Disgraced

Unlikely to make anyone's top ten list, but a fine example of fast-paced pre-coder with adult content and unexpected twists.

It's a tale of two couples. Helen Twelvetrees and Ken Murray play working-class types who've been friends since childhood. He wants to marry her, she's lukewarm. Adrianne Ames and Bruce Cabot are two spoiled rich kids without responsibilities and not much in the way of morals. They're engaged but don't take it too seriously. Twelvetrees is a model and Cabot is smitten when he sees her modeling outfits for Ames.

He claims he's serious, but is he? A big question in many such films. To complicate things her father is a fiercely protective cop.

As in any good story, the characters are not one-dimensional. Their actions are unpredictable and there motives unclear. For instance, is Twelvetrees a naive innocent or a gold digger? Is her father protective of women in general, or only his daughter? And of course, who, if anyone, will end up with whom?

The film is very pre-code in its attitude that there's one set of rules for the very rich and another for everyone else.

Well, that's enough without spoiling it. A definite watch for pre-code fans that, like many of its genre, makes you reflect on things afterwards.