The $25.70 that Neil Hartley (Warren William) gives to the cab driver amounts to about $518 in 2023.
Expensive Women (1931) was Costello's final film as a leading lady and star for Warners, which she had been since 1925. She retired to be the wife of John Barrymore and to raise their family. Costello would return to films five years later after a long hiatus and the end of her marriage to Barrymore, but never regained the luster she enjoyed as a Warners star.
Warren William, the son of a newspaper publisher, originally planned for a career as a journalist, but instead found his way to Broadway, appearing in some 17 plays between 1924 and 1930. In 1931, after Warner Bros. failed to renew John Barrymore's contract, William was signed by the studio, ostensibly as something of a replacement: With his pencil mustache and regal bearing, he came off as an undeniable class act.
But even though William's character in Expensive Women (1931) is a gentleman of extremely high principles, William would go on to become the '30s go-to guy for playing charismatic but completely amoral men. In Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), he plays Joan Blondell's sugar daddy; in Roy Del Ruth's Employees' Entrance (1933), he's a sleazy department-store owner who preys on a preternaturally innocent Loretta Young.
As an actor, William had a way with even the most outlandish dialogue. New York Times film critic Janet Maslin once called him "the best-kept secret of 1930s films."
But even though William's character in Expensive Women (1931) is a gentleman of extremely high principles, William would go on to become the '30s go-to guy for playing charismatic but completely amoral men. In Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), he plays Joan Blondell's sugar daddy; in Roy Del Ruth's Employees' Entrance (1933), he's a sleazy department-store owner who preys on a preternaturally innocent Loretta Young.
As an actor, William had a way with even the most outlandish dialogue. New York Times film critic Janet Maslin once called him "the best-kept secret of 1930s films."
Expensive Women (1931)'s chief attractions are Costello and Warren William, the former a silent-film star who was navigating a tricky transition into talkies, the latter a charming smoothie who was just diving into a Hollywood career.
Costello, in her late twenties by the time she starred in Expensive Women, had already appeared in some 20 features and numerous shorts. Her acting career began while she was still a child: She was the daughter of Maurice Costello, an early matinee idol, and performed on-stage and in early shorts with her sister, Helene Costello. In 1925, a talent scout signed her to Warner Bros. The next year, she appeared in The Sea Beast (1926), an adaptation of Moby Dick, opposite John Barrymore, and the two fell deeply in love. Upon their first meeting, Barrymore is reported to have said, "I have just seen the most beautiful woman in the world. I shall not rest or eat until I have seen her again."
Costello and Barrymore married in 1928; the union was famously tumultuous, owing at least in part to Barrymore's drinking problem. The couple divorced in 1935, and though Costello never attained her previous fame, there were a few lovely performances, such as Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) and, even more significantly, in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). Interesting to note she is Drew Barrymore's grandmother, and Barrymore is her grandfather.
Costello, in her late twenties by the time she starred in Expensive Women, had already appeared in some 20 features and numerous shorts. Her acting career began while she was still a child: She was the daughter of Maurice Costello, an early matinee idol, and performed on-stage and in early shorts with her sister, Helene Costello. In 1925, a talent scout signed her to Warner Bros. The next year, she appeared in The Sea Beast (1926), an adaptation of Moby Dick, opposite John Barrymore, and the two fell deeply in love. Upon their first meeting, Barrymore is reported to have said, "I have just seen the most beautiful woman in the world. I shall not rest or eat until I have seen her again."
Costello and Barrymore married in 1928; the union was famously tumultuous, owing at least in part to Barrymore's drinking problem. The couple divorced in 1935, and though Costello never attained her previous fame, there were a few lovely performances, such as Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) and, even more significantly, in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). Interesting to note she is Drew Barrymore's grandmother, and Barrymore is her grandfather.
In a separately filmed trailer, Vitaphone production reel #4880, Dolores Costello talks about the picture.