Week Ends Only

Joan Bennett is a rich girl whose family loses everything in the stock market crash, nicely and succinctly animated. She runs into her butler, who is doing well operating a night club, and gets a job playing hostess there. Her role is purely above-board, though it is an unusual position and seems seedy to those unfamiliar with her. Bennett scrimps and saves, looking luxe and glamorous on the weekends and eating simple meals in her tiny garret during the week. Her neighbor is Ben Lyon, another former rich kid who is trying to eke out a living as an artist. Bennett poses for him and they fall in love, ("I like you very good.") but inevitably he finds out how she makes her living, and he doesn't like it.

Bennett is dazzlingly gorgeous in this film, and she wears several revealing costumes including a pantsuit topped by a handkerchief that leaves little to the imagination. The dialogue is witty. When a persistent rich man asks Bennett, "Why don't you move in?" she responds, "When are you moving out?" The before and after paintings reminded me of the shocking reveal in The Portrait of Dorian Grey. This is an entertaining film with a believable love story and characters your root for.

Joan Bennett's father lost his fortune in the stock market crash and now she earns her living as a hostess at her ex-butler's speakeasy and ekes out her income as a hostess for hire for country weekends -- no funny business. Of course she falls in loves with penniless artist Ben Lyons and that's two sides of the triangle. The third is John Halliday, who wants her as his mistress, but is gentlemanly about it.

Misunderstandings and complications ensue. Halliday is excellent, Halliwell Hobbes, as Miss Bennett's boss is fine and Ben Lyons is, well, a little too monotonous and he and wife Bebe Daniels would depart for England and radio in a couple of years.

But Miss Bennett is excellent. She had quite a career at Fox, with a wide variety of roles. Very interesting for an actress, if not enough of a type to build up a real star personna. Here she plays.... well, the character that Myrna Loy would play at MGM during her starring phase, starting with her turn as Nora Charles in THE THIN MAN. The similarity is amazing and I wonder if Miss Loy based her character on Miss Bennett's turn in this movie.