Expensive Women

A wet blanket of a romance between Dolores Costello (who lacks screen magnetism) and Anthony Bushell (who is unbelievably bland and wooden). The most interesting person / actor in the film, Warren William, appears only in the first 20 minutes and then in the very last scene! Hard to recommend this movie to anyone, despite some nice outdoor scenes. *1/2 out of 4.

In one of the early talkies, Connie (Dolores Costello, who will be the real life wife to John Barrymore) meets Neil (Warren William) at a dinner party. William was "The Lone Wolf" for years, and was able to play the good guy or the bad guy with equal skill. It takes until ten minutes in, to find a storyline for this film. We can see why its rated 5.9, but to be fair, that's based on only 95 votes so far. Keep an eye for HB Warner, who played "Chang" in Lost Horizon. you MUST see it, if you haven't already. Versatile actor. Polly Walters is in here, and seems to be a cross between Mae West and Jean Harlow. That screechy little voice! Next Connie meets "Arthur" (Anthony Bushell), but that may or may not work out. From First National/Warner Brothers, it's a film about relationships, chance meetings, and the pre-code morals and standards in the 1930s. This was one of the last films directed by Henley. He had been around for YEARS, acting and directing silents. This one isn't any Shakespeare play, but probably interesting historically, for the actors in it.

Expensive Women (1931)

** (out of 4)

Decent pre-code from Warner has Dolores Costello playing Connie Newton, a rich woman who falls in love with Arthur Raymond (Anthony Bushell) not knowing he's already married. The two plan on being together but his controlling father (H.B. Warner) puts a stop to that but soon murder and a trial follows. EXPENSIVE WOMEN isn't a very good movie but there are enough decent moments to make fans of pre-codes watch it. Now, it's very important to remember that studios were pretty much ran like a factory back in the day and I'm going to guess that this film was rushed through production just so the studio could have another "naughty" film out there for crowds to flock to and see. The biggest problem with this movie is certainly the screenplay, which in all honesty is a complete joke. At just 62-minutes the film flies by but the problem is that none of the characters really go through any sort of development and to say they'd one-sided would be the understatement of the decade. The lead character is someone we're supposed to feel sorry for yet the screenplay pretty much forgets to write in any details about her. We learn that she's rich. We learn that she's not a virgin. We learn through all the tough edges that she really wants love. The story here is so poorly put together that these various stages just come and go without too much thought. The first fifteen minutes we see Connie and her easy friend (Polly Walters). The next fifteen minutes has Connie falling in love. The next fifteen minutes features Connie getting her heart broken. Finally, we get an incredibly stupid murder sequence with an even quicker and dumber trial. I won't spoil anything but the final ten minutes of this movie is so stupid that you can't help but laugh at it. The film's rushed production is even more obvious in a sequence around the thirty-minute mark where Connie and her love are kissing in her hallway and a piece of her costume slides off her back and onto the floor. Neither actor notices it and they just go their separate ways living the piece on the floor. Ed Wood would have been proud. The performances for the most part are pretty good with Mrs. John Barrymore doing a nice job in the lead. Walters is pretty funny as the easy girl with non-stop men around her and Warren William steals the film in his small part. Warner is also very good as the father but Bushell really gets lost in the cause. The screenplay writes his character as such a wimp that you can't help but hate everything about him and I must say that this is perhaps the most annoying character I've seen from any movie of this era.

Rich bored socialite Connie Newton (Dolores Costello) falls for Neil Hartley. Bobby Brandon is her drunken party friend. She next falls for the married Arthur Raymond. Arthur tries to get a divorce but fails.

Apparently, Costello was a silent film star who faded after the transition into sound for various reasons. Her voice is fine and her acting should be good for the talkies. She supposedly retired as wife of John Barrymore until that marriage ended. She's the grandmother of Drew Barrymore. She has some of that screen presence although not quite as bright. I just don't like the character. It's not that appealing and her romantic journey is not compelling. I'm not rooting for anybody.

These depression era romantic romps served a real purpose. They took the audience out of their depressing existence into a world most of them would never know. They are frequently naughty and sexual innuendo and double entendres are everywhere - especially in pre-code entries like this one. In most of them, the male principals pretend to have some kind of vague position such as broker, banker, or sometimes they are just "in business", whatever that means. In this one, they don't even make the attempt. Nobody works. In fact, you rarely see the men in anything but tuxedos. They all live in swanky apartments, have country homes, use white telephones, and live on cocktails and snacks. Just like my well to do brother. Well, it's a short movie and ignoring all that annoying background saves a lot of time.

Still, it's a fascinating movie in it's own way. Pre-code allows the female lead, played by Dolores Costello to bounce from lover to lover without having to apologize for it. It also allows the irrepressible, outrageous, Polly Walters to get away with some of the snappiest, naughtiest dialog one could imagine. When she tells Warren Williams the taxi is waiting, he tells her to compensate him. She says: "I already compensated him - now he wants to be paid." Scrumptious. Another line worth noting. She tells him Bobby Brandon was evicted from a speakeasy for calling the doorman "a pansy". Pre-code also allowed Dolores Costello, by anybodies definition, a loose woman, to find happiness in the end - without paying a penalty.

As I watched this, I thought about how much talent went into this dialog. Compared to a lot of the visual filth we are subjected to today, it is amazing that anybody could have objected to the wit and humor that this movie and others like it gave us. Watch it with relish.