George Raft's character(Joe) owns an up and coming high class NYC speakeasy, in a converted former mansion. The screenplay follows his infatuation with a cultured "Park Avenue" girl(played by Constance Cummings) who has been frequenting his club, usually alone. He discovers that she grew up in the former mansion where his club is, that her family lost it in the '29 crash, and that is why she frequents his club. She has a boyfriend(played by Louis Calhern), who occasionally shows up, but Raft hopes to woo her away from him, as his ticket to respectability. Additionally, he hires an aging grand dame school teacher(played by Alison Skipworth)to help him clean up his grammar and polish his manners. Raft contrasts Constance's aurora with that of his 2 low class chlorine girlfriends, played by Wynne Gibson and Mae West.
Another important facet of the plot is a rival speakeasy whose business has been much hurt by the success of Raft's club. Initially, Raft refuses to sell his business to them, except perhaps at an exorbitant price. Later, he changes his mind, and offers to sell it at a reduced price. Apparently, he did this to obtain enough money in the short term to further impress Constance, after he thinks she is warming up to him. But after he finds out this was a false impression, he reneges on the sale. Not a good idea, as he soon discovers! Raft and Constance now have a great deal of trouble making up their minds whether they love or hate each other. The last portion of the film gets pretty wild and I will leave it to you to find out. The hurried ending is rather unsatisfactory, as it leaves us up in the air. Surely, at only 73min. long, there was time for a more satisfying ending.
This film is part of the Mae West Essential Collection DVD, which includes 9 of her early films. After success on Broadway, this was her first film role, though hardly a starring role. Of Raft's 3 women, she came across as the least attractive and least interesting, being older, at near 40, than the others. Her role was not really essential to the film. Wynne Gibson, as Raft's latest moll, was more essential to the plot. She was stereotyped in films as a tough, but good looking, low class broad.
Raft does a good job in his first starring role. Having grownup in Hell's Kitchen and frequenting clubs as a dancer, he was typecast as a tough guy of one sort or another, in his early career. Constance is a delight, although her character was oversensitive to her status as a Park Avenue girl. Interestingly, of the 4 lead characters, she was the only one who didn't grow up in some part of greater NYC.
I'm sure the plot of the self-made owner of an entertainment establishment, encountering a free classy girl down on her luck, and hoping to use her as a stepping stone toward respectability, has been done in films many times. I am familiar with several such, including "San Francisco", starring Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald.
Another important facet of the plot is a rival speakeasy whose business has been much hurt by the success of Raft's club. Initially, Raft refuses to sell his business to them, except perhaps at an exorbitant price. Later, he changes his mind, and offers to sell it at a reduced price. Apparently, he did this to obtain enough money in the short term to further impress Constance, after he thinks she is warming up to him. But after he finds out this was a false impression, he reneges on the sale. Not a good idea, as he soon discovers! Raft and Constance now have a great deal of trouble making up their minds whether they love or hate each other. The last portion of the film gets pretty wild and I will leave it to you to find out. The hurried ending is rather unsatisfactory, as it leaves us up in the air. Surely, at only 73min. long, there was time for a more satisfying ending.
This film is part of the Mae West Essential Collection DVD, which includes 9 of her early films. After success on Broadway, this was her first film role, though hardly a starring role. Of Raft's 3 women, she came across as the least attractive and least interesting, being older, at near 40, than the others. Her role was not really essential to the film. Wynne Gibson, as Raft's latest moll, was more essential to the plot. She was stereotyped in films as a tough, but good looking, low class broad.
Raft does a good job in his first starring role. Having grownup in Hell's Kitchen and frequenting clubs as a dancer, he was typecast as a tough guy of one sort or another, in his early career. Constance is a delight, although her character was oversensitive to her status as a Park Avenue girl. Interestingly, of the 4 lead characters, she was the only one who didn't grow up in some part of greater NYC.
I'm sure the plot of the self-made owner of an entertainment establishment, encountering a free classy girl down on her luck, and hoping to use her as a stepping stone toward respectability, has been done in films many times. I am familiar with several such, including "San Francisco", starring Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald.