it for love. So here the murder is among friends and family. And who actually would get sent up is kept a secret from authorities unless she were to come forward on her own. For love. That the reporters tampered with the evidence makes them accessories after the fact, but held as a family secret, inside the mistake of ever having gotten mixed up in the love triangle. Never mind the bullet wound that was the cause of death or the condition of the victim upon landing on the sidewalk. Notably, once the triangle was reduced to two parties a new third party immediately took over to wrap up the plot.

marginal case

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 5 November 2023]

Jimmy Russell (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) writes a Broadway gossip column for the New York Globe and Sally Condon (Ann Dvorak) is his Girl Friday. He pursues Broadway It Girl Mary Wodehouse (Frances Dee) who is in terrible debt problem. That's before her debts are taken by dangerous gangster Eddie Shaw.

This is a crime newspaper drama with a sprinkling of comedy slap-dashed on top of it. I wanted more Ann Dvorak. I'm not really sold on Jimmy and Mary. She's more trouble than she's worth. I like the newspaper and gangster stuff but the comedy seems out of place. It's a bumpy ride and a marginal film.

Just okay...

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 20 January 2013]

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays a worldly-wise newspaperman whose beat is Broadway. He always seems to be one step ahead of everyone and is never a chump...except when it comes to one woman (Frances Dee). This lady has written some bad checks and he decides to help her. However, it all ends up backfiring on him. It's a shame, as his lovely assistant (Ann Dvorak) can't get him to notice her. When his lady love gets in trouble, he decides to help her....with results he never anticipated. Along for the ride are Lee Tracy as his sidekick and Lyle Talbot as the tough guy who has the rubber checks.

While this isn't a bad film, it isn't all that great either. One way I knew this is that as I watched, I kept finding my attention drifting. The dialog is a bit snappy but there just seems to be SOMETHING missing. I think it's fun...and perhaps an interesting plot. A time-passer and nothing more.

The title fits the film perfectly

[sws-3 · 9/10 · 2 October 1999]

This seedy, downbeat Broadway tale of love, money, ambition, and power makes for an entertaining film. Credit director William Wellman's felicity with the fast-paced Warner Bros style for the no-nonsense, snappy approach. Douglas Fairbanks Jr is very fine as the hardbitten gossip columnist with a fatalistic, romantic side, but Lee Tracy, Ann Dvorak, Frances Dee, Warren Hymer, and, especially, Cecil Cunningham as the conniving Aunt Hattie, do their best to steal the film. And, as this is a pre-code movie, who says a character can't get away with murder?

Dramatically Crude

[abooboo-2 · 5/10 · 16 April 2000]

This is a shapeless, dramatically crude time waster from director William Wellman's early years. He does a poor job of establishing characters and conflicts, and the result is a film without any forward thrust or momentum - nothing ever really comes into focus. There's a lot going on, but the viewer is never engaged by it - it's curious how none of it seems to matter very much.

Considering what a dynamite cast Wellman had to work with (Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Lee Tracy, Frances Dee), it's quite a disappointment. The surprise here, to me, is Fairbanks Jr. He is one cocky, dashing performer; a classic leading man, and his technique is remarkably fresh and contemporary - not overwrought and dated like some other actors of the period.

I was deceived

[lukefan · 2/10 · 1 September 2023]

For Warner Archive to use the word "comedy" in its description on the package for this DVD is so misleading. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Is great playing the Broadway beat writer & the rest of the cast is fine. But the story was so cynical & depressing. I know pre-codes don't involve high morals so for Jimmy's character to mess with a murder scene rubbed me the wrong way. And Mary, the character played by Frances Dee, was a piece of work. At the end I felt like there should have been another movie made with Ann Dvorak and Fairbanks Jr. Only a romantic comedy to make up for the bad taste I had at the end of this film.

"And if I felt half as good as you look, I'd go out and kill myself while it lasted."

[imogensara_smith · 8/10 · 29 January 2009]

I saw LOVE IS A RACKET at the Museum of Modern Art on a dismal, rainy, slushy winter day, and it is exactly the bubbly pre-Code cocktail I would have dreamed up as the ideal entertainment for such a time. The plot—some nonsense about a "milk racket" and a flock of rubber checks—is merely a flimsy scaffolding for all the fun stuff. This flick has everything: non-stop slang and snappy patter, great music and settings (many scenes take place in Sardi's, or a reasonable facsimile thereof), gratuitous leg art, a practical-joke-loving goon, and a gotten-away-with murder. Loath to waste time on exposition, the movie just plunges us into a world of racketeers, Broadway babies, and reporters who wake up at 5 pm, go on the town, and come back to do a little furious two-finger typing before dawn.

If this is a pre-Code movie about reporters, then logically it must feature Lee Tracy. Sure enough, though he isn't the star, he's the hero's best pal, and he's at his shamelessly scene-stealing best. He gives every small moment a riveting flourish: juggling a telephone and a shaving brush; body-checking another reporter to get to the phone; declaring his love for Ann Dvorak through a mouthful of steak ("Say, if you loved me half as much as you love that steak I'd surrender just out of pity," she replies tartly); hamming up the agony as he climbs into a cold bath in his pajamas to win a $50 bet; delivering lines like, "Well I'll be a double-jointed son of a...Bulgarian acrobat." But Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. holds his own in the lead, helped by a perfect profile, a twinkle in his eye and a sense of mischief. He has some sexy moments and also some very funny ones, like when he curtsies to a "pansy" dress designer, or announces that he's "going to get what was known among the ancient Athenians as 'swacko.'"

Ann Dvorak's role gives her little to do besides hang around vainly hoping Doug will notice her, but she does get some nice, biting lines, as when she replies to her rival's polite how-do-you-do, "Oh, fine. Just a slight touch of leprosy." Frances Dee looks luscious and wears the cat-with-the-cream expression of a girl who knows her face will get her whatever she wants. Lyle Talbot, dressed as usual in black tie and a light coating of slime, plays the gangster who runs the milk racket, and delivers the movie's best line (see the subject line above) when he makes a heavy play for Miss Dee.

The most mind-blowing scene is set in a ravishing art deco penthouse where hot jazz plays on the radio ("Hittin' That Bottle") while the hero discovers a corpse and covers up the murder in a shocking, ruthlessly clever way. Under the froth, this is an astringent movie. Fairbanks's reporter has zero interest in taking on corrupt forces for the public good; it might be bad for his health, or at least his ability to get a good table at Sardi's. A cold-blooded murder is shrugged off because, after all, the guy deserved to die. And Fairbanks concludes the film with a brilliant speech about why "Love is just a mental disorder": it makes you waste your money, lie awake at night worrying, wait two hours for dinner when you're "hungry as a toothless timberwolf," and generally make an errand-boy and a fool of yourself. He vows that he will never again fall for one of these lady "racketeers." Somehow, with Ann Dvorak standing by, I have trouble believing him.

Exposing the Broadway Press.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 31 March 2014]

What starts off promising as a "Broadway Thru a Keyhole" type pre-code comedy turns into a typical Warner Brothers crime drama where the young version of Walter Winchell forgoes gossip of the backstage world to a criminal racket which results in one-dimensional crooks on his trail. The comical interaction between Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and hanger-on pal Lee Tracy hits the mark when Fairbanks offers him $50 for stepping into an icy tub. Then there are the women, social climber Frances Dee and the more loyal Ann Dvorak. Everything is fine up to this point while the script surrounds their interactions but then slides into typical Warner Brothers territory under the racket angle with stereotypical characters played by Warren Hymer and Lyle Talbot. Crisp dialog and a few shocking moments of violence can't hide the fact that this element of the script had been done many times before and would be done many times after, but better. So much potential withered down to a short but not so sweet reminder of "been there, done that...".

Love IS a racket, but this movie wasn't the one to tell it

[view_and_review · 5/10 · 11 February 2024]

A "racket" is a fraudulent scheme, enterprise, or activity. It was Jimmy Russell's claim that love is just such a thing. He may have a point.

Jimmy Russell (Douglas Fairbanks) was a reporter for the New York Globe who focused on Broadway news. He was head over heels for a socialite named Mary Wodehouse (Frances Dee) while his coworker, Sally Condon (Ann Dvorak), was crazy about him.

There was nothing Jimmy wouldn't do for Mary and his limits would be tested when she told him that she was broke. Not only was she broke, but she had also passed some checks that she couldn't cover.

In steps Eddie Shaw (Lyle Talbot), local criminal big shot. He covered all of Mary's checks. You know that old saying: "you can't get something for nothing." Eddie didn't cover those checks out of the kindness of his heart, he wanted some alone time with Mary in return even if she was dating Jimmy Russell.

"Love is a Racket" is a First National production. I recently learned that First National used to be a movie theater chain then they went into the movie production business. They produced B movies and were bought out by Warner Brothers. First National made 353 films until WB dropped the First National name in 1958. "Love is a Racket" is one of the 353 films and it's not a memorable one. There was a lot of fast talking, metaphors, similes, and poetic speech. Some of the comedic references were very dated and went over my head.

It seems that all reporters were characterized the same back then. Whether it is "The Famous Ferguson Case," "Is My Face Red?," "Scandal Sheet," "Five Star Final," "Front Page," or "Love is a Racket," the reporters are fast talkers who wax poetically about almost every subject. They are lively and full of humor. Jimmy and his pal Stanley (Lee Tracy) could talk anyone under a table. It is OK in short bursts, but the live wire act went on a little too long for me.

Free on Odnoklassniki.

This precode has everything!

[AlsExGal · 9/10 · 16 April 2023]

Well, it may not have members of the clergy behaving unscrupulously, but it does have everything else you might see in a precode!

Jimmy Russell (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) is the Broadway reporter for New York's The Globe. He's in love with Mary Wodehouse (Frances Dee), an aspiring actress. And boy does she aspire! She has an ex-chorus girl aunt (Cecil Cunningham) as a guardian who wants her to marry well, and that does not include work a day reporters like Jimmy. But Mary wants what she wants when she wants it, and that includes nice clothes. In the middle of the Great Depression she has run up an astounding three thousand dollars in bad debts for clothes and shoes. That's sixty thousand dollars in 2023 dollars, just for comparison. And those bad debts and a gangster's hungry eye for pretty girls manages to get Mary and everybody who cares about her into quite the jam.

This is notable for being Lee Tracy's first role at Warner Brothers during his short but memorable stretch there, and he is almost immediately boosted to leading roles probably based on his performance here. He plays Jimmy's roommate and fellow reporter, and although he is playing in support, the strength of the film and its resolution rest on his reaction to what he thinks he sees. Warren Hymer has a good role here as a mob tough guy who is all muscles, especially in his head. The mistake Fox films made during the same era was trying to give Hymer bigger roles with more range than he could handle.

I'd give this a 10/10 rather than a 9/10, if not for one thing. That one thing is a situation towards the beginning involving a story on a milk racket perpetrated by a murderous gangster. Jimmy's fellow reporter is told to do a story on this, and then the editor changes his mind and tells him not to do it. Yet, for some reason, this reporter decides to do a sloppy story with lots of insinuations about the murderous gangster and then phones in the story where the gangster's mob is known to listen in on phone calls. This subplot does manage to introduce some of the characters and their opinions on certain kinds of stories in detail, but the whole thing is just dropped and it is never explained why Jimmy's colleague would do such a foolhardy thing in the first place.

If you are in the mood for a fast moving piece of precode irony, I can't recommend this high enough.

Love is a wow!

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 30 January 2014]

Terrific cast in a terrific movie, stylishly directed at a really fast pace by William A. Wellman. Mind you, we do have to wait a long time for the murder and it wasn't made plain to me that the victim was the character played by Lyle Talbot but I guess if you want events to unroll at speed, you can't stop the action to add necessary identification. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is billed large above the title and fully deserves this recognition. He gives a remarkably charismatic performance and manages to outclass the rest of the cast – even Lee Tracy who enjoys some typical high-pitched verbal routines. Frances Dee also gives the performance of her life as the Clayton's heroine (i.e. the heroine you have when you're not having a heroine) and is beautifully photographed by that master of noir cinematography, Sid Hickox. Oddly enough, Ann Dvorak is billed above everyone except Fairbanks, although her role is both small and not of great importance. Hickox doesn't seem to devote too much energy trying to light her attractively either, whereas he obviously spent hours lighting Fairbanks and Dee. I'd agree that Ann's face was a bit difficult to photograph Hollywood-style alluringly, but it could be done with time and patience. Available on an excellent Warner Archive DVD.

Bewitching Ann Dvorak - Love's Racketeer!!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 9 January 2012]

...that's what Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. calls Ann (or something similar) - he looks into her piquant face after a speech about love being just a racket and knows he will soon fall in love again. This enjoyable but inconsequential little movie had all the usual pre-code favourites ie Frances Dee, Lyle Talbot etc but the two most interesting players had definite supporting roles and how I wish they had the leads!!! Ann Dvorak did have the nominal female lead but she was secondary to breath taking Frances Dee as Mary, the predatory society girl with theatrical ambitions.

After cinemas were flooded with gangster movies in the early days of sound, the trend gradually died out. The movie gangster's personality, his brashness and unconventionality were soon picked up by the next big thing for the movies - the reporter and the gossip columnist. Lee Tracy had a phenomenal popularity in the early thirties. He was Broadway's brightest star whose play "Broadway" had just finished an astounding run of 603 performances and Hollywood desperately wanted him. He was a new, different type and his machine gun delivery of risqué lines made him an ideal pre-code personality. How wonderful and memorable he would have been in the lead but, like Ann, he was still a new kid on the block, so boring, conventional D.F.J. was given the lead.

The "milk racket" was a very real "racket" in the late 20s, early 30s. It involved a protection racket that preyed on the distribution of milk. Obviously, because it was aimed at children and babies not being able to receive their quota of milk, it drew anger from police and the public. It was also the subject of a "Crime Does Not Pay" short entitled "The Public Pays".

For a cynical columnist, Jimmie Russell (D.F.J.) is pretty goofy about Mary Wodehouse (Dee). He thinks it's love but viewers can instantly tell sweet Mary has an eye to the main chance and will cozy up to anybody who can help her showbiz hopes. On the sidelines is Sally (Dvorak), an ace reporter who will be there to pick up the pieces - definitely a thankless role for Miss Dvorak. There is a subplot about a milk racket exposure - Jimmie thinks it's too dangerous to get involved in but one of the other reporters, Seeley, takes it on and Jimmie has to think fast to get him out of a tight spot. That plot peters out and Seeley who should have been skipping the state can be glimpsed later on among a group of reporters.

The main plot involves love being a racket - big Ed Shaw (Lyle Talbot before he really was big!!) is also smitten with Mary and, unlike Jimmie, he is in a position to help her out with some bills she seems to have amassed. To Mary's credit she doesn't seem that interested - but how to explain her letters of credit found on Ed's body up at his penthouse!!! The movie does diverge from the usual by the numbers plot line for this segment and Jimmie does get the last laugh on Mary and her dragon of an Aunt Hattie (Cecil Cunningham).

Frances Dee was certainly given some interesting roles and she probably could have done a lot more with this part but, like Ann, she was not really an established star at this stage. Also the song that seems to be the movie's theme song is "Love, You Funny Thing", apparently very popular during the early thirties and popularized by Bing Crosby.

You know it's a precode when...

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 26 April 2024]

You know you're watching a precode when someone commits murder and goes unpunished. That's what happens to the aunt (Cecil Cunningham) of an aspiring Broadway actress (Frances Dee). Aunt Hattie has spent 19 years grooming her sweet niece for stardom and she is not going to let some two-bit hood (Lyle Talbot) gum up the works. When Talbot gloms on to the fact that Dee has been passing bad checks behind the aunt's back, he pays the outstanding debts but expects sexual favors in return.

At the same time there's a suave newspaper reporter (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) who along with his wisecracking pal (Lee Tracy) lives paycheck to paycheck. Some of their stories involve information they get from various gangland figures. Fairbanks is mad about Dee. But he can only give her the good life one night a week, on the day he's paid. So for the other six days, her auntie is pushing her towards a wealthy theater producer (Andre Luguet). But when Talbot interferes with everyone's plans, he has to be eliminated. Or so the aunt thinks.

This is when she visits Talbot's penthouse apartment one rainy night and shoots him. Fairbanks arrives on the scene just as she is hiding the gun in a potted plant and leaves. Why she didn't take the gun with her is beyond me. Then Fairbanks goes into the apartment and rearranges the crime scene to make it seem like Talbot got drunk and fell off a ledge. But wouldn't he still have a bullet hole in him?

At the end of the film Fairbanks sends other incriminating evidence he found at the scene to the aunt, to keep her in the clear. He does this even though Dee has dumped him and married Luguet. I guess we're supposed to root for Fairbanks helping the women out of a jam, but of course, he's perverting the course of justice and goes unpunished as well.

The film ends on a somewhat humorous note of Fairbanks realizing that the love women offer is a racket, though a faithful female friend (Ann Dvorak) is waiting in the wings to carry on with him. Never mind the fact that the men in this movie are the real racketeers and play just as many games with the womenfolk.