The Constant Woman

Conrad Nagel buys a tent for his troupe of actors, but wife Claire Windsor has signed a contract with a bigger show. When he and their son Tommy Conlon go to visit her at her hotel, she's dead. Nagel discovers a letter proving Conlon isn't his son, so he goes on a toot. Everyone walks out but Leila Hyams, Stanley Fields, and the other riggers. They rescue Nagel, who closes the show. Acting on Miss Hyams' idea, she and Nagel get a job broadcasting, while Conlon goes to military school. They do great, but Conlon discovers they are to be wed, and runs away to join the circus with Fields.

And there's more! It's based on a Eugene O'Neill one-act play from 1913, which means that there's lots of invented detail, far too much for this Poverty Row feature, even though it's directed by Victor Schertzinger. Miss Hyams is pretty good, as is Fields, but Nagel is pretty much a wet rag here, and Conlon is sulky. Still, the constant barrage of twists in the plot keeps things moving along, and it all ends with a big fire at a circus.

Well, I told you there was more.

First of all, the movie I saw was named Hell In A Circus. I don't know why this movie has two names but I do know that neither one makes much sense. The story is definitely not about a woman so I don't see how they thought The Constant Woman was a good title and there's no mention of a circus until the last ten minutes but Hell In A Circus is still a more fitting title. They spend way too much time showing actors on stage and people walking through hallways and almost no time on a plot. We see two different plays end(neither get applause from the audience), a fifteen minute speakeasy scene that was completely pointless, extended periods of silence and lots of plot holes.There is literally no story here. I was impressed that the people spoke like it was made today. I've seen movies ten and twenty years newer than this where the dialog was ridiculously dated. Plus the acting wasn't bad. Three stars.

In a trim and workmanlike 70 minutes, we get barnstorming theatricals, an unfaithful wife, a bastard child, a hotel fire, a circus fire, a speakeasy brawl, and crackling pre-Code dialogue, including this reminiscence from an ex-roustabout: "Why, when I was with the circus, if you had only one black eye they thought you was a pansy!" Victor Schertzinger achieves some resourceful directorial tricks, not always placing the camera where you expect and injecting some expressionistic touches. The cast is game, with Claire Windsor a particular delight as the rotten, selfish wife who gets bumped off in the second reel.

It's a Poverty Row epic -- from Tiffany Studios, to be precise -- but it has what they used to call moxie. And the quick pace and unflinching Depression milieu recall Warners-First National at its best.