Is it as bad as the reviews suggest - sort of!! Sally O'Neill was lovely. Her best films were at the start of her career with "Sally, Irene and Mary" and "Battling Butler" but 1929 was her most prolific year. Her voice matched her "little girl takes on the big city and wins" persona and she made 8 films. After that, opportunities really fell away, a chaotic personal life didn't help and apparently she felt bitter against Hollywood for her ups and downs. "The Moth" was one of her last films and saw her as Diana, a wild party girl who spends her money like water until the tank runs dry. For some reason I had the idea with a name like "The Moth" it was going to be an espionage tale but it was just another spoilt rich kid shows her mettle yarn.
Diana is so over drawn on her account that she only has $300 left for the entire year (and reading of Sally's real financial woes this was a part she could obviously play in her sleep)!! A drunken party where Diana's obscene dance makes the front page and the night court is the last straw!! Under the provisions of her father's will she is now on her own until she shows she can make good!! George Duncan (Paul Page, nearing the end of his career) is given the job of bringing her into line and follows her to New Orleans - but just who is watching who?? You see she can remember bumping into him at her uncle's office - and immediately smells a rat!!
On the train she meets another girl who is ducking a detective and she innocently teams up. But this girl is the real deal - she is Marie La Marr, "The Moth" of the title and she and her boyfriend (future "Cisco Kid" star Duncan Renaldo) are crooks fleeing from the law down to the Mardi Gras where they expect to do a booming business in jewelry theft! (Apparently Rae Dagget's best known role was Marie, "The Moth", poor thing)!! They find Diana the perfect patsy for unloading some of their stolen trinkets.
Another party hurrying to New Orleans is Diana's uncle looking about 60 but with some very un-uncley designs on his niece. Just like a real moth, the film was pretty drab and dowdy. There was a real opportunity missed to get Diana into the real world of unemployment and poverty - letting her find a real job but they opt for the old runaway heiress lark!!
Diana is so over drawn on her account that she only has $300 left for the entire year (and reading of Sally's real financial woes this was a part she could obviously play in her sleep)!! A drunken party where Diana's obscene dance makes the front page and the night court is the last straw!! Under the provisions of her father's will she is now on her own until she shows she can make good!! George Duncan (Paul Page, nearing the end of his career) is given the job of bringing her into line and follows her to New Orleans - but just who is watching who?? You see she can remember bumping into him at her uncle's office - and immediately smells a rat!!
On the train she meets another girl who is ducking a detective and she innocently teams up. But this girl is the real deal - she is Marie La Marr, "The Moth" of the title and she and her boyfriend (future "Cisco Kid" star Duncan Renaldo) are crooks fleeing from the law down to the Mardi Gras where they expect to do a booming business in jewelry theft! (Apparently Rae Dagget's best known role was Marie, "The Moth", poor thing)!! They find Diana the perfect patsy for unloading some of their stolen trinkets.
Another party hurrying to New Orleans is Diana's uncle looking about 60 but with some very un-uncley designs on his niece. Just like a real moth, the film was pretty drab and dowdy. There was a real opportunity missed to get Diana into the real world of unemployment and poverty - letting her find a real job but they opt for the old runaway heiress lark!!