The main reason to watch this film is to see the 17-year old Loretta Young in an early female lead. She is hardly recognizable from the face that movie buffs would soon see and remember for decades. Yet, she's every bit as beautiful a woman. For such a young actress she displays a mature talent. Young had been in silent films as a child, and by 1930 already had leading parts in several movies, including a couple of talkies before this one.
This isn't much of a story - a wealthy family whose members look to get even richer from a relative dowager's will. But there mustn't be a scandal among any of them, or the whole lot loses their inheritances. One can guess who the person might be who wants to raise a little cain.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. co-stars in this film, but he seems quite wooden. He was a big star of his day - a romantic idol for women, but he isn't more than a mediocre actor in his several films that I've seen. He seems wooden in all of his roles.
Many films were made since the talkies debuted in 1928 until the enforcement by Hollywood of it's Hays Code in 1934. Some people make a big deal out of that, but in truth the vast majority of films made in that period didn't have naughty content that should be censored. This is one such film.
One does wonder, though, how this and similar films went over with audiences of the day. After the stock market crash of 1929, the U.S. and world were plunged into the Great Depression for nearly a decade. How many people enjoyed watching films about the wealthy gallivanting around the world or living the high life? Indeed, with unemployment that peaked at 25% in the U.S. and up to 35% elsewhere in the world, how many people could even afford to go to the movies?
This isn't much of a story - a wealthy family whose members look to get even richer from a relative dowager's will. But there mustn't be a scandal among any of them, or the whole lot loses their inheritances. One can guess who the person might be who wants to raise a little cain.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. co-stars in this film, but he seems quite wooden. He was a big star of his day - a romantic idol for women, but he isn't more than a mediocre actor in his several films that I've seen. He seems wooden in all of his roles.
Many films were made since the talkies debuted in 1928 until the enforcement by Hollywood of it's Hays Code in 1934. Some people make a big deal out of that, but in truth the vast majority of films made in that period didn't have naughty content that should be censored. This is one such film.
One does wonder, though, how this and similar films went over with audiences of the day. After the stock market crash of 1929, the U.S. and world were plunged into the Great Depression for nearly a decade. How many people enjoyed watching films about the wealthy gallivanting around the world or living the high life? Indeed, with unemployment that peaked at 25% in the U.S. and up to 35% elsewhere in the world, how many people could even afford to go to the movies?