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Owsley, who was the second male lead in Honor Among Lovers (HAL), is little known and seldom remembered today. Too bad, because he had a special acting talent that enabled him (like in HAL) to convincingly play both straight "good guys" and edgy "bad guys" at one and the same time. In the 1940s, that skill was also represented by several roles created by the young Vincent Price. Owsley could project menace quite easily, and you were never sure exactly what he was going to do next. The famous film historian Lawrence J. Quirk best described Owsley as " a brilliant actor who died early in life (and) had in common with another goose-pimply-grater, Dwight Frye, an ability to make the collective audience's hair stand on end. He came on with a sandpaper-oozy-with-glue repellence that perfectly contrasted with the handsome profiles and bejeweled shapelies around him." In HAL, Owsley certainly provided a clear distinction to the matinee-idol like appearance of stalwart Fredric March in one of his entertaining early leading man roles. And strange as it may now seem, Owsley gave us a performance in HAL that made it seem plausible to believe that he and Claudette Colbert (in only her eighth movie) could end up as a real married couple in the film!

HAL's dense plot and curious title are pretty much irrelevant when considered by today's audiences. However, contemporary viewers of HAL will be almost immediately struck by its pre-code references to pre-marital sex, workplace sexual harassment, marital physical violence and adultery that were made without batting an eyelash! The early feminist director Dorothy Arzner kept the proceeding moving at a brisk pace, and enabled March and Colbert to look quite handsome, beautiful, and charming.

While HAL is not a particularly memorable film, it does stand out as a cinematic record that captures March, Colbert, Owsley and director Arzner at the dawn of their noteworthy movie careers. While Owsley and Arzner soon faded into obscurity, March and Colbert would shortly become very significant in Hollywood and emerge as film stars of the very first rank for many years to come.

One last word about the long forgotten Monroe Owsley. Quirk in his illustrated biography of Claudette Colbert stated that Owsley was given a rather unflattering nickname by his fellow colleagues "because his sadistic treatment of the fair sex on screen .....came off as serpentinely evil.". While that may be a harsh way to refer to a fine actor's rather unique talents, it does remind us of just how remarkable and varied the roster of performers was during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

We've all had to sit through those tedious sexual harassment videos at work – bland, patronizing productions that are required viewing for all new employees. Companies could make the experience a whole lot more fun if they just showed this film instead.

Moustache-sporting Fredric March is wealthy CEO Jerry Stafford, a debonair gadabout who secretly pines for his cute and unattached secretary Julie Traynor (Claudette Colbert). Not so secretly, actually – within the first ten minutes Stafford hits on Julie with abandon and then steals a kiss which leaves her flustered. He brushes it off with a "I was surprised just as much as you were" (though a careful reviewing of the scene confirms that he wasn't surprised at all), then pops open the wine – they're having lunch in his office, natch – and asks her to go on a cruise around the world with him. Safe to say, this guy would be in white collar prison these days. Even better, a few scenes later Julie marries her low-incomed broker of a fiancé (Philip Craig, as played by the Pee Wee Herman-looking Monroe Owsley); she reports to work the following Monday to tell Stafford she won't go on that cruise with him after all, on account of marriage. Stafford's response? He fires her!

I should mention here that Jerry Stafford is the hero of this film. Yes, we're certainly in the world of 1930s cinema.

Stafford doesn't turn out to be the biggest cad. That would be Craig, who by his and Julie's first anniversary has become wealthy, due mostly to the money Stafford has given his brokerage firm. Craig loses all of his newfound wealth on a silk deal Stafford cautioned against. Only problem is, Craig used some of Stafford's money as well…without telling him. Destitute, Julie goes to Stafford and asks for money, offering herself in exchange. Here the movie becomes like the 1930 version of "The Cheat" (available on the Pre-Code Hollywood DVD set), with foul play, accidental shootings, and exonerations. Only in this movie no one gets branded.

This was the second of four on screen pairings for Colbert and March. The following year they reunited for DeMille's "Sign of the Cross" and, a month after that, for Mitchell Leisen's "Tonight Is Ours" (filmed in late '32 but released in January '33 – and ostensibly credited to director Stuart Walker, who according to all and sundry did nothing). I enjoy these two together, though apparently Colbert didn't; March was notorious for getting a bit too "familiar" with his leading ladies. Colbert reportedly disliked the man – there are stories of March wandering around "in a daze" on the set of "Sign of the Cross," he was so nuts about her.

Overall, a predictable melodrama that's most memorable for its (nowadays) jawdropping displays of sexual harassment in the workplace and the fact that it features three celebrities (Colbert, March, and a twenty one year-old Ginger Rogers) on the brink of their still-enduring fame. Dorothy Arzner's directorial work is okay, but nothing incredible -- the camera's static most times and, other than a solemn scene of Claudette walking up a hauntingly-lit staircase toward the end of the film, there aren't many novel shots. Arzner's work was much better in her subsequent film with March, "Merrily We Go To Hell" (also included on the Pre-Code Hollywood DVD set).

Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Honor Among Lovers concerns a smart and efficient secretary, Julia (Claudette Colbert) to mogul Jeffy Stafford (Fredric March) who is in love with her.

Knowing that she can't fit in with Stafford's wealthy friends, Julia marries Philip Craig (Monroe Owsley), who turns to be a weak loser and winds up putting both of them in a terrible situation.

Colbert is absolutely wonderful in this -- natural, charming, and relaxed. Charlie Ruggles is a riot as a stockbroker, and watch for Ginger Rogers in a small role.

Nothing special except for the performances. And, we get a chance to see Claudette Colbert's right side.

Another ponderous example of Arzner's apparent disdain for men and marriage. (Either good men turn bad or bad men reform only through the love of a good woman.) The film does contain a few, as Billy Wilder would say, "drop the popcorn bag" moments, to its credit; but overall, it's a dark, unimaginative story, painted with the very broad strokes and heavy hand of the director.

A virtue, since Pre-Code, it treats illicit love and extra-marital affairs with a refreshing boldness; yet pre-1960s, it manages to retain that "Golden Era" emphasis on romance to the extent that its plot allows.

But the acting here is the redeeming feature. Claudette Colbert, true to form, quietly smolders as a private secretary-cum-wife caught between the romantic propositions of two businessmen. Fredric March is surprisingly convincing as both a jilted playboy and the turned-better hero. One of the most fantastic pieces of acting I've seen involves a scene between them, where married Colbert again rejects -- though with great desire to do otherwise -- his now-honorable, but extra-marital advances. The film is worth seeing just for this scene.

The supporting cast ranges widely. Owsley delivers a snicker-worthy portrayal of the "other man", but Charlie Ruggles and Ginger Rogers take in his supporting slack with hilarious style.

"I've been taking care of myself. Trying to recapture my lost youth. Exercise, you know? Seven beautiful thoughts before breakfast, bursting into song at unexpected moments. I'm a changed man."

Claudette Colbert is absolutely gorgeous and she plays her scenes of emotional conflict well, but the story has too many unpleasant aspects to truly like this film. Frederic March is an alpha businessman carrying on with a lot of women with no intentions of marrying (he calls the institution "bunk"). He puts the moves on his secretary (Colbert) and when she resists, he goes off to screw someone else for hours, missing an entire football game in the process. He can't stop thinking about his secretary, however, so Monday morning he says he'll marry her if it means that much to her, but when she informs him that she just got married (to a stock broker played by Monroe Owsley), he fires her on the spot despite her stellar performance in the office. And this, naturally, is ultimately going go to be the protagonist, helped along by his impossible-to-believe transformation and an all-too-convenient implosion from the stock broker.

Had it gone in a different direction at a few moments in the story, including late when a somewhat surprising event occurs, it could have been brilliant, but the film plays it safe, and didn't really feel pre-Code. The virtuous woman never gives in to premarital sex, the womanizing alpha male should have been her choice all along because he's successful and can be trusted to do the right thing (ha!), and divorce is justified by an avalanche of reprehensible things the husband does. These are cartoon characters. On top of it, the small part of a dimwitted woman (Ginger Rogers, argh) is spoken to like a child each time she's on the screen. But hey, it's worth seeing for Colbert.

You might think that one of those early 1930s 'women's films' about a girl who marries the wrong man is not for you? Don't think that - this is brilliant! OK, essentially it is just a trashy soap but it's fantastic - honestly!

So why would a Cagney fan watch this? It's made for women, it's written by a woman, directed by a woman and staring THE woman of the 1930s. This isn't the usual type of movie I'd consider watching but because I'm weirdly infatuated with Claudette Colbert I gave it a go. So glad I did! It might be because I wasn't expecting much but I found this absolutely enthralling.

For a film made in 1931, it's extraordinarily well made and the acting is outstanding. We've got none of that theatrical, silent movie type over-gesturing or gazing wistfully into the camera which plagued many early 1930s pictures - this has naturalistic acting and realistic, believable real characters.

The story is nothing original - a pretty girl, chased by two men marries the wrong one. It's not however a sickly sweet romantic melodrama (like one of those mushy Kay Francis films), no, this works so well because its two leads are so utterly real and likeable. You become totally engaged with the romantic dilemmas and emotional traumas of Colbert and March. They're both so natural and real, avoiding the usual clichéd stereotypes.

Claudette Colbert is dazzling, her perfectly well developed character is flirty and bubbly but also sensible and intelligent. Fredric March, playing a millionaire isn't the usual over entitled cad, he's charming and suave but he's also sensitive and a genuinely really nice guy. Dorothy Arzner's supporting cast also give refreshingly proper performances as well portraying real people: Charlie Ruggles plays his usual inebriated friend and Ginger Rogers, still in her 'Betty Boop' phase is fun.

This has a much more modern feel to it than a lot of early 30s films whilst still retaining that naive charm of the era. It's 100% entertaining.

In this romantic melodrama from Paramount Pictures and director Dorothy Arzner, Claudette Colbert stars as Julia Traynor, secretary to wealthy business mogul Jerry Stafford (Fredric March). The two work great together, but when Jerry reveals that he has romantic feelings for her, Julia states that she has a boyfriend, Philip (Monroe Owsley), and that they are to be married. After some time in drunken commiseration with his dissolute pal Monty (Charlie Ruggles), Jerry comes to accept the union of Julia and Philip, and even allows Philip to invest money for him, which leads to problems for everyone. Also featuring Pat O'Brien in his feature debut.

This is light on plot and style, and its appeal rests with the performers, all of whom are good, although Owsley makes one wonder what Colbert saw in him. Ginger Rogers is amusing as a dim-bulb chipper companion of Ruggles. This marked one of the first appearances of March's mustache.

Julia Taylor (Claudette Colbert) is a crackerjack Girl Friday for focused businessman Jerry Stafford ( a mustachioed Fredric March) who is impressed by more than her efficient and invaluable assistance to him. When she informs him she is to marry another he has to fire her due to his romantic feelings regarding her. Reluctant to make his romantic intentions known, she commits to a reckless financier (Monroe Owsley in a typical unctuous turn), a smug adulterer who eventually goes bust. To save him she offers herself to the ever noble Stafford who responds by bailing him out no strings attached.

Colbert and March always paired well together and in "Honor" they do so again but Dorothy Arzner's direction lacks passion as the couple find their way into each other's arms eventually in what is mostly a dull affair that relies on more reason than raciness.

It's a pre-code romantic drama in New York City in 1930-1931. Being pre-code allows the characters' morals to be more suspect than in later films. Wealthy Wall Street tycoon Jerry Stafford (Fredric March) is in love with his highly efficient secretary, Julia Traynor (Claudette Colbert). However, he's not the marrying kind, so he invites her to accompany him on an around-the-world trip. She has a young boyfriend, Philip Craig (Monroe Owsley), near the beginning of his Wall Street career. Philip and Julia plan to marry when they have enough money, but Jerry's aggressive pressure on Julia prompts them to marry immediately. Jerry is not impressed and fires Julia.

The film follows Philip's efforts to build his business as a broker for Jerry and Monty Dunn (Charles Ruggles), one of Jerry's friends. Things have appeared well on the surface for a year, but Philip is encountering serious financial trouble. Jerry re-enters their lives, which ends in a highly conflicted climax.

"Honor Among Lovers" is early filmmaking by Dorothy Arzner, the only woman who directed sound films in those years. By modern standards, it's unpolished, but Colbert and March make the best of a thin story. The studio cinematography features long shots, and the pacing is quite pedestrian. It's interesting, mainly as a period piece.

Easily the least of the early Dorothy Arzner's I have so far seen, 'Honor Among Lovers' doesn't begin to deliver the saucy preCode frolics promised by the title, and the presence early on of a pert young Ginger Rogers raises expectations soon dashed.

Claudette Colbert gets top billing but bears little resemblance to the sleek screen goddess she would soon become. Typically of Ms Arzner the men are a sorry lot - Monroe Owsley in particular being an absolutely charmless creep as Claudette's lawful wedded (heaven knows what she ever saw in him in the first place) - while Fredric March - who sports a distracting moustache - despite playing a hot shot investment broker shows far more interest in courting the married Colbert than in his job.

"Honor Among Lovers" is a film that is rarely shown on TV and it just happens that the Criterion Channel currently has the film. It stars Claudette Colbert and Frederic March...which is more than enough reason to see the movie!

Julia (Colbert) is the private secretary for Jerry (March), a very successful businessman. They get along great and she doesn't realize he's smitten on her. Eventually, he gets up the nerve to tell her his feelings...though he does it very poorly. Instead of sounding like a proposal for marriage, it sounds more like a proposition...and she naturally refuses. Unfortunately, instead she decides to marry her boyfriend, Philip (Monroe Owsley). I say unfortunately because Philip turns out to be a major pusillanimous rat...and treats Julia contemptibly. What's next? See the film and learn for yourself.

The morals in this story are much what you'd expect from many pre-code films. After all, Jerry seems to be asking Julia to become his mistress (he soon asks her to be his wife), Philip is an adulterer and films of the Production Code era clearly would NOT endorse divorce and remarriage! But it still is a most enjoyable story...well worth seeing and featuring some really nice performances by March, Colbert and Owsley.

Overall, a very good film that has one minor problem.... Jerry's behaviors late in the movie are just too nice to be realistic. Seriously! But in spite of this it's a most enjoyable movie and well worth your time.

Suppose an executive started hitting on his secretary. In the 21st century - particularly in the MeToo era - his career would probably be over quickly. But in a 1931 release, it got treated as "cute". Dorothy Arzner's "Honor Among Lovers" casts Fredric March as the suit in question who has the hots for his underling (Claudette Colbert). She's already engaged, but the story isn't over.

We can forgive the archaic depiction of gender relations, considering the era in which the movie got released. It's got some entertaining material, and its release before the establishment of the Hays Code means that it has some stuff that wouldn't be allowed again for decades to come. But overall the plot makes one cringe nowadays. Worth seeing as a historical reference, I guess.

Watch for a young Ginger Rogers in her debut.

My greatest curiosity would be to know the psychology of the producers & authors of the script of this ridiculous, cheesy melodrama. The protagonist is an amoral, rich playboy, an anti-marriage Don Juan. The heroine, the victim, is a fool who marries the wrong man at the wrong time: a murderous thief and an arrogant man. What a terrible movie, it has pseudo romance & risqué businesses, and fortunately a wonderful support from Charlie Ruggles as a rah-rah raccoon coated drunkard. Like a bad soap? You'll love this. Essentially it is just trash made for women, although written by a man, directed by a woman and starring a Betty Boop lookalike (Claudette Colbert) and (then a ham) Fredrich March, who would later improve his talent through Les Miserables, Best Years of our Lives, Jeckyll & Hyde and Seven days in May.

I'd purchased the Dorothy Arzner's especial box-set in cut-price wondering making a big deal, not so fast, just in the first picture here I was complaining myself to buy such foolish feature, even it having the classy Fredric March and skinny Claudette Colbert it never gets fire properly, all those boring and slow pace office business's lousy melodrama, meanwhile high stakes at stock market as well round off the lackluster offering.

In this everlasting 75 minutes running of pristine suffering the jinxed viewer has a relief on the colorful character portraited by the hilarious and bon vivant Charles Ruggles tied up with his moronic and gorgeous girlfriend, if the so acclaimed director Arzner didn't perceived that was entering in a dead end, well she ought turns down due the stillborn screenplay, worst the poker face Monroe Owsley was miscasting for the role of Claudette's wife, what she did see in such ambiguous and ugly pretender?

I'd rather those spicy pre-code pictures surround by easy girls instead this drowsy dramatic flick, hence I've must require myself for a best assessment on upcoming purchases to avoid buy a pig in a poke, nonetheless the infamous Box-Set still has three movies wanting for me!!

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 2024 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 5.