Other Men's Women

Grand film, has all the elements of a greek tragedy with a socko ending. And all ends honorably. A definite 10. Story plot, character development and even the scenery. From a dance-hall to the railroad yards to a bridge under siege by flood. And Jimmy Cagney dances! How could you go wrong. Dialogue a bit 'racy' in spots.

This film stars Grant Withers as railroad worker Bill White who becomes enamored of the wife (Mary Astor) of his close friend Jack (Regis Toomey). Both men are railroad workers, and prior to coming home to live with Jack and his wife, Bill has been romancing a tough waitress (Joan Blondell) among others, getting drunk every night to the point of almost losing his job, and finally gets ejected from his rooming house for his rowdiness. Specifically Bill ran some bathwater, passed out drunk, and the bath overflowed. At Jack's house Bill finds the kind of home he's never had, and he and Jack's wife, Lily, fall in love, but due to their mutual loyalty to Jack, do nothing about it. However, Jack does find out about how the two feel about one another and he and Bill have it out one night on the train in what turns out to be a very bad place for a fist fight. Grant Withers never made it as a leading man, and it is interesting to see him in this film, and also in his previous leading role "Sinner's Holiday", getting upstaged by the dynamic James Cagney, who has a very small role in both movies.

The story is not that original, but the gritty depression era work conditions of the rail yards and the dusty cafés juxtaposed with Jack and Lily's quaint little home and lush little garden make for great imagery. Then there's that tough precode attitude that is in its infancy over at Warner Brothers at this time. This all makes the film interesting beyond the basic paint-by-numbers plot and therefore worth a look.

Other Men's Women (1931)

If you only watch the first twenty minutes of this you'll get a slightly corny movie about a couple of pals and a couple of gals and a slightly mixed set of affections that is pure innocence. The acting is a little forced, but there is good fluid camera-work, bright, complex scenes, and all kinds of really rare location shooting in railroad yards (and on top of railroad cars). It's fun in its own way, but the two main male characters are so happy and glib they seem weirdly dated.

But then the first twist comes into play--and the title gives an idea there (though it shouldn't be plural, I would think). Also, remember this is a pre-code film so it plays openly with things like adultery in a way that wouldn't happen starting in 1934, three years later.

Now don't get the idea that things get too steamed up here. It's still a depression era big studio romance and it isn't going to take actual chances morally. Or aesthetically. The leading woman is a very young Mary Astor and she's terrific, more naturalistic than the men (neither of whom is well known). The male actor of growing fame (or future fame, largely) is James Cagney, and his role is very very limited, but familiar. He has an edgy intensity that is startling--and he can dance, too. Briefly. Look for Joan Blondell, as well, and though she was in endless films (50 of them just in the 1930s) she's always perky and alive.

The movie never quite rises above its plain approach and this is appropriate because it makes it possible for the movie to talk about what might go wrong between very regular people in a case of one man hitting on the other's wife. It is always rather open and accessible in its own way, you might even say modern in the way it's filmed. Director William Wellman isn't always appreciated on the highest level, but he had an unaffected touch, less art and more humanity, than some other more famous directors, and it's in full force here, easy to like.

The movie also surprised me with its effects and its high drama toward the end. I won't say more, but the rain just won't stop. Great atmosphere, lots of night shooting in the rain, and a scary climax, visually (not so compelling dramatically, I'm afraid). Great fun!

So why isn't this better than it is? One is a script that is a bit awkward or forced at times, both in the dialog and in the forced melodrama. The other is some acting (by the two men--Grant Withers and Regis Toomey) that is just weak. And the situations are highly emotional and demanding. This is another of Wellman's traits, unfortunately--even in his acclaimed and astonishing "Wings" from 1927 there is a feeling of some kind of acting and writing stiffness that brings down an otherwise brilliant kind of production.

Should you see this? If you like early talkies, yes. If you want a tight story with intelligence and depth, I'm not so sure. Enter forewarned. I liked it, I did, but I partly just got, uh, swept away by the way it was shot. And the common DVD transfer from film is first rate, clean and clear!

Depression-era movies get to me.

If it's not the plot, the locales, the characters, the old acting style, the old manner of speaking, the manners of the era, the "clean" way of thinking, the gritty realism and authentic feel of location shooting inside or outside or sometimes even the costumes...something always captivates me about the talkies of 30's and late 20's.

There may not be prodigious film-making here but two scenes will remain engraved in my memory:

1- The blind man struggling alone in the rain in the railway yard. One particular close-up was intriguing. There was no intense melodrama here, just a man in turmoil. Wonderfully done.

2- Bill's encounter at the end with an old "friend". As Bill realizes that this old friend may offer him some hope he runs out and boards a moving train. He proceeds to get on the roof to release his romantic glee by running down the entire length of the train from caboose to the engine car. His boyish joy made me smile.

Ah, that bygone era of innocence. With all of the misery that happened then, these were some of the charming highlights that linger on.

We are the richer for the preservation of every film from that era. Each contributes another chapter in the art of film and of the heart of man's growth.

Early talkies didn't always fare particularly well and some are even pretty bad, even at the time. Some though are quite good and more. While it does fall short of being a great film, 'Other Men's Women' is one of the quite good if not quite great ones. Other reasons for wanting to see it were for the cast, including seeing Grant Withers against type and James Cagney and Joan Blondell in early roles, and for that it was directed by William A Wellman, who excelled at his uncompromising approach to heavy subjects.

'Other Men's Women' is much better than the simplistic and slightly dubious title aside and actually struck me as a good film. Not one of the better early talkies, but light years away from being one of the worst either. It is not one of the best from all involved, with some flawed story execution and that the storyteling is not as inventive as the visuals. 'Other Men's Women' however piles on the invention visually and technically and there are some scenes that are very difficult to forget for a very long time afterwards.

Will start with the many great things. Visually, it moves on from the static, filmed play-like approach that some earlier talkies adopted when transitioning from silent to sound and there are some very inventive visuals and shots enhancing a film that has some of the best use of a railroad on film. Especially the blind man struggling in the rain sequence and the climax, those scenes may not have been as powerful as they were if the photography wasn't so good in those scenes. The script is as sharp as a razor, taut and very witty with some pre-code content that is quite bold for back then and is not too tame still today.

Direction from Wellman also has glimpses of real imagination, especially in the climax which showed that he was very good at directing tense dramatic action. Other films of his did better at taking difficult topics and exploring them in a way that is far from safe, but enough of the film engrosses and as said there are memorable scenes. Not before the moving struggling in the rain scene and the hair-raising climax, but also pre-stardom James Cagney's impromptu tap dance.

Acting is also good on the most part, Withers not only is in a lead role rather than in his usual scene-stealing supporting roles but it is an against type kind of role. He fares rather charmingly and doesn't seem taxed. Mary Astor has less to do but is sensual and also quite charming. Cagney is fun in his small role but my favourite performance comes from Joan Blondell in a kind of role that she played better than most actresses at the time and one of the best at.

By all means 'Other Men's Women' is not perfect. It gets very heavy on the melodrama towards the end and the melodrama is rather forced and sudsy. Reegis Toomey is another one of the male leads and he doesn't have as much presence as Withers and apart from one great scene his role needed more grit.

It is a shame that after such imagination in the technical and direction departments and some inspired scenes that the storytelling tends to be rather conventional, predictable and sometimes silly. The very end is slightly too pat, like too many pre-code films.

To conclude, quite good and not bad as far as very early sound pictures go. 7/10