This melodrama was directed with a heavy hand by the usually reliable Michael Curtiz, with virtually no comedy relief, and there were too many problems with the movie. Kay Francis' character wasn't as sympathetic to me as it was supposed to be. True, she was forced into Warner Oland's amoral club when her lover and protector, Ricardo Cortez, abandoned her penniless in Rangoon, Burma. I had no problem with her being a high priced prostitute there to survive (a patron remarks that instead of calling her "Spot White," the name she adopted, she should have been called "Spot Cash"). Presumably, she made a lot of money, so why did she extort 10,000 rupees from Commissioner Reginald Owen, when he wanted to deport her back to Russia? She could have simply bargained for just leaving to a destination of her choice to prevent her from revealing the tryst Owen had with her a year earlier. It turned me against her. I liked the very surprising ending, which was completely against the Production Code, yet to be fully implemented later in 1934. Thus, the film was denied a certificate for re-release by the Hays Office in 1936. For a 65-minute film, it was very noticeable that Francis sits down at a piano three times to play and sing the only song in the film, "When Tomorrow Comes," in its entirety. It's a nice song, but three times was monotonous and an indication the thin plot was being padded. (The song was also obviously dubbed, since Francis had trouble with words containing the letter "R" and you don't hear "Tomowwow.")
