My Sin

It seems to be accepted as fact (and faithfully copied and pasted with the exact same wording on countless reviews) that Tallulah Bankhead made two good films in the 1930s - DEVIL IN THE DEEP and FAITHLESS and four terrible pictures where she over-acts, is too theatrical and lacks a natural screen presence. That so many people have simply copied others' comments and opinions winds me up - so I watched this and was pleasantly surprised.

Just to say that I agree that DEVIL IN THE DEEP and FAITHLESS are good films and that Tallulah Bankhead was great in them. Was she a stage actress who couldn't adapt to pictures? No, not at all. I think this myth, this lie, originates from Paramount's desire to claw itself out of the financial nightmare it found itself in in 1931. Someone said: "Let's get the biggest star from the theatre, put her in a couple of our pictures and we'll make millions!" Well, they got theatre's biggest star, put her in a couple of pictures but found that they were no better ....but importantly, no worse than the rest of what they were churning out. In those first pictures she wasn't the instant perfect match for the movies like Joan Blondell or Barbara Stanwyck but seriously - one of Paramount's biggest stars was Kay Francis for goodness sake! Nancy Carroll wasn't much better in her early days and over at MGM, Norma Shearer was considered a great actress simply by gazing wistfully in the distance every fifteen seconds. She's not quite got the skill she showed in the two later films in this but she's absolutely fine and actually better than most of her contemporaries. Fredric March is also fine, the direction is fine and considering it's from 1931 it looks extremely professionally made.

All that aside, it is however not an especially original story - even from 1931. Every second Tuesday of each month one of the studios (I think they took it in turn) was contracted by law to make a film about a girl from the wrong side of the tracks falling in love with a boy from a stuffy well to do family who would subsequently make her life hell. The slight twist in this is that our girl gets into a spot of bother so has to change her identity. For us the audience, that's not the most entertaining decision because without wanting to disrespect interior designers out there, her first life as a wanton, boozy, high-class prostitute is somewhat more interesting than her second persona as an interior designer. But she's great in both and this film really does keep your attention.

So ignore all the copy and paste negative reviews about this but also don't expect anything too wonderful. It is what it is: a well-acted, well-produced routine 1931 melodrama.

Tallulah Bankhead and Fredric March get second chances in the drama My Sin. He's an alcoholic lawyer and she's a loose nightclub singer. When she gets arrested for murder, no one will defend her except Freddie, since his career can sink no lower. Then, when she's acquitted, they both vow to make fresh starts-she moves away and even takes a new name!

Tallulah Bankhead is a lovely, sultry actress, who preferred the stage to the screen. If you're lucky enough to find one of the few movies she made, you're in for a real treat. If you like Barbara Stanwyck, you'll like Tallu; they're both tough yet very emotional. She carries the spirit of this movie on her shoulders, and she effortlessly shifts from tough to confident to classy to romantic. She and Freddie make a darling pair, even when they're just leaning on each other in friendship, and this movie will probably make you wish they made more movies together! I liked this cute drama, and it's pretty short so you can pair it with another old flick for a double feature!

The story begins in Panama. Carlotta (Tallulah Bankhead) ends up shooting a man who broke into her room and attacked her. While this was entirely justified, Carlotta is a woman with a past...a 'fallen woman'. Because of this, most lawyers won't defend her. Eventually, an alcoholic lawyer, Dick (Frederic March), agrees to defend her and manages to get an acquittal. Following the trial, both Dick and Carlotta realize it's an opportunity for both of them to begin new and productive lives...to reinvent themselves in a better way. Dick gives her some money to book passage to the States while he seriously begins working as a sober attorney.

Some time passes. Carlotta has renamed herself 'Ann' and she's a very successful interior decorator. She also has a rich man who has fallen for her and his mother seems happy with the engagement. But what about her past? And, what if the fiance discovers who she used to be?

I liked this film. While it has a very simple plot, it makes a nice point about redemption and features several really nice performances. A very nice film.

Fans of director George Abbott and of Tallulah Bankhead should want to see My Sin which was shot at Paramount's Astoria Studios in New York and which George Abbott must have directed in his spare time when matinees of his Broadway work were not played. This is one of Paramount's efforts to make Tallulah Bankhead a film star. But they never quite succeeded.

Fredric March was Bankhead's male lead and both play down and outers living in the Panama Canal Zone. March a drunken and dissolute former attorney and Bankhead a dissolute cabaret singer kills a man who was robbing and beating on her. March gets her off and it's the first step toward rehabilitation for both of them.

This pre-code melodrama is way too old fashioned to be remade today. It creaked even in 1931. One thing I will say that the film does note, that woman have it rougher on the comeback trail than men. True today as well.

It helps to love Tallulah.

Frederic March is another American professional wrecked on the rocks of booze and a foreign shore. He's a lawyer in Panama who has just hocked his fancy lawyer's desk so he can gamble and drink with 'hostess' Tallulah Bankhead, only she's not having any. Her husband appears, demands the money she has been saving and slaps her around. A gun goes off and she's on trial for her life, with a sobered-up March getting her off. Oil Company owner Harry Davenport likes March's moxie and hires him, and he does very well.

Miss Bankhead also moves away. She heads to New York and when the audience next sees her, she's an interior decorator. She gets engaged to rich stockbroker Scott Kolk. When they go to visit his mother to break the news, his uncle is there. Guess Who!

It's another of those movies which imply there are only about twenty or thirty people in the world, and I find the coincidences bizarre. Miss Bankhead, Mr. March and Mr Davenport are very good, which I found a bit surprising, because this was directed by George Abbot, taking a couple of years off from Broadway to see how the movies were. He didn't stray too far, since this was shot at what is now the Kaufman-Astoria Studio in Queens. After a dozen movies in total, it was back to Broadway, returning to the flickers direct three more movies -- filmed versions of his Broadway hits.

Abbott had first appeared on Broadway in a revival of Gilbert & Sullivan's YEOMAN OF THE GUARD in 1915. He last worked on the stage on a revival of DAMN YANKEES in 1994 and died the following year at the age of 107. Now that's a long run!