Illicit

it is the man in a so-called "illicit" relationship who longs to get married and avoid a reputation, while Ann, played by Barbara Stanwyck holds out. She doesn't have much faith in marriage. But she is eventually convinced, in part by her lover's father. Will she be happy, or proved right, that is the question of the film.

Barbara looks lovely in this film, with darker hair (even though tight satin gowns are very unforgiving). She plays a modern woman, and does so with charm, instead of stridency. As newlyweds, they are blissfully happy, with plenty of money, travels and a beautiful townhouse in Manhattan. But hubby (James Rennie, who was married to Dorothy Gish for a while) is still a bit of a stiff....he complains when Ann turns on the music after a dinner out. She wants to go dancing, he whines about the late hour. Besides he might be catching a cold. Boo hoo. Yet when his friends call up, suddenly he is raring to go. And Ann knows why-he is still carrying a torch for a former girlfriend.

Joan Blondell is smart and chic in a small role.

(One of the most unrealistic lines is when Ann tells her husband she is going to move back to her old place for a while, tonight, right away. Try that in NYC...)

Prohibition; scorned women, that was the early 30's. This was before the "decency" rules came into effect. Avant garde is the only way to describe this. Dated, yes. But very descriptive of the times. Only Stanwyck could do this well. Her strength and sensitivity are evident in every frame. This is a history lesson of the times and traditions that existed way back when!

The best part of this rather boring gabfest is getting to see ladies high-fashion outfits, circa 1930. Some of them are real doozies. Stanwyck gets more than her share of slinky finery as a rich guy's paramour. Actually, the movie's premise is a significant one—does marriage somehow kill love? Anne (Stanwyck) seems to think so and sometimes acts on the premise. The trouble is that the premise gets drowned out by all the talk from one scene to the next, without let-up. Then too, director Mayo adds nothing to what turns out to be a filmed stage play. To be charitable, his options may have been cramped by the newness of movie sound equipment.

Pre-Code liberties are evident in the first few scenes where Anne, in a clinging negligee, and Dick (Rennie) discuss whether to marry or to continue living in sin. After that, the screenplay settles into more conventional marital mix-ups. But at least Stanwyck shines, showing why she was slated for bigger and better things. In fact, she's almost girlish, a really long way from the femme fatale of Double Indemnity (1944). Too bad she doesn't have more scenes with that other Warner's personality girl, Joan Blondell (Duckie). Anyway, I found the movie considerably less than I expected.

The plot of "Illicit" is similar to the plot of an early Bette Davis film called "Ex-Lady" made two years after this one. They should be similar - Edith Fitzgerald wrote both of them. "Ex-Lady" was based on an unproduced play, and "Illicit" actually was a play. Both concern women who don't want to get married and men who do. Anne (Stanwyck)(like Davis) is an unconventional free spirit afraid that marriage will destroy the romance she has with Dick (James Rennie). However, word gets around that the two have been weekending in Connecticut, and Dick's father (Claude Gillingwater) convinces her to agree to marry Dick. Thanks to an old girlfriend of Dick's and an old beau of Anne's, trouble brews in paradise once the rings are exchanged.

This is an early sound film, so the rhythm is off, and some of the sound has an echo. However, a few pauses that are a little too long don't really impede the fine acting. Stanwyck is wonderful and gives indication of the wonderful star she will become. She's funny, vivacious, and likable. Charles Butterworth plays a drunken friend very convincingly, and Claude Gillingwater is dignified yet warm as Dick's father. Rennie makes an attractive lover turned husband for Stanwyck. Joan Blondell has a small role as a friend.

The film is interesting because it's early Stanwyck, but also because of the independent woman angle which soon will fade from view with the ushering in of the code. Once the '40s hit, the independent woman became an uptight career woman wearing a tailored suit, her hair up, and sporting a stern attitude. Young, carefree non-virgins became a thing of the past. But these precode films are what helped mold the strong images of Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Barbara Stanwyck and are worth watching.

This movie creaks with age, but is memorable for being Barbara Stanwyck's first movie as a star. Miss Stanwyck gives an excellent performance, as always, but the supporting cast, particularly Charles Butterworth, steals the show as an amiable drunk whose bark is worse than his bite.