Sinners in the Sun

This simple 1930s film seems to have the underlying theme that a person should be happy with their lot in life and shouldn't want more out of life--a reasonable less considering it was the Depression! When the film begins, Doris (Carole Lombard) and Jimmie (Chester Morris) are in love but to Doris there needs to be much more. This is because although Jimmie has a job, he's not exactly wealthy and she wants money and a fancy life. So, she dumps him and goes off on a search for a rich husband. Jimmie is angry and disgusted but eventually he goes looking for a rich wife. However, even though both have a cushy rich life in front of them, neither is happy.

The biggest reason to see this film is to see Cary Grant in one of his first films. He's reasonably good as a nice rich man but nothing more. As far as the story goes, I liked it but felt the fast run-time was a serious detriment. Because it went by so fast, the story felt more like an object lesson than about real people. But it still was modestly interesting and is worth a look.

... because with a name like "Sinners in the Sun" I figured it was one of those precodes in a tropical locale with some mad doctor doing odd experiments. But then I read a summary and thought I'd give it a whirl.

It's basically about love and the Great Depression. Doris (Carole Lombard) is a model at a high end boutique. Jimmie (Chester Morris) is a mechanic. They are engaged, but Doris is afraid of poverty, on being dependent on whether some employer thinks you are worth keeping around, and a visit to her apartment and you see why. Doris and her entire extended family, including her grandparents and her underemployed brother and his wife are crammed into this small place, and there is constant bickering. Doris wants Jimmie to own his own garage and be his ow boss before they get married, and eventually this leads to a break-up because Jimmie thinks Doris would be settling for him.

After Jimmie and Doris part, Jimmie becomes the chauffeur and then the husband of an idle rich woman. Doris becomes the mistress of an idle rich married man. They both make these moves because of things they find out that the other has been doing in regards to the opposite sex. Will this whole thing work out? Watch and find out. This boils down to the saying that more than enough money may not make you happy, but less than enough can sure make you miserable. Except the film rather leaves out the second part of that maxim, maybe so Depression era audiences wouldn't get too introspective after seeing this.

It was unusual to see Allison Skipworth play Doris' mother - a kind of Marie Dressler role. She usually plays the older sophisticate. If she doesn't have money she ordinarily pretends that she does. And here she is an ordinary housewife, downtrodden and disheartened by life without ever actually coming out and saying so. Cary Grant makes a few appearances as a rich and unattached guy who'd like have Doris for himself.

One of the most interesting scenes in the film to me - Anderson Lawler in an uncredited role as gigolo to a woman old enough to be his mother. He has a heart to heart with Jimmie about how they are not so different, to Jimmie's horror.

A young couple's relationship is threatened by his lack of success. An enjoyable romantic drama featuring a young Carole Lombard as a fashion model - which, as this is a pre-Code movie, means lots of shots of women in lingerie - and Chester Morris as a garage mechanic who eventually marries a socialite after becoming her chauffeur. It's the kind of story that's usually treated lightly by Hollywood studios, but Sinners in the Sun has a welcome dark edge, although everyone - even a wealthy philanderer - is a little too likeable. A pre-fame Cary Grant gives notice of his star potential in a couple of scenes.

This is a highly predictable story, which makes for a half-interesting film. It is almost as if the first scene between the main characters was already announcing everything that will take place. Doris and Jimmy love each other but he thinks they can marry without money, while she does not - and she does not trust him to be ambitious enough. As happens in Hollywood and not that often in real life, they are both soon offered occasions to climb up many steps at once through encounters with do-nothing millionaires - though Jimmy gets the better lot of the two as he is asked to marry, while Doris is not and finds herself relegated to the role of a half-official mistress. But in fact this difference is not that important - it would not be a real spoiler to tell how it all ends as anybody can guess it easily. Let us just say - in an elevator, as this is one of the amusing ideas in a film which manages to have a few ones, and occasionally crisp dialogues. These are the only times when Carole Lombard, who moreover is most of the time covered by heavy make-up making her look cheap, can really shine her true self and her abilities; at other times the film makes attempts, artificially and rather unsuccessfully, at a more melodramatic tone and she is visibly less at ease.

Sinners in the Sun (1932)

*** (out of 4)

Jimmie (Chester Morris) and Doris (Carole Lombard) are in love with each other but Doris wants riches and she's not sure Jimmie will ever be able to give them to her. They end up breaking up and before long she's in the arms of a married man (Walter Byron) while he finds himself married to a rich woman (Adrienne Ames). Before long Doris begins to think that money might not be everything.

If you're looking for a great or hard-hitting plot then you're not going to find it here. SINNERS IN THE SUN is pretty much a standard story of a couple poor people who think money is the answer and they have to learn that it isn't more important than love. This type of rags to riches story was quite popular during the early sound days and this one here remains watchable thanks in large part to a great cast of characters.

Morris has always been one of my favorite actors. He might not have ever became a huge star but I've enjoyed going through his career and this is certainly one of his better performances. At first he's style of speech and his delivery reminded me of Jimmy Stewart, although that actor hadn't yet even appeared in Hollywood. Morris gets a couple very good scenes including one where he lets loose on his former love and the actor did a terrific job here.

The rest of the cast is extremely good as well with Lombard doing a very good job in her role of the woman who wants gold, gets it and lives to regret it. She's very good in the role and quite believable whether she's playing that small town girl or the spoiled rich one. The supporting players are nice as well and this includes a young Cary Grant in his second screen appearance. He doesn't have much to do but his few scenes are quite good. Alison Skipworth also gets a couple very funny scenes playing Lombard's mother.

As I said, storywise SINNERS IN THE SUN is pretty silly and predictable but the actors make it worth sitting through.