No Marriage Ties

...That being Dix' character Bruce Foster. As in "Lost her and OK with that". In fact, Foster loses lots of things. In the beginning he is on what apparently is one of his frequent benders and loses his job as writer at a newspaper because he is a no show at the fight he is covering. I did some research and apparently this was the Dempsey-Tunney fight at Soldier Field in Chicago in September 1927. A very big deal and a very big egg to lay as a writer to not turn in a story on that event. But on that bender he picks up an out of work artist (Elizabeth Allan as Peggy Wilson), who seems to be on the verge of becoming a prostitute with a John who has all of the charm and looks of Jabba the Hut. It is implied that they begin living together with "no marriage ties" and no hope of any.

This is where things get somewhat outrageous. On another bender Dix is drinking next to a couple of ad men. He comes up with the slogan they've been looking for and ... gets a partnership in the ad firm??? Allan Dinehart plays the other partner who hired him, and it is weird seeing him be the rather dull voice of morality after watching him play shady flamboyant characters over at Warner Bros. Dix plays the guy who will sell anything to anybody using fear as a motivation - "Buy a home before you lose a job!". The movie makes this out as a scandalous thing, but I scratch my head over this one. Foster is not lying to anybody. He is just using proven ad techniques. He gets homeless and hungry Peggy a job as an artist at the firm. He gives a no strings loan of five hundred dollars - a princely sum in 1933 - to an employee whose wife keeps having babies. Doesn't the employee understand how to make this stop? In other words, Foster is personally a generous guy with lots of humanity. He just has this personal motto of "no marriage ties", and as a result, a tragedy ensues.

So if Foster is honest with women - to the extent he is capable - about not wanting to marry, and the worst thing you can say about him is that he expects the consumer and the producer of products to be responsible, how is he insufferable? Mainly because he makes ridiculous headstrong decisions and is the most obnoxious drunk in the history of the world. Dix' drunk routine here is awful. I'm actually surprised RKO would put Dix in this very pedestrian B programmer since he was one of their biggest stars at the time.

The best thing about the film - to me - is the last scene. Is it real or a drunken delusion of what Foster wants to happen? Watch and see what you think.

Up until the middle of 1934, Hollywood's films were far more salacious than most would suspect today. There was no rating system for films and parents had no idea if a particular film was family-friendly or not. For instance, "Ben Hur" (1925) featured a couple nude scenes and an impaled head. "Parachute Jumper" showed Frank McHugh flipping someone the bird (so to speak). In "Platinum Blonde", Jean Harlow slept her way to the top and never got punished for it! And, "No Marriage Ties" is a story where the two main characters cohabitate--with absolutely no intention to ever marry. Things certainly were different in 'the good old days'! "No Marriage Ties" begins with Bruce Foster (Richard Dix) losing his job due to his heavy drinking. In the bar, he meets Peggy (Elizabeth Allen) and she takes him home after he passes out from the booze. She has no place to live and he invites her to live with him--no strings attached. Soon, Bruce lands on his feet. Although his drinking destroyed his job as a journalist, he is glib and has a way with words--and soon is taken on as a partner in an advertising agency. Because of him, the agency takes off and he's rich--very rich. It helps that he is rather sociopathic--willing to sell any sort of crap and make it sound like gold. In fact, this causes some tension with his partner who thinks this is immoral. Actually, this conflict made little sense, as I always thought advertising ALWAYS was trying to make crap sound wonderful--and I am sure all advertising agencies would heartily agree.

During the course of Bruce pretty much taking over the advertising world, he sets his sights on the Adrienne Deane Company. This makeup company has very old fashioned advertising BUT its president (Doris Kenyon) is adamant that things are fine as they are. But, using his smooth charm, Bruce is able to get close to Miss Deane--VERY close. Soon they are inseparable--which leaves Peggy feeling awkward and unneeded. So, her plan is to leave and forge a life for herself. But, who does Bruce really need to make him feel complete--his live-in or the sophisticated (and rich) cosmetics queen? In many ways, this film is very reminiscent of one of Clark Gable's better films, "The Hucksters". Both are rather no holds barred sorts of films--showing the seamier side of the industry. Clearly "No Marriage Ties" is seamier--with some scenes of scantily clad models, a HORRIBLY TRAGIC twist and the cohabitation element. In many ways, it reminded me of many of Warren Williams' films of the era--playing a money-grubbing cad. Overall, I really liked "No Marriage Ties" because towards the end, it deliberately avoided clichés and formula--which made it a terrific film from start to finish. My only complaint, after some WONDERFUL twists at the end, the final message from Bruce sounded a bit hard to believe--after all, he IS a horrible human being. Had the movie ended just BEFORE this speech, I would have given the film a 9!

Richard Dix is "Foster", who was supposed to be covering the Dempsey fight, but found a bar instead. Foster must start all over again, at an ad agency, at which he seems to be quite adept. He dates one of the girls at his agency, but his rule is "no ties, no strings!", thus the title "No Marriage Ties". A bit of the more modern "Madmen" cable series in here. This one has a moral to the story... the ethics of coming up with slogans which will trick the public into buying something they don't need or want. Elizabeth Allan co-stars as Peggy, the office girl, who has been okay with coasting along with no commitment. So far. Then he meets "Adrienne" (Doris Kenyon) and has to re-think his life philosophy. It's pretty good. Gets quite serious (and preachy) near the end, as the various players sort out their priorities and do the right thing. Directed by Walter Ruben, who died quite young at age 43. No cause listed in wikipedia. Ruben had started in silents and moved into talkies, as did Kenyon.

I caught this forgotten flick by accident the other night. Far from being just a 'B' throwaway, it's actually a lot better than you might expect.

Its biggest asset is the surprising charisma of the two leads. I'd always thought of Richard Dix as just another silent-screen hunk. And it's true, a lot of shots linger on his impressive profile. But he rings true as a character who never thinks things through, and projects a self-deprecating charm that really won me over.

Elizabeth Allan is an actress I'd never heard of at all, but this film makes me wonder why she wasn't a much bigger name. She seems able to be effortlessly both witty and vulnerable. I would have loved to see her and Dix together in another dozen films; they make a perfect team.

The script, apparently based on a stage play, is also sharper than you'd expect. The dialog is slick, and the story takes some interesting turns. It's not exactly Shakespeare, but it's way better than the average 1930s potboiler.

My advice: give No Marriage Ties a shot, if you have the chance. I'll certainly watch it again, if I can.

The movie starts with Richard Dix as a drunk newspaper sports reporter who forgets his assignment to cover a championship fight. Elizabeth Allan plays a young artist without a job who takes him home. Dix and Allan decide to have an affair, but agree on ground-rules - "no ties, no strings." Dix gets fired and stumbles into a job as an advertising ad man. He has amazing success as he easily comes up with catchy phrases. He becomes a partner in the company and hires Allan to draw artwork for his ads.

The movie switches between comedy and dramatic scenes neatly. There is nothing special here in the plot, but Dix and Allan are very good at their craft and make the film easy to watch.

Richard Dix looks a lot like George Reeves who played Superman in the 1950s "Superman" television series. Elizabeth Allan was a successful British actress who had a short Hollywood career of 5-6 years, and went then went back to England because she didn't get enough leading roles. She did play in about a dozen good films, including "Mark of the Vampire," "The Mystery of Mr. X," and "A Tale of Two Cities," and co-starred with Greta Garbo in "Camille." (1936). She re-teamed with Dix in "Ace of Aces" also in 1933, which suggests this movie was well-received.