Millie

Helen Twelvetrees (Millie) stars as the title character in a soap opera story of her life. We follow her as she gets married to wealthy James Hall (Jack) as an innocent girl and we end up almost 20 years later. How does she change during this period? Pretty drastically.

The supporting cast are good despite every character being portrayed as deceitful - the men are cheaters and the women are gold-diggers. Lilyan Tashman (Helen) and Joan Blondell (Angie) have the most entertainng parts and they are funny with their dialogue. They also provide some glamour with their outfits and the sets are interesting. We also get creepy John Halliday (Jimmy) who keeps trying his luck with Twelvetrees over the course of the film. Well, if the girl doesn't wanna play what's a man to do?

It's a woman's film from the early 1930s and is of historical interest as that.

Fun to see a young Joan Blondell. She and Frank Mc hugh would make TONS of great films over the next 20 years. The sound and picture quality are surprisingly good for such a seldom seen film. Sure, it ain't no Gone with the Wind, but they packed a lot of story into this early love triangle, or quadrilateral, as the case may be.

Gal (Helen Twelvetrees is "Millie") falls in love, and keeps getting shafted by the men in her life. She is determined to be strong and independent, and protect herself and her daughter, Connie, played by Anita Louise. We see the daughter at the beginning, and again near the end, but she kind of disappears for most of the story. She and her two best friends get together and "help" each other whenever there is a crisis. Help is a relative term here... her two friends take a little too much delight in giving her bad news about her husbands and the guys who "done her wrong".

Good fast moving script for the most part. Granted, there are a couple scenes that don't really need to be there (the "drunk" scene, where the two gal pals console each other, and a couple others.) Takes on some bigger issues, way ahead of its time, but watch it for yourself to see what I mean. I think they are showing all kinds of true life "things", if one reads between the lines, that weren't normally talked about in films. I'm really surprised at the lower rating of "6" as of today, but with only 211 votes, I guess it hasn't been seen much. Directed by John Dillon, who had started EARLY on in the silents. You can tell this was a relatively new talkie, since they use title cards here and there. Novel written by Donald Clarke, who also wrote "Female", another story of an early, independent woman, made into film.

This creaky antique reworking of Madame X is of interest mainly for its pre-code ingredients, blatant lesbianism, unpunished sex outside marriage etc., than any real value as a film. A lot of the film techniques are reminiscent of silents showing the growing pains of films continued into the early thirties. Part of the problem with the film is that all the men talk about how the heroine gets under a man's skin and they can't get over her but Helen Twelvetrees exudes none of the magnetism that makes that believable. The supporting players add more to the picture than the leads with Lilyan Tashman having the most fun as a party girl with Joan Blondell and Frank McHugh both starting out but already stealing scenes with their patented personas firmly in place. Except for the three of them the acting is extremely florid, especially towards the end. An almost unrecognizable Anita Louise, still beautiful but so young, is cast as Millie's daughter.

Pretty racy when it was released but rather tame by today's standards. Uneven production with some very good moments but more that will catch your mind wandering. If you are interested in pre-code movies, this one should be seen. Story involves a mother who gives up child and falls from grace only to be redeemed at the end. It is also a movie about a strong woman who exercised choice and refuses to live the kind of life that destined for most young women who were married at the time. Not a great film and probably only worth your time if looking for historical examples or as a classroom project.

As a pre code example of movie making i recommend this. adult script. all those who say the two female friends were 'obvious' lesbians..........I actually feel that they were intimating that they were prostitutes. who knows. the two friends to me were the entire movie. and i had never seen anita louise so young before. interesting flick, but not for the millenials.