Street of Women

... but in fact it's quite tame for the precode era. The title comes from a line that Kay's lover Larry Baldwin (Alan Dinehart) says about a helpful encouraging woman being behind every accomplishment on the street. The story revolves around the affair of wealthy married Larry Baldwin and fashion designer Natalie Upton (Kay Francis). They've been in love for several years, keeping it a secret from even their closest friends. Larry has basically been waiting for daughter Doris (Gloria Stuart) to grow up so he can ask his wife for a divorce. Larry's wife Lois has her calendar filled with the New York City social life and has no time for Larry. In fact she's somewhat put out with him because he doesn't need to work yet he continues to do so and his working is putting a kink in their joint social appearances at important parties. It seems she thinks that a man's place is in a tuxedo. Now that Doris is of age, Larry is about to ask his wife for a divorce, but there's one complicating factor of which nobody is aware. Natalie's kid brother Clarke and Larry's daughter Lois have fallen in love and plan to marry.

This movie is worth watching for several reasons. For one, you get to see Roland Young and Alan Dinehart play really nice guys. Usually these two played cads or outright villains. That's particularly true of Dinehart. Plus Kay Francis gives a very heart warming performance as a woman who is desperately trying to do what's right for everyone else and forgets to do what's right for herself as well. It's one of her more subtle roles, and she manages to breathe life into what looks like a pretty ordinary script. Finally, I really liked the relationship Larry had with his grown daughter - it struck all the right chords for portraying a dynamic that is transitioning from parent-child to adult-adult. The two had quite a friendship going.

Just don't judge all Kay Francis movies by this one. In 1932 Kay made three major motion pictures - "Trouble in Paradise", "Jewel Robbery", and "One Way Passage". This was just one of several B pictures that stars had to make back in the day in addition to their A list pictures.

A married architect is stuck in a loveless marriage, but then find love again when he starts an affair with a dress designer. However, melodrama ensures when his daughter falls in love with his mistress' brother. The drama isn't all that interesting, but the pre-production code elements of sex outside of marriage and martial infidelity make the tepid drama a bit more entertaining. Kay Francis was the only actor in the film I was familiar with.

No pre-code promiscuity in this one. Somewhat disappointed but Kay Francis is always a pleasure to watch. The love triangles keep things interesting along with the family dynamics at work but overall this one is just a OK movie to watch from a bygone era. Worth the time suck.

In "Street of Women," the love of women inspires men to build. These skyscrapers are testaments or monuments to womankind, so says Roland Young to friend and fashion designer Kay Francis. He keep proposing to her, but she keeps declining. Instead, she finds love in married man Alan Dinehart, but when he presses his wife for a divorce, she won't agree to it. By the way, Kay's brother and Alan's daughter, played by Gloria Stuart, are in love and plan to marry, but the usual complications set in. This is a very enjoyable little film, which is grand in production value and storytelling. Kay has never looked better and/or that much in real love! She has good scenes with actor Alan Dinehart that resonate with the viewer; these are real people we care about. But who will make the sacrifice for others' happiness? Who will live happily ever after? Roland Young, known for his "Topper" movies, is the man to solve the problems, as he seems to be the one with his head on his shoulders. "Street of Women" is a unknown entry in the career of Kay Francis that deserves to be shown on TCM more often.

Did you know that Alan Dinehart has a voice like William Holden's? Quite possibly, you never knew who the man was before you considered watching this film, as in my experience. I have not investigated his career to determine how many films he was entrusted to 'carry,' but in Street of Women, he is quite capable of filling the role of romantic leading man opposite a most lovely, refined Kay Francis. His voice is just one aspect of his pleasing presence.

The film's title implies a connotation of the risque sort, which is not at all depicted here. In truth, when they are tested, most of the characters of this film live by an imposing code of honor which hardly allows them to pursue pleasure with recklessness. Despite some of the typical dramatic obstacles of a romantic feature: the unyielding wife who makes you root for the other woman (!); a daughter who is unforgiving because she is a bit untried in the realities of life; Street of Women provides an ample showcase for Francis to exude her gentility and warmth and gives you the opportunity to discover the attractively reedy-sounding Dinehart. And rather than the 'scoundrel' role he seems often to have been assigned, here Roland Young is allowed to play understanding matchmaker. Recommended escapism.