Ladies' Man

William Powell is a ladies' man. He moves through New York upper crust, a regular at the parties of the 400, a resident at a hotel. Where does his money come from? The ladies, whom he charms. They give him the jewelry their husbands buy them, and he sells them to pawnbroker Clarence Williams. One woman who gives him her jewelry is Olive Tell. Another, who want to marry him, is her daughter, Carole Lombard. Then he meets Kay Francis.

Powell gives a performance that is a model of diffidence verging in contempt, not just for the women, for himself. Miss Lombard gives one of her society deb performances, with a drunk scene of the type that she would come to play for comedy. It's not a terribly interesting movie for me, because there's no one to really feel sorry for. Powell's performance is spot on, of course, but he recognizes his own unworthiness, and Miss Francis falls too easily for his charms, setting up an ending that comes as little surprise. There's little of the chemistry in this Paramount movie that would make their work together at Warner Brothers so romantic. Perhaps Herman Mankiewicz lacked the powers to adapt the Rupert Hughes novel it is based on, or perhaps Hughes' novel was too mechanical. Perhaps director Lothar Mendes was simply one of those directors whose strengths lay in the mechanics of film construction. Or perhaps it was all three of them.

Even critics at the time thought this was rubbish but I loved this absurd, weirdly acted nonsense. There's something magical in its badness. Something charming in the way it really does take itself seriously.

Unlike so many awful very early talkies this is not unwatchable, terribly acted, static nor stagey, nor indeed a very early talkie anyway. This is a high budget feature - big(ish) stars, flashy sets and decent photography. It's still an awful film but somehow an entertaining and enjoyable one!

Paramount acquired the rights to film this popular novel originally intending it to be a Paul Lukas and Kay Francis vehicle. Then, to get their money's worth from their departing star they replaced Lukas with Bill Powell. To spice things up they threw in his then fiancé, Carole Lombard as Francis' love rival.

This is Bill Powell's last film for Paramount before his move to Warners. There, maybe because that studio was renowned for its penny pinching technique of using as little film stock as possible, ensuring every inch of film was crammed with as much dialogue as possible, they'd probably talk at about twice the speed they do in this. If this were a WB picture they'd have done it in about half an hour. It's the strangest style of directing I've ever seen and as the film progresses the talking gets even slower with longer and longer .......dramatic .......pauses.

Although an old film, it's not a really old film, so it shouldn't be like this - it feels like one of those very, very early talkies from the late twenties. A critic at the time explained this by suggesting that Mr Mendes couldn't direct. That's wrong, he just had his own rather unique technique. For example, how he makes his dramatic finale even more dramatic is to make the dramatic pauses even longer. At one point there are long pauses between eve....ry syl......a.......ble. If you can adjust your playback speed, try watching this at x1.5, it honestly seems more natural but still about 60% is pauses!

If you can overlook the atrocious direction, nonsensical plot and absurd script, you might enjoy this. Carol Lombard doesn't do much but William Powell, resplendent in top hat is more urbane than any human could be. Kay Francis takes sexiness to Jessica Rabbit levels - even wearing a dress similar to a Dalek suit I had when I was seven and carrying a giant hand muff which looks like she stole a roller from a car wash. This really is so bad it's good.

William Powell is a "Ladies' Man" in this 1931 drama, also starring Kay Francis and Carole Lombard.

Powell plays a gigolo who lives off of older women. The daughter of one of them (Lombard) is madly in love with him. When he meets Kay Francis, he falls in love and wants to leave his desolate way of life. Is it too late?

For me, the early talkies have the same problem - rhythm. Directors and actors just weren't used to the flow of dialogue; sometimes there are pauses between lines, and the film comes off as stilted.

Powell was wonderful, as he always was, playing a man who isn't really happy with his lifestyle but used to it. Kay Francis was very glamorous as usual, and her acting is fine until the very end - today her final moments would be considered over the top. And gorgeous Carole Lombard for me was completely over the top. However, that was the style then. It took time to make the adjustment from talkies.

This is certainly not your typical film.

As a little bit of trivia, those familiar with Get Smart and remember Don Adams - he modeled his character's speaking voice after William Powell's.

This is precode, which I find interesting at the movies moved from silent to talkie/precode and then talkies with ratings/warnings.

I liked this movie, and would watch it once.

Powell always holds his own, and he didn't want to do this movie. Still, it is solid, and when you have these three actors, they will deliver compelling performances. It also approaches tough topics; it is almost a classy soap opera. This film features some pretty sordid choices as to what someone has decided to do with their lives.

The downside is that the love interests some times fall in love within a day, which makes it not so plausible. It weakens the viewer's investment in the characters. It's just not as believable.

I still enjoyed it and Powell commits; Lombard plays a very believable drunk at times; Kay Francis facial expressions and commitment are in depth. I enjoyed seeing these wonderful actors.

Every now and then a truly unusual film from the early thirties resurfaces which proves to be a revelation. "The Ladies Man" definitely fits that description. Mature, sophisticated, intelligent and uncompromising, to watch "The Ladies Man" is a breath of fresh air for anyone who is used to finding most of the movies produced in the early talky era crude, formulaic claptrap with "a happy ending".

William Powell is one of my favorite actors, and in this silkenly produced 1931 Paramount bauble he gives a startling world-weary, downbeat, and even tragic performance. He plays an unrepentant gigolo who seems all too aware his dissipated lifestyle dooms him somehow, he just doesn't know when the other shoe is going to drop. Kay Francis was never more appealing and glamorous, and Carole Lombard gives perhaps the first great performance of her career, playing a drunken playgirl driven nearly crazy by her mixed feelings towards Powell's strangely sympathetic cad. To say more would be to spoil a well-directed, well-paced film.

Definitely recommended for anyone with adult tastes and looking for something that's not the same-old same-old.