There's been a riot in San Francisco and the cops are looking to arrest Preston Foster for murder. He didn't do it, but waterfront dive owner Alison Skipworth hates the cops, so she sends him up to b-girl Dorothy Dell's room until things cool down. They talk, and Foster's youthful idealism makes her realize she can leave this life. Skipworth sends Foster out as a stoker to China, and he promises to come back for Dell. While on the black gang, he makes friends with Victor Maclaglen, and they become best of friends, talking to each other of the girl waiting for them.... not realizing both of them are talking about Dell.
It's a terrific Pre-Code, made just before the window closed. If Paramount offered the glossiest of settings, here's proof they could offer the sleaziest, especially under the co-direction of William Cameron Menzies, who spent most of his film career as a set designer, and knew how to use Vic Milner's camera for great pictures. Add in some great performances, including Maclaglen doing an early variation on Gypo from THE INFORMER and a great script, and you have a fine performance.
It's astonishing that Miss Dell is so good. This was her first movie. She was 19 when it was released, and her movements seem like someone who has been a major star in silents.
She would only make two more movies, alas. On June 8, 1934, she left a party in the company of Dr. Carl Wagner, who drove. The car left the highway, bounced off a palm tree and hit a boulder, killing her instantly.
It's a terrific Pre-Code, made just before the window closed. If Paramount offered the glossiest of settings, here's proof they could offer the sleaziest, especially under the co-direction of William Cameron Menzies, who spent most of his film career as a set designer, and knew how to use Vic Milner's camera for great pictures. Add in some great performances, including Maclaglen doing an early variation on Gypo from THE INFORMER and a great script, and you have a fine performance.
It's astonishing that Miss Dell is so good. This was her first movie. She was 19 when it was released, and her movements seem like someone who has been a major star in silents.
She would only make two more movies, alas. On June 8, 1934, she left a party in the company of Dr. Carl Wagner, who drove. The car left the highway, bounced off a palm tree and hit a boulder, killing her instantly.