Tarnished Lady (1931) User Reviews

Gotham Glamor Girl goes for the gold ...and becomes a "Tarnished Lady"

[melvelvit-1 · 7/10 · 19 October 2006]

The legendary Tallulah Bankhead had made a few silent films in the late teens but it was on the London stage where she really wowed audiences. The charismatic charmer had a genuine cult following among young females with her modern and racy characterizations. British girls screamed and swooned for her in much the same way they would for The Beatles four decades later. In Hollywood, Paramount Pictures thought she could do the same for American audiences on screen and signed Tallulah to a four picture contract. "TARNISHED LADY" was the first and was filmed at "Paramount East" in Astoria, NY. It was also the first film for director George Cukor and the first screenplay by humorist (and later HUAC blacklist victim) Donald Ogden Stewart, based on his short story "New York Lady".

"TARNISHED LADY" -The Story Of a New York Lady" covers the same territory Joan Crawford was monopolizing at MGM. Geared to shop-girls and strap-hangers, it related the romantic ups and downs of a Manhattan society girl who's wealthy in spirit and illustrious name ...but not in bank account. The story seems "ripped from the day's magazines" and it actually plays out as one. The opening credits come in the form of a chic Art Deco magazine called "Vanity-Bizarre" and the film opens with Nancy Courtney (Tallulah Bankhead) posing for a cigarette ad for the magazine. Being a Courtney, one of the oldest families in NY, doesn't put food on the table, and to please her "high maintenance" mother (a fluttery Elizabeth Patterson) she agrees to marry self-made millionaire Norman Cravath (cold-fish Clive Brook). This doesn't sit too well with her true love, struggling young writer DeWitt Taylor (handsome Alexander Kirkland) or débutante Germaine Prentiss (a beautifully brittle Phoebe Foster) who Norman threw over for Nancy. Just before her wedding, Nancy spends the night with DeWitt to explain why she can never see him again. Six months later he's put in her path thanks to the machinations of Germaine and from here on, the plot plays out as upper-crust soap-opera. In what has to be one of the worst days in Norman's life, Nancy tells him she's leaving him for DeWitt. What Nancy doesn't know is that moments before Norman was wiped out on the Stock Market. When she goes to DeWitt she's devastated to find him in the arms of Germaine. She realizes she actually loves Norman in a Second Avenue speakeasy while warbling a song as a few brutes and thugs paw at her. Pride refuses to let her return to Norman and she nearly starves on the streets before a family friend, Ben Sterner (Osgood Perkins) comes to her rescue and gives her a job in his department store. Not a moment too soon as she's about to have a baby. Can she win back "stiff upper lip" Norman before he marries Germaine? How does it all pan out? In much the same way Crawford's films over at MGM and Constance Bennett's at RKO did.

There's enough "pre-code" fun in TARNISHED LADY to keep modern-day audiences happy along with loads of Art Deco. "Nancy's" trials and tribulations take place on penthouse terraces, in large department stores, on city streets, Long Island beaches and even in a speakeasy or two. Tallulah Bankhead smokes a lot, drinks a little,wears cloche hats, furs, jewels and is gorgeously gowned throughout. Loose morals among monied young moderns is a given in Manhattan and whenever a character is questioned about their wrong choices in life, they often reply with "This is New York, so what?" Meant to be "cutting edge chic",the film misfired with audiences at the time but contrary to myth (most started by Tallulah herself) the public was intrigued by Bankhead. But, alas, like Samuel Goldwyn's Anna Sten, Tallulah Bankhead's problem was publicity "overkill" and "ballyhoo" that no one could possibly live up to. Newspapers and magazines trumpeted: "This girl will SHOCK you! Her personality registers like a THIRD RAIL!" When the film premiered in New York, lobbies were rigged with pull-cords that gave audiences a mild electric shock. Posters screamed: "The producers who brought you DIETRICH bring you another WOMAN-THRILL! BANKHEAD! She enthralled a nation! England's adored beauty on the screen! Get within range of her radiance! Feel the rapturous thrill of her voice, her person!" In fan magazines, Bankhead was interviewed in connection with the film: "Men are as pleasant to me as the lavish gowns I adore! I drink the sparkling cup of LOVE, for I know my heart will never betray me! I am Tallulah the MODERN!" Whew! Even if only a campy curio now, what's not to like about this "TARNISHED LADY"? "Tarnished" trivia: Smolderingly sensual "Blues" singer Libby Holman coached Bankhead for the snippets of songs "Nancy" sings.

Beautiful Russian ballerina/actress Tamara Geva (wife of George Balanchine) tested for the role of "Germaine" and Bankhead took an instant dislike to the lady upon first meeting. "Talloo" may have been psychic because eight years later her husband, John Emery, fell hard for Tamara and married her as soon as his divorce from Bankhead was final.

Tallulah felt her co-star, Clive Brook, possessed all the acting qualities of "a lump of wood".

Osgood Perkins is Anthony Perkins' dad.

Alexander Kirkland was briefly married to stripper Gypsy Rose Lee during the early 40's but the father of their child was actually director Otto Preminger.

Look quickly for comedian Eric Blore in an uncredited bit as a jewelry store clerk.

Tallulah shines as best she can in a fairly clichéd tale of the early 30s

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 26 June 2016]

Talllulah Bankhead plays Nancy Courtney, a woman who is in love with a poor writer and whose father's death reveals that he did manage to take it with him. The family is broke. I don't know why "the tarnished lady" is supposed to describe Nancy, because every other woman in this film acts much worse than her. First there is Elizabeth Patterson as her mother, who has Nancy's arm bent around her back nagging her to marry the rich but dull Norman Cravath (Clive Brooks), so, as the mother-in-law, she can sponge off of him. Nancy is in love with a poor writer (Osgood Perkins as Ben), who seems to love her back.

But Nancy wants her mother to be taken care of and so she marries the likable but dull Norman. Meanwhile the other tarnished lady, (Phoebe Foster as Germaine) is angry because Norman dumped her for Nancy, so she does cute little things like set up dinner parties with Ben the poor writer and Nancy in attendance. Norman is clueless about their past relationship.

Well the never seen but rich Aunt Judy dies, and Nancy rushes right over to Norman's office to dump him. She does let him down easy, but this is the first time this guy gets that he was married for his money. And he is supposed to be the wolf of Wall Street? Well, maybe not, because that very morning he has lost his shirt in the market, although Nancy knows none of this. Nancy tells him that Aunt Judy left her mother enough money so that she will be taken care and that she wants her freedom so she can go back to the man she really loves, the writer, Ben.

Well Nancy gets a surprise that day too, because she catches Ben in his pajamas with...Germaine! Apparently, Ben has been doing some social climbing this past year himself. So Nancy has no money, no man, and is out pounding the pavements for a job. Norman has no money, no wife, and is out pounding the pavements looking for financial backing. How does this all work out? Watch and find out.

Phoebe Foster, who was 36 when she played Germaine here, looked every year of that age and frankly looked to old to compete with Nancy for either of her fellows. Alexander Kirkland plays a small but vital role as a best friend with no ulterior motives to both Nancy and Norman, both before and after their separation. Elizabeth Patterson is terrific as Nancy's mother who thinks everything is all about her. She doesn't care that her daughter is in a loveless marriage as long as she gets dough, and when she gets her sister's inheritance she apparently embarks on world travel without a thought as to how her daughter is doing. That is left up to Kirkland's character.

Cukor's direction is wonderful here as he gets a very good performance out of everybody concerned, especially Tallulah Bankhead, who shows great range here despite the trite script in which she is encased. I'd recommend it.

Best of Tallulah's '30's films

[tentender · 7/10 · 2 January 2014]

Unfortunately, the film-going public was seeing the great Tallulah on screen for the first time with this charming comedy-drama -- and didn't take to her. Had they known what was to come ("The Cheat," "My Sin," "The Devil and the Deep") they would have realized that this was as good as it was going to get. And it's not bad at all. More significantly, Tallulah herself is MUCH better in this than in either "The Cheat" or "Devil," in both of which she looks most ill-suited to her profession, with bad posture and overdone expression. Here, though, she has great charm and, at times, intensity that seems quite genuine. George Cukor was responsible for this one, and his talent for film direction is immediately evident in this, his first solo flight after three assignments as co-director. An added attraction for me (though many are allergic to him) is Clive Brook, best known as Dietrich's "Shanghai Express" co-star. As in that film, Brook is extremely reserved, but, to my eye, quite appealingly so. A very likable film.

Struggling writer or wealthy investment banker? Let Tallulah decide!

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 4 August 2015]

Tallulah's playing another shady lady, a broke society girl who is in love with a struggling writer but marries a prominent Wall Street broker (Clive Brook) simply to keep her family afloat, not realizing too that he is on the verge of financial collapse. Regretting her decision, she leaves her husband and tries to make it on her own when she discovers that the writer (Alexander Kirkland) has moved on with his life (with her old rival, the snooty Phoebe Foster). Now down on her luck and pregnant, she tries to find work, but being a former spoiled rich girl, it's not as easy as she thought it would be. When she runs into Kirkland on the street, he takes her in, but will it be smooth sailing back to love for these two star-crossed lovers and her unborn child?

Someone really says "I hope that you two will be very, very unhappy" in this pre-code drama of misery amongst the deflated millions of the upper crust. George Cukor, who would handle such divas as Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn, takes on Tallulah in one of her handful of depression era movies before she took Broadway by storm. Already having become a fan favorite in London, Tallulah tried movies rather reluctantly, but she was defeated by similar stories and weepy scripts that stretched the imagination tighter than a rubber band. She's certainly commanding, but perhaps the early 1930's wasn't her time to have made good in movies because she always seemed so much ahead of her time. Her "Alabama Foghorn" voice makes her perfect as a rival to foreign goddesses such as Dietrich and Garbo, but unfortunately, she was given scripts that they would have balked at. Toss in a bland leading man (Clive Brook) and an unbelievable situation, and you have what makes for mediocre film viewing. Elizabeth Patterson adds some zest as Bankhead's mother and Tallulah does have some good lines (especially when sparring with old rival Phoebe Foster), but it is still pretty maudlin. Had any less equally showy actress taken this on, this might be considered a total disaster.

Rich Girl Has to Work

[view_and_review · 5/10 · 4 August 2022]

Socialites were the order of the day it seems in the 30's. I guess it makes sense. I recently saw a statistic that pointed out that wealth disparity today hadn't been this large since the roaring 20's. With the 20's being such a period of superfluous money it would stand to reason that many movies would be about the people who enjoyed that tremendous amount of wealth.

In "Tarnished Lady" Talullah Bankhead plays Nancy Courtney, a once wealthy daughter of a deceased millionaire who can't let go of her lifestyle. She and her mother were flat broke, but the Courtney name had to be maintained.

To maintain her current spending habits she reluctantly opted to marry Norman Cravath (Clive Brook), a millionaire who was in love with her while she loved DeWitt Taylor (Alexander Kirkland), a writer. After a few months or more of Nancy playing house with Norman she left him for her true love, except her true love was now dating Germaine Prentiss (Phoebe Foster), Nancy's rival.

Nancy had such pride that she refused to go back to Norman, then six months later she discovered she was pregnant (I don't know how it took her six months to find out she was pregnant). She went from a kept woman to a working single mother in a matter of months.

It was hard to feel any pity for Nancy. She was one of those proud and mean women of wealth who like to have people fired for the smallest infraction. She fell on hard times, which you would think would humble her. It may have humbled her a bit, but not nearly as much as she should've been. And even her "hard times" weren't that hard. She had to work, like so many women in the world had to do. It may have been humiliating for her, but it was a job and it wasn't that tough.

In the end she got back with Norman and the implication was that she was trying to make amends for how she treated him. Maybe. Or maybe she was tired of being a working mother and going back to her rich husband was the easiest way out.

Free on YouTube.

Very dated....very stagy.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 26 January 2018]

Before "Tarnished Lady" was a movie, it was a Broadway play. And, when you watch the movie, it sure LOOKS and SOUNDS like a play. This is not a compliment. No, the film is too stagy, the acting often seemed too mannered and the whole production comes off as very dated. As far as Pre-Code flicks go, you could do a lot better than this one.

Nancy (Tallulah Bankhead) is a society girl who is in love with one man but feels pressured to marry another because he's rich and her family would be set. However, following her marriage, Nancy is unhappy....and eventually tells her husband she's had enough. Now considering they'd only been married a short time and she spend most of it brooding and staring into space, she comes off as a bit of a jerk. However, her old beau has already found another woman and she must learn what it's like to be poor. What will come of all this? Watch the film...or just save yourself some time and read the Wikipedia page!

While Ms. Bankhead was a legendary Broadway performer, this film helps explain why she wasn't bigger in films. Her performance is pretty flat and the writing sure didn't help. Plus, being the Depression, caring about this lady is very tough. Think about it....she's miserable because she's rich and has a loving husband and she leaves him...not exactly a recipe for a likable character plus she just looks and acts like a zombie in much of her performance. She's supposed to be depressed....but not catatonic! Overall, very skippable and a film I hope never to see again...mostly because I didn't care about any of these folks!

Miss Bankhead Is Histrionic

[boblipton · 4/10 · 14 May 2019]

Tallulah Bankhead loves writer Alexander Kirkland, but she and her mother, Elizabeth Patterson, are living on the edge; not that it stops them from living in a nice apartment or buying the latest fashions. It means they are waiting until Miss Patterson's sister dies and leaves them a lot of money. At her mother's insistence, Miss Bankhead marries Clive Brook, one of those masterful, self-made stuffed shirts. She's miserable, of course, and when her aunt dies, leaving most of her money to charity, but a competence to Miss Patterson, Miss Bankhead leaves her husband, only to find that Kirkland has already found consolation in the arms of another. It also happens to be the day the market crashed, leaving Brook dependent on his friends. Miss Bankhead decides to make her own way, because lower-class people can do it, and therefore she should have no trouble, while Mr. Brook is also too angry to seek her out.

It's one of those weepers that raise my hackle, and it offers a well-deserved sneer at its upper-class subjects; only Osgood Perkins comes off as a good guy. Miss Bankhead is too large for the movie screen, and Mr. Brook matches her, mostly by his studied immobility. I have no doubt that director George Cukor looked on it as an opportunity, but his unmanageable star defeats him and writer Donald Ogden Stewart.