Faithless

MGM wasn't a studio known for films probing into grittier subjects like the Depression, but this film is an exception. Its riches to rags tale is a little melodramatic, but so telling of the era. We see quite a bit of its struggles: being hungry, wanting to work but being turned away again and again, getting a job but having the company go under, standing in relief lines but having the food run out, and having to make a tradeoff between getting healthcare for a serious injury or saving the money. We also see the dilemma of crossing a picket line for a job.

The men on strike have a point, they have kids to feed and have no other recourse against bosses who've halved their pay such that they no longer have a living wage (and they use this term). So does the man looking for a job who is desperately broke and figures "any pay is better than zero pay." Maybe the owners have a viewpoint too (though it's not shown), that this is the only way the company can remain solvent, but it feels instead a depiction of how capitalism can crush the working class when it's not organized, and people are pitted against one another.

The cast to this one is quite good, and features Tallulah Bankhead before she took a lengthy absence from the screen to return to Broadway (her next film was Hitchcock's Lifeboat in 1944). The banter rolls off her tongue and she looks gorgeous in the gowns by Adrian. Robert Montgomery plays his part very well too, particularly when the couple finally do connect when poor. They figure there is nothing left to do but love one another and laugh at their pathos, and they're quite charming together. I've also never seen Hugh Herbert any better, and it's because he's not so goofy; he plays the part of a rich married man who takes advantage of Bankhead's dire financial straits for a quid pro quo relationship that clearly makes her queasy.

As a fallen socialite, Bankhead becomes the kept woman of this married man; as a poor woman, she eventually resorts to walking the streets. It's a sad commentary on the one thing of value she perceives she has left. Had the film been made when the Production Code was being enforced a couple of years later, she would have had to suffer a terrible fate, but the film is delightfully pre-Code. Montgomery's character may display a little old-fashioned male ego early on, insisting that he be the breadwinner, but it's wonderful that he accepts her through everything that happens, and in a true display of love, simply says it's all forgotten and they'll start together from that moment on, not once but twice. It's a lovely sentiment of sticking together, and it extends to the goodwill of the landlady of the small room they've rented. For a melodrama this is a great window into the Depression, and it has a great message.

Faithless is a film about a rich society girl (Tallulah Bankhead) and an average, middle class citizen (Bob Montgomery) who fall in love. The two are at each other's throats though, because each wants to live off the money he or she has. The two do not marry because of this quarrel, and although she loses her money, she lives by borrowing from her wealthy friends and he loses his job and scrounges for jobs during the Depression. Finally, the two meet again, poor and hungry, and decide to marry since they have nothing else to lose. But the Depression gets them down, and an accident forces her to make some tough decisions.

Bankhead is beautiful at first and becomes appropriately harsh as her character loses her money. She is not exotic the way Marlene Dietrich was, but her accent is detectable.

Montgomery is excellent in this movie. His character is consistent and good and perhaps because of this and his five o-clock shadow, he is absolutely gorgeous.

Overall, this is an entertaining pre-code film with a great cast and a few surprises up it's sleeve.

If you're looking for the greatest Tallulah Bankhead performance ever, rent Faithless. She was a great stage legend, but in the years before taped performances, we aren't able to see her in The Little Foxes, in which I'm sure she shined. In this tour-de-force, she plays a high society lady who throws everything away for love.

She's rich, playful, and loves to party (just like her real life persona) and when the handsome, charming Robert Montgomery comes along, she thinks they'll manage nicely on her allowance and his moderate salary. He works in advertising, and his integrity shocks her before their wedding when he declares he has no intention of living off anything other than his weekly wages. Tallulah couldn't stand to be poor, so she breaks up with him.

The first fifteen minutes don't seem like it'll be the greatest movie ever, but keep watching. All the beginning shows is a spoiled, rich girl and an extremely handsome man bickering over excess money. They don't have any real troubles, and enjoy flaunting their privileges in the audience's faces. Keep in mind this movie was made during the Great Depression (and before the Production Code). This is actually quite a racy movie, and you can imagine how much would have been altered just two years later. After a kiss between the happy couple, the camera fades to a clock, showing an hour has passed. Then Tallulah is shown in a negligee and Bob is smoking a cigarette. They joke around that now they have to get married, and when they get in another fight, he says she should be glad society has a different view on premarital sex. "I don't see any shotguns around," he says before he leaves in a huff. See what I mean?

I'm not telling you anything substantial about the plot, or how Tallulah falls from her pedestal. It's much better if you find out for yourself. This is a classic melodrama with unending love at its center. It's a great movie to start off with if you're new to black-and-white classics, or if you haven't seen the two leads before. Faithless has been overshadowed by more famous flicks from 1932, like Grand Hotel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, but it's really enjoyable. If you liked the drama of Back Street, you'll like this one!

Tallulah Bankhead made her name on the stage and came to Hollywood under contract to MGM. "Faithless" would be her last film until 1944's "Lifeboat."

Bankhead's particular style of acting was not effective on film, and it was probably because of the way she was cast. In "Lifeboat," she's perfect - Hitchcock wanted "the most oblique, incongruous person imaginable in such a situation."

Actually, part of her role in "Faithless" fits that description also, but this time, it works against her. Bankhead plays an heiress intending to marry Robert Montgomery. When he insists that they live on his salary, she walks out.

She soon learns that she's flat broke and, after borrowing from everyone she knows, gets a sugar daddy, leaving him when Montgomery comes back in her life. Both broke, the two marry and struggle to keep going.

As one would suspect, Bankhead is great as the heiress but not quite believable when she's poverty stricken trying to get work in a coffee shop. She lacked the vulnerability of a Constance Bennett or the sadness of a Kay Francis.

The film, however, is a very good depiction of life in the depression. This was no MGM romantic comedy or fantasy film. When her husband is injured, the Bankhead character turns to prostitution. The best scene in the film is between her and the landlady, who realizes what she's about to do.

Robert Montgomery plays one of depression's many unlucky - what jobs he gets, he loses because the companies close, and he's finally attacked on the job by employees who feel threatened. Through it all, he keeps his dignity and hope.

Both actors were young stars who were put into this film probably for contractual reasons. They're good, but they're both too elegant and classy to make parts of this film work the way they were supposed to.

Bankhead, however, has some wonderful dialogue that she delivers with aplomb, and it's great to see her before the smoking, drugs, and booze got to her face.

Some of this plays melodramatically, and there's a particularly odious performance by Maurice Murphy as Montgomery's brother. But "Faithless" is an intriguing look at the desperation caused by the depression, and Bankhead is fascinating to watch.

FAITHLESS is neither a great classic nor an artistic masterpiece nor even a very original story. In simple, straightforward fashion it tracks the downfall of a spoiled heiress (Tallulah Bankhead) ruined by the Depression who struggles between love for an ad executive (Robert Montgomery) and addiction to the high life which she can no longer afford. For a while she manages to sponge off old friends from her social circle but is rejected when it becomes clear to them that she is hopelessly broke. And down and down she goes. Her personal fate parallels that of the economy – from the hedonistic roaring 20's to the sober, desperate 30's. The movie even opens with a series of newspaper headlines tracking the progress of the economic downturn from late '29 until '32 when this plot goes into action.

The chief attraction is Bankhead, who made few films, most of them abysmal. This was one of the good ones. She is coiffed and made up to look like Garbo in GRAND HOTEL. The result is certainly striking from the neck up, though she looks a bit dumpy and ill-at-ease in some of Adrian's more extravagant gowns. No matter. With her distinctive voice, vivid personality, physical agility and polished theatrical diction, she never fails to delight or at least intrigue the viewer and this scenario gives her opportunities to explore a wide range of emotional states. There is nothing original about the fallen woman story, but Tallulah is a true original. She is in particularly fine form delivering witty banter, as in a scene in which she converses with Montgomery's brother (Maurice Murphy), who introduces himself as a metallurgist ("What kind of metal do you urge?") Lines like that roll off Bankhead's tongue with effortless aplomb. Montgomery is his usual spiffy self, delivering a competent, honest performance.

The strains of "St. Louis Blues" rise from the soundtrack as Bankhead contemplates prostitution as a way to get money. That melody was so often used as cinematic code for "prostitute" that someone should take a count.