Like father, like son. So that theme plays throughout this 1932 MGM comedy that stars Robert Montgomery, and some top supporting actors of the day. Montgomery is the son in the duo, Max Clement, with C. Aubrey Smith playing his dad, Florian Clement. This is a very meaty and quite different role for Smith, a favorite supporting actor of the time. The two have pet names for one another -- "junior" and "senior." And that the son apes his father is not a compliment in this case. They are members of high society, idle rich who squandered away the inheritance from Florian's wife. Now, they are spongers.
The two live together, and spend their nights out living the high life. Florian has one dictum for his son - marry for money, as he did - not for love. How else will they be provided for in their lives of leisure? "But the Flesh is Weak," and love is sometimes stronger than money - or is it?
Among the rest of the cast are two supporting actors that most movie buffs will know. Edward Everett Horton plays Sir George Kelvin and Nils Asther plays Prince Paul. The two top female roles are not well-known. Heather Thatcher had a moderate film career from the end of the silent films to the mid-1950s. She plays Lady Joan Culver, whose father is the very wealthy Duke of Hampshire, played by Frederick Kerr. But Nora Gregor, who plays a young widow, Mrs. Rosine Brown, is in her only Hollywood film in English. When Lady Joan introduces them at her party, Max falls head over heels in love with Rosine, in spite of Senior's admonishments to marry for money. But Rosine herself has no money and seeks to marry for money as well.
One can imagine how this will all play out. But Max's forceful handling of Rosine is way out of line. Rosine is pursued by Sir Kelvin, who is loaded with dough, but she also falls for Max. The two decide that love is more important and they can make it together. The film takes a couple of twists and turns with various characters, and when Senior loses heavily at cards and had to write a bad check to cover his huge debt, it means jail for him the next day. Max goes to Lady Joan, whom he was first attracted to. Joan had hit it off with Max and now agrees to marry him. When they tell the Duke, he's delighted and stops the party going on to announce Joan's engagement and introduce her fiancé. Unfortunately, Rosine is at the party and hears the announcement, so she is shocked and starts to leave. Max follows and tells her that he had to marry for money to save his dad from prison.
In the meantime, Senior bit the bullet and proposed marriage to Lady Ridgway (Eva Moore), from whom he got the immediate cash to cover his check at the bank. When he arrives at the Duke's party outside, he tells Max that he has done it so he doesn't want Max to make the same mistake he did. Max goes to tell Lady Joan the whole story, she thanks him for his honesty, and Max goes off with Rosine. Lady Joan explained to her father and others that she and Max had concocted their engagement as a joke on her dad, not thinking he would announce it. The film ends with Max and Rosine together in love - now that dad is able to provide for them.
One wonders how many others viewers may have noticed something quite important that the ending just skips over. That is Lady Joan, whom Max jilted, and is now hurt and alone. For as unconventional as she was, she was the kindest, most sincere and decent person of the entire film.
Remembering that this movie came out in the early years of the Great Depression, one wonders how audiences saw it. Most people around the world were hurt by or suffering from the depression. Yet, there still was a segment of the wealthy that not only didn't lose everything but still carried on as though nothing had changed. There were also some extremely selfish and self-centered people such as Max and Florian who could care less about the plights of others - so long as they could have fun and be taken care of. Hedonism was very much the lifestyle of such people in the midst of want.
For a comedy, this film has such dark overtones. It doesn't have a witty script or any funny antics. What little comedy there is is mostly with the father-son team and between Max and Lady Joan when they first meet. It's not a funny comedy today either; but it is a picture of those in high society living it up without a care for anyone else.
The story about Austrian-born actress, Nora Gregor, is very interesting. She came form a wealthy family and began acting in silent films in Austria. With her first husband, she went to the U.S. in 1930 and made a few German-language films for MGM. She was cast in this movie as a vehicle to begin her break through in America. But the reviews and audience reactions to the film weren't favorable for her while they praised the performance of Thatcher as Lady Joan. So, after three years, Gregor went back to Europe and shortly divorced her husband. She then became mistress to the vice chancellor of Austria, Prince Ernst Ruediger von Starhemberg. They had a son and, after six years were married in 1937. Gregor's parents were Jewish, so in 1938 she and her husband and child fled Europe for South America. She apparently became depressed over their exile, and in 1941 she committed suicide on the coast of Chile.
The two live together, and spend their nights out living the high life. Florian has one dictum for his son - marry for money, as he did - not for love. How else will they be provided for in their lives of leisure? "But the Flesh is Weak," and love is sometimes stronger than money - or is it?
Among the rest of the cast are two supporting actors that most movie buffs will know. Edward Everett Horton plays Sir George Kelvin and Nils Asther plays Prince Paul. The two top female roles are not well-known. Heather Thatcher had a moderate film career from the end of the silent films to the mid-1950s. She plays Lady Joan Culver, whose father is the very wealthy Duke of Hampshire, played by Frederick Kerr. But Nora Gregor, who plays a young widow, Mrs. Rosine Brown, is in her only Hollywood film in English. When Lady Joan introduces them at her party, Max falls head over heels in love with Rosine, in spite of Senior's admonishments to marry for money. But Rosine herself has no money and seeks to marry for money as well.
One can imagine how this will all play out. But Max's forceful handling of Rosine is way out of line. Rosine is pursued by Sir Kelvin, who is loaded with dough, but she also falls for Max. The two decide that love is more important and they can make it together. The film takes a couple of twists and turns with various characters, and when Senior loses heavily at cards and had to write a bad check to cover his huge debt, it means jail for him the next day. Max goes to Lady Joan, whom he was first attracted to. Joan had hit it off with Max and now agrees to marry him. When they tell the Duke, he's delighted and stops the party going on to announce Joan's engagement and introduce her fiancé. Unfortunately, Rosine is at the party and hears the announcement, so she is shocked and starts to leave. Max follows and tells her that he had to marry for money to save his dad from prison.
In the meantime, Senior bit the bullet and proposed marriage to Lady Ridgway (Eva Moore), from whom he got the immediate cash to cover his check at the bank. When he arrives at the Duke's party outside, he tells Max that he has done it so he doesn't want Max to make the same mistake he did. Max goes to tell Lady Joan the whole story, she thanks him for his honesty, and Max goes off with Rosine. Lady Joan explained to her father and others that she and Max had concocted their engagement as a joke on her dad, not thinking he would announce it. The film ends with Max and Rosine together in love - now that dad is able to provide for them.
One wonders how many others viewers may have noticed something quite important that the ending just skips over. That is Lady Joan, whom Max jilted, and is now hurt and alone. For as unconventional as she was, she was the kindest, most sincere and decent person of the entire film.
Remembering that this movie came out in the early years of the Great Depression, one wonders how audiences saw it. Most people around the world were hurt by or suffering from the depression. Yet, there still was a segment of the wealthy that not only didn't lose everything but still carried on as though nothing had changed. There were also some extremely selfish and self-centered people such as Max and Florian who could care less about the plights of others - so long as they could have fun and be taken care of. Hedonism was very much the lifestyle of such people in the midst of want.
For a comedy, this film has such dark overtones. It doesn't have a witty script or any funny antics. What little comedy there is is mostly with the father-son team and between Max and Lady Joan when they first meet. It's not a funny comedy today either; but it is a picture of those in high society living it up without a care for anyone else.
The story about Austrian-born actress, Nora Gregor, is very interesting. She came form a wealthy family and began acting in silent films in Austria. With her first husband, she went to the U.S. in 1930 and made a few German-language films for MGM. She was cast in this movie as a vehicle to begin her break through in America. But the reviews and audience reactions to the film weren't favorable for her while they praised the performance of Thatcher as Lady Joan. So, after three years, Gregor went back to Europe and shortly divorced her husband. She then became mistress to the vice chancellor of Austria, Prince Ernst Ruediger von Starhemberg. They had a son and, after six years were married in 1937. Gregor's parents were Jewish, so in 1938 she and her husband and child fled Europe for South America. She apparently became depressed over their exile, and in 1941 she committed suicide on the coast of Chile.