Starring Barbara Stanwyck

TCM showed a series of old (early to mid 1930's) Barbara Stanwyck movies last week. Here's a summary.

Illicit 1931: Ann (Barbara Stanwyck) and Dick (James Rennie) are in love, but Barbara is afraid marriage will kill their romance. But people are starting to talk--they were seen weekending in Connecticut! Dick's father convinces them to marry and they become bored with each other. Ultimately love prevails. Watching a scene where Dick sneaks in late after being seen with an old flame, I suddenly realized that this was an earlier version of the Bette Davis film Ex-Lady. I didn't like either film: both suffer from a weak male lead. It's hard to understand why Barbara and Bette are so in love. 

Baby Face 1933: This is the best of the four movies I watched. Lily Powers is working in her father's speakeasy, harassed by a bunch of drunks. The only decent customer Cragg lends her a book by Nietzsche and tells her to use men, not let them use her. Stanwyck is brilliant in this scene; you see the exact moment when she understands and decides what to do. The cast is good: John Wayne appears as one of Lily's many conquests. Theresa Harris has one of her best parts as Lily's friend who later acts as her maid. 

The Secret Bride 1934: I wanted to watch this film to see Stanwyck working with Warren William. She is the governor's daughter and he is the attorney general. When the governor is accused of taking a bribe, they have to keep their marriage a secret while they try to exonerate the governor. It's just an okay film but has a good cast of Warners Brothers regulars. 

The Woman in Red 1935: First a quibble with the title. In the appropriate scenes Stanwyck is the mysterious girl in the red coat, not the woman in red. Stanwyck's shocking behavior in this film includes riding horses for a living and going on a yacht with an old friend without her husband's knowledge (but only because she couldn't reach him.) The film's synopsis focuses on a murder trial, but the film takes too long to get there and gets bogged down in gossip and romantic rivalries. I enjoyed Genevieve Tobin as a gossipy rival. 

Needless to say, Barbara is the best part of all of these films.