Two Against the World

Constance Bennett stars with Neil Hamilton in "Two Against the World," a precode film from 1932. When a compact is found left on a bed, it just has to be precode.

Bennett plays Dell Hamilton, a beautiful socialite who falls for an attorney (Hamilton). This leads to problems when she tries to protect her family and winds up on the witness stand, with Hamilton on the side of the prosecution.

Decent drama, melodramatic as was the style, with Bennett looking dazzling in a variety of '30s outfits. She gives a lively performance -- flirtatious, charming, and warmhearted. Hamilton is solid and an unlikely candidate as a romantic lead. Thirty-plus years later, he would play Commissioner Gordon on "Batman." I always love watching Constance Bennett in films, and this one was no exception.

I never cease to be amazed at how in the early 1930s they were able to pack twice as much plot, action, social comment and ideas in 70-minute movies than exist in today's movies that are twice as long.

This one was very loosely inspired by a contemporary scandal about a murder committed by a rich socialite "defending his sister's honor" as they used to say in the era of the sexual double standard that underlies so many plots in those days.

Yes, as some have pointed out, some of the main characters are spoiled rich people. So are some of the main characters in novels by Tolstoy, Henry James and Edith Wharton. If it bothers you, go back to your Spiderman movies.

The plot revolves about a budding romance between Constance Bennett, one of the more spoiled idle rich and a member of the family involved in the scandal, and Neil Hamilton as a socially conscious attorney formerly from her social class.

The pace is so fast that it takes some time to sort all the characters out, which may deter you at first but it all becomes clear eventually. The film takes jabs at sensationalistic tabloids, the double standard and our justice system's bias towards the rich, but like everything else in the movie, doesn't linger on these any longer than needed to make its point.

Not to say that the movie is at all preachy. There's plenty of comedy and snappy dialogue along the way.

If you seek uplift, Bennett's character gains much insight into her own nature and lifestyle as the film advances but, again, the point isn't belabored.

Bennett and Hamilton both charm in their roles and the whole cast is excellent.

Although very vaguely based on the infamous (at the time) Francis Donaldson 'honour' murder case just like MGM's UNASHAMED was, this is nothing whatsoever like that other film. Whereas that MGM picture is a sombre and serious re-imagining of a disturbing true story, this is just a typical Warner Brothers romantic melodrama.

That's not to say this is inferior: it's not got the punch of MGM's offering but it's more enjoyable, entertaining and fun. If you like a madly contrived melodrama with all the trimmings then this is your cup of chai. The 'honour killing' aspect is essentially just a plot device that's quite cleverly used to give this story a happy ending. Besides being more enjoyable because it's a bit lighter in mood, thanks to Archie Mayo's non-spectacular but always reliably professional direction, it's one of those astonishingly short movies which still manage to pack in three hours of story into one hour of film.

Constance Bennett is rather lovely in this but the role hardly stretches her acting skills, she does however model a different dress every seven minutes - but why not, she's Constance Bennet! The characters are the ubiquitously lazily drawn stereotypes Warners seemed to put in so many of their pictures which intended to show their working class audiences that they were on their side, they were struggling with them through the depression....oh, and paying Constance Bennett $30,000 per week! We've got the usual spoilt rich heiress, the heartless rich folk in their top hats and the young working class hero fighting for justice. Corney - yes. Contrived - yes. But bad Picture - definitely not, it was a tried and tested formula which Warners had honed to perfection.

They did however miss a trick with this one. Considering the emotionally charged pictures Warners made campaigning for social justice, it is a little disappointing that they missed an opportunity for any social commentary with this. It's watchable, it's reasonably engrossing and surprisingly tense and exciting as it reaches its climax but it doesn't emotionally engage or enrage you like a lot of their films did. Maybe they simply thought that because the MGM film that was inspired by that murder case was so depressing, people simply needed cheering up?

Wonderful movie for its time - great story with lots of intricate twists - and while I agree that the pairing of Bennett and Hamilton might be a bit off, it was wonderfully (naturally) acted all around. It was particularly fun to see Helen Vinson in such a feminine light before she became known for her "shrewish" roles (see "In Name Only" for one) and "Aunt Em" Clara Blandick as the snobbish spinster aunt was fun, too. Anticipating the "human clotheshanger" Bennett's appearance each scene is always fun. Don't agree that Carole Lombard would have been right for this role - just not enough sophistication for the part although no flies on her!!! Very enjoyable and I also underline how underrated Constance Bennett was!!!

So, 1932 is the height of the Depression and millions of folks are out of work. And yet, despite this, Hollywood is cranking out tons of films where you'd never think a depression was on and the stars are all rich and happy...like "Two Against the World". And, you make the rich folks in this particularly self-absorbed and loathsome. This must have been a hard sell back in the day.

When the film begins, the Hamilton family is meeting with their lawyer. It seems that an employee in the company they own died and he is asking them how to proceed. Not one of the family asks if the family of the deceased has a valid claim...they just seem bored and instruct the lawyer not to accept a settlement. At this point, I really HATED the Hamiltons and wanted them to pay and pay dearly. Adele (Constance Bennett) is roused from her boredom about all this when the lawyer for the deceased family arrives. Dave Norton (Neil Hamilton) is handsome and instantly Adele is smitten and pursues him vigorously throughout the film.

Later, in a weird plot twist, Adele's brother murders someone. She witnesses it and she runs. Soon the murder case is dropped because they have no leads. But Norton pushes the Defender's Office to re- open the case...and he doesn't realize that Adele is caught up in it.

The bottom line is that Adele and her family are amoral jerks...so how is the audience supposed to care one bit about her and her brother?! The story is also completely unbelievable and rather silly. Because of this, I disliked the film intensely and see it as a seriously flawed movie. Nice production values but a seriously messed up story that should have left viewers storming out of the theater!