Side Streets

Supporting mainstay Aline McMahon gives a moving performance in the lead in this brief melancholy drama about a spinster furrier and her rocky relationship with a sailor in San Francisco. Just over an hour in length it has more than its share of melodramatic moments that McMahon reigns over with a quiet restrained dignity that infects the entire film.

Down and out Paul (Paul Kelly) crosses paths with Bertha at the zoo when he attempts to steal some peanuts she is feeding to the monkeys. Non-plussed by it all she saves him from being pinched and takes him in to help with the fur business she runs. Eventually they marry and have a child but Paul's wandering eye threatens to bring to an end.

Whether dealing with the business or the obstacles of her marriage Bertha displays a kind of weary resignation to all that befalls her. McMahon conveys this beautifully with sad eyed stoicism and without hysteria creating scenes of great power with less being more while Kelly, Dorothy Tree, Ann Dvorak and Helen Lowell offer strong counterpoint to her.

Alfred Green's direction takes the same unromantic view (before softening up a touch at the conclusion) as he did in Stanwyck's Baby Face with both coarse and cynical characters and situations evoking both the period and pre-code freedom. It also has the same rapid pace as well making it worth the brief time it requires to watch.

This is a sentimental favorite of mine with an actress - Aline McMahon - that was usually linked with supporting comedic roles in a rare lead appearance in a drama. But wow, just wow, could she tug your heart strings when you gave her a chance. Watch this film and "Heat Lightning" to know what I'm talking about.

Aline McMahon is Bertha, a "side street" furrier. She's not one of the big outfits so she has to be cagey and good with the customers to make a respectable but not great living, and she does. She meets a down and out sailor, Tim (Paul Kelly). She's lonely, he needs room and board, she offers him a job, he takes it. It isn't long before it's obvious he's just milking the situation and doing as little as possible to earn his keep, probably sensing Bertha's loneliness will keep a roof over his head. He strengthens his position even more when he marries her. Now Bertha is being made out to be "a spinster", even though she looks all of 35 and has a very natural beauty if you ask me. All of this dialogue about her being a plain Jane perplexes me. She's a woman alone in the world who is busy trying to keep a business afloat and doesn't have time to dress up in her own fancy merchandise.

After marriage, Tim is kind enough to Bertha, but a new sweetie soon has his eye in the person of Marguerite (Ann Dvorak). He's thinking about heading back out to sea but then he finds a bill for an obstetrician visit among Bertha's things and suddenly becomes a changed man. He makes as close to a confession to Bertha as you'd ever get of a slicky boy like Tim, and Bertha says she's known all along and forgives him. Tim breaks it off with Marguerite, determined to turn over a new leaf, but there's one thing with Marguerite he can't break off.

I'll let you watch and see how this all works out. This film really gives you a feeling of how the long-term lowered expectations of the average man and woman on the street during the Great Depression affected their behavior. Men and women unable to get work attaching themselves to one of the opposite sex that was financially OK just for survival, some of the wealthier people taking advantage of the situation, what happened to cast-off women in cases when the wealthy man didn't want them anymore. Highly recommended.

There was a good deal that attracted me into seeing 'A Woman in Her Thirties'. Aline MacMahon and Ann Dvorak were usually seen in scene stealing supporting roles, and it was interesting to see how MacMahon would do as the lead. The subject sounded interesting, like with quite a lot of pre-code films that take on quite daring for the time subjects. Alfred E. Green did a fair share of solid films and this was the sort of film he did well.

'A Woman in Her Thirties', known in some places too as 'Side Streets', falls short of being a great film and is less than perfect. There is however much to recommend it, it does well on the most part with its subject and it shows that MacMahon could work incredibly well in a lead role. It is also much better than the slightly simplistic title suggests. So 'A Woman in Her Thirties' is a pretty good film on the most part, although with a few big short-comings that stop it from living up to its full potential which is somewhat a shame.

Like a good deal of pre-code films at the time, 'A Woman in Her Thirties' can be pretty over-heated dramatically, the sentiment sometimes getting a bit much. Am also really not a fan of endings that jar mood wise with the rest of their respective films and come over as too pat, and that is the case here.

While a good job actually is mostly done with the story, there are contrivances here and there that happen too conveniently and a little on the silly side.

So much to like about 'A Woman in Her Thirties' though. The settings and costumes are sumptuous and the photography having a nice yet intimate style to it. The music avoids being over-bearing or saccharine while enough enough presence. Green directs at a lively enough pace so the story doesn't feel too pedestrian.

Much of the script is intelligently written and takes the subject seriously without being too heavy or over-serious. The story has content that few films would have dared to touch, let alone portray, back in those days. Really appreciated the daring subject and how the film handled it in a take no prisoners manner instead of trivialising. The characters on paper sound pretty unlikeable but the actors do a sterling job bringing enough to them that makes them investable just about. Dvorak is charming and Paul Kelly makes it easy to understand what his appeal is while also hating his character for the way he treats Bertha, he is a long way from being treated in a one-sided way. The acting honours though go to MacMahon, who is both dignified and moving and allows one to feel for Bertha.

Overall, not great but pretty good and worth seeing for primarily the performances. 7/10

SIDE STREETS (1934) comes in at the edge before the Hollywood Production 'Code' put the brakes on sexual situations and film creativity. Only Cecil B. DeMille continued to get away with it, wrapping his films in either pseudo patriotic or religious fervor.

This quick told story (63") is about a Women (Aline MacMahon) yearning for love and companionship. Finding it in a Man (Paul Kelly) a failure at his chosen profession as a seaman, who has a wandering eye, but in the end learns the importance of what his Wife has to offer. The film addresses frankly the problems of marriage, loss (their Baby dies) and adultery. In one scene, obviously pre-code, Kelly and MacMahon are shown in the same bed together under the covers. A real 'No-No' back then! MacMahon in several scenes shows a sensitivity that is heart-breaking.

Both Kelly and MacMahon would have long film careers as well as making their mark on the Broadway Stage. They make a attractive and believable couple, nothing phony here. The rest of the supporting cast is effective. Particularly Ann Dvorak, one of Kelly's dalliances. This attractive, slim Actress is barely known today and most of her films are unseen. Take advantage of her when you can, especially her pre-code films, they are well worth watching!

Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak and Paul Kelly star in this largely forgotten little gem. Aline works in the fur business and Paul Kelly is a drifter who looks for work on ships but whose undependable reputation keeps him from being hired. A hungry Paul Kelly is fortunate to meet up with Aline MacMahon, who takes him in and feeds him. Things progress as usual in this short drama, but the performances of all really make up for any flaws the film may have, especially Aline. This is arguably her best performance on screen, with the exception being Dragon Seed. She is excellent and the others are cast well in their parts. I heartily recommend this to those who love good old movies and these actors.