The Virtuous Sin

Director George Cukor gets his feet wet as a co-director with Louis Gasnier ( Reefer Madness) in The Virtuous Sin, a basically three person melodrama that manages to fail in nearly every department. Featuring an incredulous storyline and unconvincing performances it stumbles from scene to scene while Kay Francis models fur coats and frocks seducing a general (Walter Huston) in attempts to set her husband free from the brig.

Soldier, scientist Victor Sablin is on the verge of a medical breakthrough that will save millions but WW1 breaks out and Gen. Platoff (Walter Huston) prioritizes his killing enemy instead. Sablin balks and is tossed in the brig. His wife Marya (Francis) devises a plan to save him by working in a brothel that the General frequents on occasion. It works but unforeseen fallout accompanies.

All dressed up with no talent to show, Francis clumsily connives while maintaining naivete, her coquetry hackneyed. Huston is a cantankerous curmudgeon, loud and brash with zero romantic chops. As Marya's husband (eventually in real life as well) Ken McKenna overacts monstrously to every revelation while Jobyna Howland does a dull Mae West brothel madam. Compositionally the scenes are draped in typical Paramount gloss but come across limp much in part to the listless performance of the leads and uninspired direction of one man on the way up and one on the way down. Their conferences together probably showed more drama.

Kenneth MacDonald hates being in the Russian army. General Walter Huston thinks he should spend less time reading medical books and do army stuff, there being a war on and all. MacDonald virtuously tells him off, so Huston unreasonably orders him shot. This upsets MacDonald's wife, Kay Francis, who conceives the plan of masquerading as a good-time girl in the local bar, seducing Huston, and getting him to rescind his order as a favor.

In other words, it's nonsense, conceived of by people who know nothing of Russians, armies or Generals, but they knew to make sure that Miss Francis had a lot of clothing changes. For decades, this great beauty and excellent actress was denigrated as simply a clotheshorse. With vehicles like this, even opposite Huston, what was the poor women to do except learn her lines and negotiate a better salary?

Piffle like this, with a Russian background, was common in the late silent and early talkie eras. All those tales of impoverished royalty! All those cruel, tyrannous aristocrats! All those horrible Bolsheviks! And being Russian, of course, they had the greatest writers: Tolstoy, Gorky, Pushkin.

Actually the story is told by Robert Heinlein that his second wife, learned Russian specifically to read those great novels in the original language. According to him, she said they gained something in the translation.

Well, considering the source, maybe. At least Miss Francis looks great.

"The Virtuous Sin" is set during WWI in imperial Russia. A scientist working on some formula has just been drafted into the army. While he is right that working on his formula is more important than being in the army, Victor is an idiot. He's insubordinate and makes VERY bad choices. In the end, General Platoff (Walter Huston) is so infuriated at Victor that he orders him to be placed under arrest! Soon, he's sentenced to death for insubordination...something he really did seem to bring upon himself.

As for Victor's soon to be widow, Marya (Kay Francis), she learns what has happened and vows to help Victor. But her attempts to appeal the case are ignored so she comes up with another idea...to vamp the general and get him to do her bidding...even if that might mean sleeping with him to save her husband. What's next?

There were two problems with the story that kept it from being better. First, it felt very tough to feel sorry for Victor. He was an idiot and it's difficult to care about his plight. Second, the story is a bit old fashioned and stodgy...the sort that soon would go out of style. As far as Huston and Francis goes, they seemed to try hard to make it a good film but the script was schmaltzy and forgettable.

Marya (Kay Francis) gets friendly with Gen. Platoff (Walter Huston) in order to save her husband Victor (Kenneth MacKenna) from being executed. This involves sleeping with him. The outcome may not be what you expect.

This is an enjoyable film although it drags in parts and is quite stagey, eg, the characters sometimes deliver their lines facing the camera and each scene fades out before we start the following scene. Kenneth MacKenna is a real arse-hole in this film twatting on about his own personal honour. Kay Francis has become a slag to save his life and the prick just seems ungrateful. Thank goodness the film ends in the way that it does. I liked Walter Huston's character in the film - he is a tough general - and I felt sorry for him when he realized that he had been used by Kay Francis. I thought that he delivered the best line of the film in the battle scene where he grabs Victor back from going over the bunker to certain death. His command is "You're alive and you will please remain that way!"

The film keeps you guessing as to what Marya's tactic is going to be in order to secure Victor's release. In the end, it's nothing more than being a slut so it's slightly disappointing in terms of an exciting plot. Jobyna Howland has some funny moments as the brothel madam "Alexandra". Overall, the film is OK.

It's fun watching Kay Francis seduce Russian General Walter Huston in order to save real-life husband Kenneth MacKenna (a scientist) in this early talkie. MacKenna's life is at stake for insubordination (he'd rather cure people than kill them) -- Francis tries a ploy to get husband MacKenna pardoned. She becomes an entertainer at a local brothel (she even sings in her audition with Jobyna Howland). Francis gets real tough with Huston during his pursuit and interest in her. Her portrayal shows the complexity of her emotional conflict as she finds her self falling for the general while trying to hold on to the loyalty she feels for her husband. It's quite a performance and a multi-faceted opportunity that Francis plays to the hilt. Francis and Huston were a good team (4 films together) and it's too bad this one isn't more available to viewers.