They Call It Sin

They Call It Sin (1932)

One of many really good Loretta Young films from this era. She's young and energized and makes a great lead. This story of a sweet country girl being swept off her feet by a genuinely nice man must have struck to the core of women all over the country. Nothing extraordinary here, but all in all well done and compact.

There are parts of the film that feel like it's an early talkie—they are a bit stiff— but there are many more parts, especially with Young, that are so fresh and alive they feel almost contemporary. The other big name is George Brent, more famous for many low key roles next to Bette Davis, and it's fun to see him so young here. But it's actually the two other leading actors —there are four—who match Young for energy on the screen. One is the other man, a common kind of actor (David Manners) with believable energy. The second is a sassy woman who supports Young through her travails, Una Merkel.

So in all they make a fast and strangely interwoven group. You won't find the sexually suggestive layers of other pre-Code films here, even though some rules are seemingly broken. But you will find a freshness, if not intensity, that keeps this breezy drama going. They call it entertainment.

This film caught my attention immediately because of the great actors in this film and Loretta Young, (Marion Cullen) who looked so radiant as a church organist in a very small church. David Manners plays the role as Jimmy Decker who comes from a rich family and is an engaged man to his boss's daughter. Jimmy Decker visits Kansas and walks into a church and is struck by the beauty of Marion Cullen who plays the hymns: "On Ward Christian Soldiers" and "Rock of Ages" which seem to captivate his heart strings. Jimmy gets deeply involved with Marion and she gets into a problem with her mother and father and they tell her she is an adopted girl and they do not think she is a good Christian and in many ways disown her. Marion runs off to New York City and seeks out Jimmy Decker and then the trouble starts for this couple in love. Great film and George Brent, (Dr. Tony Travers) gave a great supporting role. Enjoy.

This is an amazing one to see, especially for early days of the actors we're more familiar with decades later. Was Louis Calhern ever young? Even here, he has a very mature look. There's a very placid and pleasing Loretta Young, mostly philosophic, never very ruffled for long by the twists and turns that come her way. Her wild roomie, Una, is no end of fun, getting ruffled enough for the both of them. David Manners caught my eye and looked for other movies with him, his having left Hollywood after less than a decade or so in favor of stage work. Very handsome young man, who reminded me of Jeffrey Lynn, who also wasn't around very long, in his case, to pursue another career altogether. George Brent transfers his usual low key portrayal from the last time you saw him. Surprisingly lively and interesting older movie.

I think this film is terrific. What starts off with a B movie feel swiftly shifts gears into an A grade melodrama with very strong moral dilemma and emotional logic, this First national WB Vitaphone picture is very rewarding for anyone remotely interested in the technical era of talkies in 1932. There are IMDb comments that spew on this film which I find puzzling, and I encourage you to read the excellent and informative review by 'rsoonsa' also on this site. Personally I was constantly surprised at the storyline and loved every minute of seeing and hearing the fabulous genuine Vitaphone (gramophone record) sound. The sound editing and camera smoothness and many lavish sets and the camera movement about them was of particular interest because this film is so deliberately experimental in furthering the ability to capture and record and be sophisticated in its presentation. With a great cast and the gorgeous Loretta Young front and center... and with hilarious Una Merkel (as Dixie Dare...!) you are in for a treat of pre code proportions with solid and exciting production values, humor and storyline. Other comments can tell you the story line, I just want to encourage you to see this film and have 70 minutes of constant surprises.... both technically and as entertainment.

A startlingly mature teenage Loretta Young stars in this fast-moving melodrama as Marion Cullen, a songwriter who leaves her Kansas home for New York City to shape a career in show business and to follow the man she loves, Jimmy Decker (David Manners), a salesman whose business junket to her home town has tied their hearts together. Decker, however, is betrothed to another (Helen Vinson) and Marion discovers that success in her new profession benefits from a relationship with Ford Humphries (Louis Calhern), an influential producer but a libertine whose demands upon her include more than her ability to craft tuneful pieces for the stage. Decker, now married, continues to harbour his love for Marion, as does his best friend, medical doctor Tony Travers (George Brent) and it remains for the young musician to decide which of the three men she will choose and what sort of position she will prefer for herself, that as mistress, wife, or other woman. Graceful Loretta Young is asked to provide acting skill instead of solely her superb bone structure, and she does so to good result in mosaical scenes, displaying a full range of emotions while making them believable and, of course, is a perfect mannequin for the Orry-Kelly gowns with which she is raimented. David Manners must rely upon more than his profile here, and the stage-trained actor performs creditably, specially so in airy scenes, while silky George Brent and shrewd Louis Calhern execute their roles well; it is Una Merkel as Dixie Dare, Marion's Gotham companion, who nearly steals the show with her rendering of a salty-mouthed, high-stepping chorus girl. The entire production benefits from the extensive cinematic background of director Thornton Freeland who utilizes an interesting assortment of camera angles, is responsible for the crisp cutting and editing and handles his extras with sureness, with only the abrupt final minutes barring the work from achieving a higher aesthetic plane.