Lilly Turner

Although this film is not usually what William Wellman as director gives us. He did a reasonably good job with Lilly Turner. Ruth Chatterton delivers the goods with the title role, a girl who keeps making wrong choices especially with the opposite sex.

The first choice was bad as she was married, pregnant and abandoned by two timing rat Gordon Westcott. More of a rat than she thought as he was already married to Margaret Seddon. Seddon by the way has one great scene with Chatterton.

The baby was stillborn and Westcott had been a carnival magician. Carnival barker Frank McHugh with a real nasty thirst problem feels sorry for Chatterton and marries her. She loves him in her own way, but hates his drinking. She also attracts the the attention Guy KIbbee the owner of the show.

Which is a medicine show and the others work for him. Attractions that are come ons for his medicines. Kibbee starts taking a liking to Chatterton, but his Marjorie Gateson keeps him on a short leash. She's got a roving eye also however. Another strong performance in a small role.

Chatterton also has strong man Robert Barrat sniffing around. He's not got much upstairs, but he does have a temper. When he gets out of line he hires ambulance driver George Brent, clean cut All American kid who studied engineering in college, but in The Depression can't get a job in his field.

Chatterton and Brent were married at the time and a lot of his early roles come in her films. This was a play produced and written by George Abbott on Broadway that only ran 24 performances in 1932. Theater was a luxury that many did without a lot of material was bought by Hollywood on the cheap that turned into decent films.

Decent film this is and the ending isn't quite what might have been led to believe would happen. Good cast, good direction and too bad for George Abbott he didn't write this in better times.

Lilly Turner plays like a distant and more wholesome relative of Tod Browning's Freaks. Ruth Chatterton, excellent as always, stars as a sideshow employee married to a lush (Frank McHugh) but in love with straight arrow George Brent. To complicate matters, an addled strongman (Robert Barrat) is in love with her, and escapes from the State Hospital in order to pursue her. The film is atmospherically shot by James Van Trees, and there's solid support by Guy Kibbee as the charlatan in chief of the shabby road show. Strongly recommended for fans of pre-Code cinema.

Lilly Turner (1933)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Ruth Chatterton plays the title role, a woman who gets married but then loses her husband when it turns out he is already married to another woman. She loses her baby and then joins a traveling medicine show where she meets another man (George Brent) but her pass might catch up with her. Here's another Pre-Code from William A. Wellman but the screenplay doesn't do anyone justice. The performances are all very good with Chatterton really stealing the show as the tough as nails woman. Brent also turns in a fine performance as does Frank McHugh, Robert Barrat and Ruth Donnelly. The screenplay is full of cliché material from the wrong men falling for Lilly up to the ending, which anyone will see coming from a mile away. The bigamy plot twist might have been shocking for the day but it too is pretty watered down even for the era.

This Pre-Code moves along at a crackling pace. Lilly Turner is a gal from Buffalo who marries a fast-talking actor Rex Durkee (Gordon Westcott) after a whirlwind courtship and finds out on her honeymoon that he is not exactly the answer to her maiden's prayer. Rather than a successful vaudevillian he is a third-rate carnival performer whose poverty forces her into the carnival scene too. He cheats on Lilly and sponges off of her until she announces her pregnancy, then he skips town. And, believe it or not, things just go downhill for Lilly from there. And this is only twelve minutes into this 65-minute film.

Like "Heroes For Sale", there are no sustained bright spots in this one - they both end on a depressing note. But it doesn't exactly enumerate the widespread problems of the Great Depression like "Heroes does, other than that the only attractive nice guy in the film - Bob Chandler (George Brent) - is a bright young man with a recent degree in civil engineering who has to drive a taxi because of the lack of jobs in his chosen field.

Many compare this movie to "Freaks", and although I don't really agree with that assessment, it does have a kind of Tod Browning vibe going for it. I'd recommend this one, just realize it is not going to lift your spirits.

The more that has been watched of William A. Wellman's work, the more respect he has gotten from me and a lot of what has been seen of his work has been very good and even great. Ruth Chatterton was a gifted actress, comedic and dramatic, and deserves to be better known today. George Brent has always been somewhat variable for me but when he had good material and a good character he did very well. Did like the subject on paper.

'Lilly Turner' was a bit of a disappointment though. The cast are served well, especially Chatterton in a tailor made role for her, but this really isn't one of Wellman's best films (a lesser one in my view actually) and he did much better directing in his career. 'Lilly Turner' is certainly not a bad film, it does have a good deal to like. Considering its potential, it just could have been great and was only in my view a little above average. Wellman was much better though when he addressed heavy and ahead of the time subjects and did so in a way that pulled no punches, there is not quite enough of that here.

Certainly, the good things are quite a lot. Chatterton is a delight, playing with a lot of never overdone gusto while being affecting in the right places. Brent does very well in his role, which is not as meaty but he is very appealing and has a very believable chemistry with Chatterton. The supporting cast standout is ever dependable Frank McHugh in a sympathetic and quite moving performance rather than the comic relief, closely followed by Guy Kibbee in the type of role he most excelled at. Robert Barat is frightening.

It looks great visually, the photography as ever for a Wellman film is a long way from static or sinplistic and it is also very atmospheric. The script is disarming and quite thoughtful and the film does intrigue and move enough and starts off well.

Was very mixed on Wellman's direction. It's competent and he never framed or staged the action in a claustrophobic or static way, showing that photography was starting to come on a long way since when the transition from silent to sound was starting to be made. At the same time, it's been more distinguished and bolder in most of his other films as it did feel slightly bland.

Most problematic is the story and pacing. 'Lilly Turner' is far too short at only just over an hour and tries to cram in too content in one film. The amount of content that would have fared much better filmed as two films and not just one and of a longer length. As a result, it as an overall whole felt very rushed and over-stuffed and too many of the plot points are not explored enough. Making the drama feel bland at times, and it gets very soapy and contrived to credibility-straining point.

On the whole, some very good things but very flawed in the story department. To be seen namely if a fan of Chatterton or Wellman. 6/10