Los ricos están con nosotros

Although the film reads as a fairly typical marriage / divorce romance film, Bette Davis stands out as a feisty third wheel to George Brent and Ruth Chatterton. She is at her most playful and spirited in the scene in Brent's apartment before he leaves for Europe. Wonderful stuff.

There are 3 short clips at the start of this movie, set in 1900, 1920, and 1930, respectively, taking place in powder rooms where high society women gossip about Caroline Grannard, lead character, 'richest woman in the world', played by Ruth Chatterton; she is born, gets married, and lunching with writer Julian Tierney (George Brent). Interior decoration, dress, and even background music, are all period appropriate. While Warner Brothers probably had these sets and dresses and extras lying about from other movies, and whole thing cost very little, question that interest me is why all that for a simple exposition that would have taken two lines of dialogue in the movie proper? Did the director and producers wanted filler to pad up something so insubstantial that it cannot even stand on its own for 1 hour and 10 minutes? Seems so.

Plot here involve romantic and marital entanglements of rich society people, mainly on who the lead character really loves, her (soon ex) husband she 'mothers', or the writer who she keeps hanging without deciding (to the annoyance of a rather spoiled society girl (Bette Davis) who is in love with him). Nothing else, there is no higher purpose, no socio political commentary, no deep psychology, no insight into human nature and relationships, no simple enjoyable love story/villainy even. While there is no absolute requirement that movies should have some of that, absence do make them rather boring.

However, this is not boring, mainly because of the acting. Chatterton is so good that i want to see more of her movies. As others have noted, in this movie she has a way of repeating and even stammering some dialogue that is so naturalistic that i initially wondered whether they had run out of takes and used the least bad. But it happened frequently enough, and there were similar stuff with her gestures, that it was soon clear it was deliberate. She comes from a stage background, but when modern 'method actors' use similar techniques, you can spot them right away. Almost all the others were rather good too, though from a different style. Brent as usual underplays his part. Energetic Davis (3 years before her breakthrough role in 'On Human Bonadge') in that phase of career when Warner tried to make her blond, sexy, and glamorous (successfully in my opinion though she herself thought otherwise), found the right foil in Brent (with whom she was to star in quite a number of her best movies), as demonstrated by her scene with him in his apartment. John Miljan, who plays husband, and Adrienne Dore as his lover, were also good.

... in which even "the poor writer" (George Brent as Julian Tierney) has posh roomy quarters and a full time servant in the person of Max (Sam McDaniel, Hattie Mc Daniel's brother).

In 1932 Warner's capitalized on their recent raid of Paramount's talent to put one of those stars (Ruth Chatterton) in the kind of drama that she did so well - playing a woman of means in the Great Depression that the average person could relate to and even find likable. Here Ms. Chatterton plays Caroline, born "the richest girl in the world". At age 20 she marries successful stock broker Greg Grannard (John Miljan). Then the film fast forwards to ten years later. Caroline is enjoying a rather robust flirtation with writer Julian. Julian wants it to be more, but you get the feeling that Caroline, although fond of Julian, is just doing this to feed her vanity and assure herself that she is still desirable, that she doesn't really want to upset her life as she has been living it all of these years.

It would never occur to her that her husband might feel the same way. He too is carrying on with someone else - the bratty Allison, who, unlike Julian, is not respecting of her lover's desire to leave things as they are. She lures Greg into an embrace where Caroline is sure to spot them and it leads to Greg being granted the divorce that Allison wants him to get so she can get her hooks into him. Complicating matters is Bette Davis as Malbro (wherever did they get that name???) as a socialite who wants Julian at any price and I mean that literally. One of Malbro's selling points to Julian is that if he married her he wouldn't have to work anymore.

I found the story interesting and the performances superb. Chatterton especially shines in the scene where she, her husband, and Allison are discussing how to go forward - divorce, open marriage, end the affair - after she spots Allison and Greg together. She gives the part and the scene the dignity and the subtlety it requires to be believable. All through the film, even after the divorce, she struggles with her desire for continuity - represented by Greg who is still very much in her life - versus her desire for passion, represented by Julian, who wants her to cut off ties with Greg entirely and marry him.

Even in such a small part you see can see what made Bette Davis great. When she turns into a ball of fire on screen in the few scenes she had center stage you can see how she blew the frost right off the first generation of talking film actresses. An interesting aside - the iconic moment in "Now Voyager" where Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes in his mouth and passes one to Davis was actually done here first. This time it is in a moment shared between George Brent and Ruth Chatterton.

Almost silly plot but the three stars are very good. Ruth Chatterton plays the "richest woman in America" who has had a string of bad marriages but is being romanced by novelist George Brent. He is pursued by "the pest of Park Avenue," Bette Davis. Chatterton loses current husband (John Miljan) to gold digging Adrienne Dore.

Chatterton runs off to Paris for a divorce while Davis pursues Brent. Brent goes to Paris after the divorce but Chatterton can't make up her mind. He goes to Romania! Back in New York, Chatterton learns that the new wife is pregnant and that Brent and Davis are an item. Wrong on both counts. Things come to a head when Chatterton learns Brent is planning a year in China to write. That settles it.

The next morning the trampy wife can't wait to break the news of the evening's romance but Davis decks her and throws her out of her house. The old husband and trampy wife crash into a tree on their way back to town. She croaks but the mangled husband is calling out for Chatterton......

Total drivel but entertaining because of some snappy dialog and three tops stars.

Berton Churchill, Sam McDaniel, Cecil Cunningham, Walter Walker, Virginia Hammond co-star......

THE RICH ARE ALWAYS WITH US (First National Pictures, 1932), directed by Alfred E. Green, marks the Warner Brothers/First National Pictures debut of Ruth Chatterton, following her success in MADAME X (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1929) and several other dramatic roles under the Paramount banner. Though briefly a stock player for Warners (1932-1934), her association would be short lived first in favor of Kay Francis (also from Paramount), then finally Bette Davis, who also appears in this production. As much as THE RICH ARE ALWAYS WITH US is virtually a Ruth Chatterton film, many familiar with the title would associate it with Bette Davis, who actually plays a secondary role here opposite George Brent, her second of eleven films with him, and Brent's first of four opposite Chatterton, whom he would actually marry and leading to a short-lived marriage.

The story begins in 1900 where women are seen discussing the Van Dyke's birth of a daughter they call Caroline, "the richest baby in the world"; then to 1920 where gossips talk about Caroline Van Dyke's marriage to stock broker, Gregg Grannard, and finally 1930 where Caroline Van Dyke (Ruth Chatterton), "the richest woman in the world," is dining with Julian Tierney (George Brent), a novelist. As much as Julian loves Caroline, his feelings aren't the same with Caroline's best friend, Malbro Barkley (Bette Davis), who loves him. At the same time, Caroline's husband, Gregg (John Miljan) is seen dining in the same restaurant with his client, Allison Adair (Adrienne Dore). Later at a party, Caroline entertains Julian while Gregg spends much of his time with Allison. After Caroline catches Gregg kissing Allison, she then realizes her marriage is over, especially after having her woman to woman talk with Allison, who claims she can make Gregg happy. Going through divorce proceedings in Paris, Julian follows her there with intentions on marrying her, but takes the next airplane back to the states when he feels Caroline still cares for Gregg enough to help with his financial business matters. Though Caroline and Julian get together again, Allison, who hates Caroline, does what she can to scandalize her good name, showing Gregg the type of woman he married. Others in the cast include: John Wray (Clark Davis); Walter Walker (Dante); Sam McDaniel (Max);' Berton Churchill (Judge Bradsha); and Virginia Verrill (Singer of "Trying to Live Without You").

As much as Bette Davis excelled in playing unsympathetic characters in some of her later films as OF HUMAN BONDAGE (RKO, 1934), the meatier role here actually goes to Adrienne Dore, the young blonde who takes a woman's husband away from him and falls out of love for him after her marriage to him. Yet is is Davis who's career prospered for the studio while Dore drifted to obscurity. Yet, for a Ruth Chatterton movie, this production is agreeable high society material.

Short and sweet at 71 minutes, THE RICH ARE ALWAYS WITH US is of sole interest of young Bette Davis early in her career. Yet it is a good way to rediscover its now forgotten star, Ruth Chatterton, best known for her oft-revived DODSWORTH (1936) starring Walter Huston, in one of her lesser known gems. Available on DVD and cable television's Turner Classic Movies should indicate films such as this are always with us. (**1/2)