Capricho Branco

"Mandalay" starts off as if it's going to be a real pre-code classic along the lines of "Safe in Hell" or "Red Dust". Kay Francis is abandoned by her gunrunning lover in Rangoon, and is doomed to become a courtesan (with the great moniker "Spot White") in Warner Oland's high class cabaret/brothel. Unfortunately, once our heroine escapes these confines and hits the river for Mandalay, the film becomes a turgid melodrama.

Michael Curtiz's baroque direction keeps matters visually interesting, but he can't breathe any life into the dismal characters. Ms Francis's lisp is more prominent than usual and Lyle Talbot shows why he deserved a future in Ed Wood extravaganzas. Plus, they both should have impaled the studio hairdresser. Although Oland plays an Oriental as usual, he's not saddled with the Charlie Chan accent this time, and shows plenty of mettle. Ricardo Cortez comes off the best with much spontaneity as an opportunistic rogue.

Pre-code buffs will definitely want to hang around for the conclusion, wherein the perpetrator of an insidious criminal deed blatantly walks off into the sunset scot-free! The short running time and jumps in the narrative make one wonder how much of the back-story was left on the cutting-room floor.

Poor Ricardo Cortez. While undoubtedly a fine fellow in real life, in his reel life of the early '30s, he was almost always a cad, and, more often than not, he paid big time for it. He was very good at being a cad, as demonstrated in "Mandalay." The movie, set in a back lot Rangoon, is snappily directed by Michael Curtiz, who always brought his Hungarian verve to a film (Mildred Pierce, Casablanca, The Sea Hawk, among many). Some of the night club scenes are reminiscent of Josef von Sternberg's exoticisms.

Kay Francis can do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned (and I look forward to reading the new bio "I Can't Wait to be Forgotten"). Those big dark eyes and that velvety voice! And as a character in the film comments, she "certainly can wear clothes."

Mandalay is the kind of exotic pre-code potboiler that is fun to watch even though none of it can be taken seriously. Perhaps that's the reason it is so entertaining, in a predictable sort of way.

Much of it is set in Rangoon, with lovely Kay Francis head-over-heals in love with heel Ricardo Cortez. Since it is Cortez, and he specialized in playing smooth cads, it isn't long before Francis is heart broken and soon working as a courtesan in a dive run by Warner Oland, always impressively menacing as a villain.

Francis' character becomes something of a local legend called Spot White, and soon she makes enough cash from men to be on her way out of the dive and in a boat on her way to Mandalay. There she meets nice but alcoholic doctor Lyle Talbot, not long before that rat Cortez shows up again. We'll leave it there for the story line.

Michael Curtiz directs it all at a fast pace, Francis gets to fashion some lovely gowns and wide brimmed hats (which her female fans demanded of her) and Cortez, as always, is a convincing louse. The film runs not much past an hour, which helps, and has a true pre-code ending which will not be revealed here. If the film had come out just a year later the ending would have been different, that's for sure.

A decent time waster, with some effectively atmospheric Oriental sets, and rather nicely photographed. Francis fans will have a good time, I feel. For others, a pre-coder that turns a bit soapy in the final half but worth sticking out, if only for that ending.

Kay Francis stars with Ricardo Cortez and Lyle Talbot in the 1934 potboiler "Mandalay" directed by Michael Curtiz.

Francis plays Tanya Borodoff, who is madly in love with gunrunner/worm Tony Evans (Cortez) in Rangoon. While at a club owned by Nick (Warner Oland), Tony is ordered by Nick to get a boat and pick up some guns for the black market. And he wants Tanya to stay behind and work for him in his club. Tony agrees, dumps poor Tanya, and takes off.

Tanya doesn't want to work for Nick, but she's advised by a coworker to use the men in the club to her own advantage. Tanya does so, gets in trouble, and is about to be deported when she blackmails the police captain.

She gets 10,000 rupees from him, changes her name, and takes off for Mandalay by boat. On the boat, she meets a drunken doctor (Lyle Talbot)...and Tony!

Well, as usual, Kay's got the spectacular outfits. She also sings "When Tomorrow Comes" -- several times. She looks great. Francis always projected class and sophistication, making her an odd choice for a gunrunner's girlfriend who has to work as a prostitute.

Nevertheless, her dignified performance carries the film. Cortez is appropriately slimy, and Talbot is quite young here and charming. I remember him from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. What a career he had.

Evidently Shirley Temple was supposed to be in this film, but her scenes were deleted.

Precode film, melodramatic - for Kay Francis fans, and, thanks to Turner Classic Movies, there are many again.

Enjoyable 30's potboiler if you are a Kay Francis fan (as I am) Just saw this on TCM after years of wanting to see it. It starts out as a Dietrich/Sternberg foreign locale kind of pic, but switches gears midway and becomes a standard soap opera tale. Like many Warners 30's films its barely over an hr and parts of the story seem left on the cutting room floor or are not fleshed out properly. For example, its never explained why Francis is hiding out with Cortez on his boat in the beginning. Francis is not particularly believable as a Russian on the lam in the Orient, but she is effective playing the part, as long as you don't dwell on her background for too long. The first part of the film is very entertaining and risqué, its a shame it switches gears once Kay takes off for Mandalay. Kay wears some fab gowns and is always watcheable. She gets to sing too(probably dubbed), but 3 times for the same song is a little much. This role was originally intended for Ruth Chatterton, whom I cant picture playing it. Its campy fun and Kay is Kay. Watching her can be addicting........