The very same year that this romantic drama concerning the private life of a troubled plastic surgeon was made, Eddie Cantor got to sing that famous standard in the musical classic "Roman Scandals". This film starts off with the profile of surgeon Ann Harding's career, going through the insecure arrival of an aging society matron (Helen Freeman) who has lost a recent lover and wants to get him back along with her youth. The opening segment follows her surgery and the revelation of how she looks, and what is sad is that while she does come back to see Harding and rave about how Harding's work did exactly what she wanted it to, she's still insecure on the inside knowing that ultimately, the looks regained from that surgery will soon fade away anyway. The shallowness of this situation causes Harding, while still young, to look at her own life which has her working long hours to make other women happy while she herself is miserable. She takes a vacation where she meets playboy pilot Robert Young who has the maturity of a teenager and in spite of her common sense telling her that he's no good for him, agrees to marry him on the spur of the moment anyway. But he's about as ready for a serious commitment as she is for retirement, and no amount of patience on her part (while not dealing with patients) will make him grow up.
One of the most popular leading ladies of the pre-code era of Hollywood, Ann Harding faded out of the spotlight (mostly by her own choice) in the late 1930's, returning as a character actress and always playing ladies of nobility whose platinum blonde bun was always neatly tucked in the back of her head and indicated that her characters were rather rigid. Harding here starts off in a different fashion of rigid, rather cold in her business dealings, but coming to life as she finds love with a most likely younger man. But is it really love or just infatuation on both parts? Young's reckless lifestyle gets him into messes one right after another, and Harding tries too hard to get him to see the error of his ways, often acting more like a mother than a lover to him. She doesn't realize that the perfect man for her (Nils Asther) is right in reach, having loved her all along, but too aware of the fact that she sees him only as her best friend and not in a romantic sense. The exotic Sari Maritza is the other woman, looking on Harding with silent contempt when they first meet at a party where Young in daredevil mode has allowed Maritza to take over the controls of the two seater plane he's flying, scaring everybody on the ground beneath them. This is an enjoyable pre-code drama that leaves a very worthwhile message for the women who want to marry and tame bad boys: It doesn't always work and will ultimately leave them with nothing but heartache.
One of the most popular leading ladies of the pre-code era of Hollywood, Ann Harding faded out of the spotlight (mostly by her own choice) in the late 1930's, returning as a character actress and always playing ladies of nobility whose platinum blonde bun was always neatly tucked in the back of her head and indicated that her characters were rather rigid. Harding here starts off in a different fashion of rigid, rather cold in her business dealings, but coming to life as she finds love with a most likely younger man. But is it really love or just infatuation on both parts? Young's reckless lifestyle gets him into messes one right after another, and Harding tries too hard to get him to see the error of his ways, often acting more like a mother than a lover to him. She doesn't realize that the perfect man for her (Nils Asther) is right in reach, having loved her all along, but too aware of the fact that she sees him only as her best friend and not in a romantic sense. The exotic Sari Maritza is the other woman, looking on Harding with silent contempt when they first meet at a party where Young in daredevil mode has allowed Maritza to take over the controls of the two seater plane he's flying, scaring everybody on the ground beneath them. This is an enjoyable pre-code drama that leaves a very worthwhile message for the women who want to marry and tame bad boys: It doesn't always work and will ultimately leave them with nothing but heartache.