Ladies They Talk About

The hard-boiled dames locked up at San Quentin State Penitentiary are some of the LADIES THEY TALK ABOUT.

Barbara Stanwyck stars in this very enjoyable pre-Code crime drama which takes a Hollywood look at women's lives behind bars. The acting is strictly of the ham variety, with a few histrionics, some heart-string tugging and a surprisingly large dollop of comedy thrown in. Some of the plot developments are absolutely ludicrous, but the viewer should never get bored.

Stanwyck is terrific as the female member of a small-time gang of crooks. Prison gives her a chance to get really tough in order to deal with her situation, but the audience always knows that just a few moments with the right man will have her (rather unconvincingly) melting like butter. Whether brawling with a vicious inmate, assisting in an escape attempt, or going gunning for the guy she thinks betrayed her, Stanwyck is always right on the money for entertainment value.

Three female costars give Stanwyck some great support in the prison scenes. Lillian Roth, as the lighthearted inmate who befriends Barbara, nearly steals the show with her perky personality; she gives the movie one of its brightest moments when she croons 'If I Could Be With You' to a fan photo of comic Joe E. Brown. Frowzy Maude Eburne is a hoot as a bawdy former madam who likes to reminisce about her old 'beauty parlor' from the comfort of her rocking chair. Good-natured Ruth Donnelly is a nice addition, in a small role, as an Irish matron with a big white parrot.

Preston Foster, as a reform revivalist who remembers Stanwyck from their childhood together in Benicia, California, gives an earnest performance, stalwart & steady. Lyle Talbot and Harold Huber appear as members of Stanwyck's gang. Elderly Robert McWade makes the most of his performance as Los Angeles' wily District Attorney.

Movie mavens will spot some fine character actors appearing unbilled: rotund DeWitt Jennings as a cagey police detective; Helen Ware as the no-nonsense prison head matron; Madame Sul-Te-Wan as Mustard, the sassy prisoner who's terrified of parrots; Robert Warwick as San Quentin's stern warden. And that's dear Mary Gordon who appears for only a few scant seconds as a laughing white-haired inmate in the Visiting Room.

Barbara Stanwyck is a front for bank robbers who winds up in San Quentin in "Ladies They Talk About," a pre-code drama. The film is badly dated with very melodramatic acting, the exceptions being Stanwyck and Lillian Roth. Not to mention, it's an absurd story. A popular reformer, "Brother David Slade" falls for Barbara the minute he sees her, believes her innocent, and wants to help her. He arranges for her release from jail, and then, brimming with confidence, she confesses that she was indeed part of the bank robbery. Shattered, he sends her up the river to San Quentin.

Once there, Stanwyck becomes a popular inmate with the exception of Sister Susie who's in love with Slade and hates her guts. Stanwyck helps her old buddies from the bank robbery escape by tunneling to her cell. The story goes on from there.

Lillian Roth is great as a young woman who befriends Stanwyck, and she gets to sing. Stanwyck is fabulous with her wavy hair and tough talk. Preston Foster mainly looks pious and sincere.

The film is interesting because of Stanwyck and Roth, but the story isn't good. Happily this was at the beginning of Stanwyck's career, and she went on to better things.

This is a fine example of the Barbara Stanwyck fans would come to know in future years. Her role is tough as nails (remember this production is pre -code) and no-nonsense but still smooth and sexy. One of the best of Stanwyck's early work.

Part of a bank robber gang, a woman is sent to prison, while carrying on a tepid romance with an evangelist.

Stanwyck (Nan) is nearly the whole show in this early crime drama from street-wise Warner Bros. She's one tough cookie, and when she struts cocksure into a room full of other tough prison cookies, we believe it. No wonder she had one of Hollywood's most durable A-picture careers. But watch out for that dimpled cutie Lillian Roth (Linda) who almost steals the film with a big helping of winsome charm. The prison tour she makes with a silent Stanwyck is clearly intended to showcase that dimpled appeal. Too bad she had such a problem with booze; in my book, she could have been a big star, especially in musicals.

The movie itself is just okay. Unfortunately, the supposed romance between Stanwyck and a simpering Preston Foster undercuts much of the movie's stab at realism. But then I guess someone had to set Nan on the straight and narrow. Clearly, the best scenes are in prison. There we see an unusual line-up of characters, thanks to the pre-Code period. These include such exotic types as the one-and-only Maude Eburne (Aunt Maggie) as a wacko grandmother from heck, a cigar-smoking butch matron (Dickson) whose daring type would disappear from the screen for decades, and even an "uppity" black woman (uncredited) who takes no lip from anyone, black or white.

Still, it's Stanwyck's movie, and there's enough of her trademark grit to please her many fans, myself included.

Early Barbara Stanwyck who is about as bad as they get. She participates in a bank robbery, manipulates men, lies, and gets sent up to the big house. Plot is somewhat far fetched with little character development other than for Barbara. Story revolves around whether Barbara will again allow Preston Foster to try to save her after trusting him once and having him fail to live up to her expectations. Stanwyck is patterned after the real life experiences and play by Dorothy Mackaye who repeats the formula in Lady Gangster (1942). This movie is worth watching to see the early Stanwyck or the depiction of woman's prison life. Apparently women inmates were allowed to fix up their rooms real nice and change from prison clothes into street clothes during visiting hours -- or so Hollywood would tell us. Sure would have made it easier to escape!