I wonder if she warmed up Basil Rathbone's milk and made sure that his room wasn't too hot. She is Kay Francis, a Russian countess living in London and the toast of the riding society. She is also the great seductress, seducing a famous jockey then dumping him and turning the man who cleans the stables into her butler. She fires him because she sees that his eyes are far too pale blue for her, a color that she has just realized that she hates. Her next target is the married Basil Rathbone, husband of her high-society acquaintance Billie Dove and a famous violinist.
By billing, this is Billy Dove's picture, and certainly in close-ups, the veteran silent actress is gorgeous. She has a very modern look about her, and when her hair is down, is particularly striking. With her big eyes and sad facial expressions, she is a combination of Loretta Young, Sylvia Sidney and Janet Gaynor.
But in talking pictures unfortunately, Billy is not that successful. She pauses seemingly between each word, and that makes it appear that she is looking at a cue card and unsure of what she is supposed to be concentrating on while saying her lines. That is a great distraction, and even though she's the heroine, the way she speaks adds monotony to her characterization and that makes her performance very dull.
As the daughter of wealthy Montague Love, she finds that her father is against her marrying a poor violinist like Rathbone. Still, she continues to live in the style to which she has become accustomed, show her character gets to suffer in satin while Rathbone is playing his violin to nearly a nervous breakdown while he is being groomed as Francis's next conquest. Rathbone's performance is delightfully bad, overly melodramatic and inconsistent in his accents. He switches dialects faster than Francis switches lovers.
Naughty girl Kay Francis gives a performance that had there been supporting Oscars in 1930, she would have been one of the top contenders. Francis is not playing a Theda bara vamp. She is thoroughly modern and proud of her womanhood and seduces and dumps lovers with no regret. It is obvious that she is having a delicious time with this character. She gets great costumes and hairstyles, and delivers her lines with such wit and intelligent that she comes off as one of the most fun party girls of the pre-code era.
The films of this era are a mixed bag because of the lack of technical achievements in camera movement and sound design, but on occasion, there is a gem that taking into consideration the lack of a production code, they become deliciously fun because of the glorification of sin that they provide. Everything about this film is decadent and over-the-top, but unfortunately, the lack of direction for Dove adds a weakness to the complete product. Nevertheless, her face here is the stuff that production stills are made for, and for that element alone, she is very memorable.
By billing, this is Billy Dove's picture, and certainly in close-ups, the veteran silent actress is gorgeous. She has a very modern look about her, and when her hair is down, is particularly striking. With her big eyes and sad facial expressions, she is a combination of Loretta Young, Sylvia Sidney and Janet Gaynor.
But in talking pictures unfortunately, Billy is not that successful. She pauses seemingly between each word, and that makes it appear that she is looking at a cue card and unsure of what she is supposed to be concentrating on while saying her lines. That is a great distraction, and even though she's the heroine, the way she speaks adds monotony to her characterization and that makes her performance very dull.
As the daughter of wealthy Montague Love, she finds that her father is against her marrying a poor violinist like Rathbone. Still, she continues to live in the style to which she has become accustomed, show her character gets to suffer in satin while Rathbone is playing his violin to nearly a nervous breakdown while he is being groomed as Francis's next conquest. Rathbone's performance is delightfully bad, overly melodramatic and inconsistent in his accents. He switches dialects faster than Francis switches lovers.
Naughty girl Kay Francis gives a performance that had there been supporting Oscars in 1930, she would have been one of the top contenders. Francis is not playing a Theda bara vamp. She is thoroughly modern and proud of her womanhood and seduces and dumps lovers with no regret. It is obvious that she is having a delicious time with this character. She gets great costumes and hairstyles, and delivers her lines with such wit and intelligent that she comes off as one of the most fun party girls of the pre-code era.
The films of this era are a mixed bag because of the lack of technical achievements in camera movement and sound design, but on occasion, there is a gem that taking into consideration the lack of a production code, they become deliciously fun because of the glorification of sin that they provide. Everything about this film is decadent and over-the-top, but unfortunately, the lack of direction for Dove adds a weakness to the complete product. Nevertheless, her face here is the stuff that production stills are made for, and for that element alone, she is very memorable.