Transgression

Transgression is another look at a turbulent marriage during the slightly-naughty early 1930s in film. From the very beginning, we are given numerous examples of how absent minded and silly Elsie Maury (Kay Francis) is. Her husband Robert (Paul Cavanagh) is off to India without her, so she will go to Paris, which seems to be just asking for trouble in this pre-Hayes-Code flick. Paul Cavanagh had only been in movies a couple years, and would go on to do many early TV appearances and movies, including quite a few horror films. Kay Francis had her start in "Coconuts" with the Marx brothers, and was probably best known as the lead actress in Man Wanted, King of the Underworld, or Confession. While quite beautiful, Francis' sometime stares wide-eyed into the camera, trying to give the impression she is thinking quite hard. The sound quality in Transgression is pretty bad, but it was 1931. Ricardo Cortez (had a couple of leading roles in the 1920's and 1930's) plays Arturo, Elsie's Spanish lover. Also, in the opening scene, Elsie's mother is played by Nance O'Neil, who had played Mercedes in the first full length version of Count of Monte Cristo 1913 (and was a close friend of Lizzie Borden...) Interesting outdoor scenes of Spain, which probably are not authentic. There are surprises, suspense, and plot twisting within the movie that helps to keep it interesting. Starts slow and goofy, gets better as it goes along.

This early Kay Francis vehicle is quite an enjoyable potboiler. Kay had not yet developed the sophisticated, edgy style she was so famous for later in her career. She starts out a rather naive young bride who is dumped off in Paris by her older husband while he toots off to India for a year. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out the general direction the plot will take, but Kay makes makes her metamorphosis from sweet young thing to party girl quite believable. The rest of the cast is at least adequate, but it's really Kay's movie all the way.

The plot has some clever, if improbable, twists and the timing coincidences are beyond belief even for Hollywood. Not a great film, but definitely worth a look for pre-Code aficionados and Francis fans.

Young Kay Francis commits a "Transgression" in this 1931 film also starring Paul Cavanagh and Ricardo Cortez. Kay is Elsie, the wife of a wealthy British businessman. The two share a huge, beautiful home in England. A business trip calls the husband, Robert, away to India for nearly a year, and wives are not allowed. So she will be less isolated, Elsie heads for Paris. There she becomes glamorous, sophisticated and worldly. She meets a rich, handsome Spainiard, Arturo (Cortez) who escorts her around and wants a lot more. He finagles a way to get her alone in his mansion; tragedy occurs.

This is an old-fashioned melodrama; few people could suffer like Kay Francis, even early on. Everything about her was so distinctive - her look, her voice, her clothes - it's hard to take your eyes off of her. Cortez is smooth and caddish as her pursuer; Paul Cavanagh as Elsie's husband is difficult to read. He never lets you know how he's going to react until the situation is upon him - then he might surprise you.

Mildly entertaining, of interest for the early Francis.

this movie is a clunker. Francis plays a silly British wife who goes to Paris while her husband goes off to India. She falls under the spell of an unscrupulous Latin Lover (Ricardo Cortez) and ends up involved in his murder and blackmail. Francis looks great (as always) and does a good acting job, starting out as the silly wifey and becoming a more sophisticated (she thinks) woman of the world. Paul Kavanaugh, Doris Lloyd, and Nance O'Neill (as the evil sister-in-law) are good, too. The Paris beauty salon scene where Francis must decide on the shape of her eyebrows (she settles for "plaintive") is a hoot!

Transgression is about a woman played by Kay Francis who nearly pays dear for one and has a lot of anxious moments. But who wouldn't when she gets seduced by Ricardo Cortez. Is it really worth it.

This is a film unlikely in this day and age to get a modern remake. In those early talkie days, all kinds of material was bought by the studios to give dialog to the players who could now talk on screen.

I'm not sure what Paul Cavanaugh was thinking when he goes to some rugged back country of India instead of leaving his wife on their respectable English estate he packs her off to gay Paree. I mean what did he think was going to happen with that frisky woman he married?

Ricardo Cortez is what happens, a charmer, a seducer, and one thoroughgoing rat. After that it's one of those old fashioned melodramas with the proper ending as per those times.

Cortez and Francis do their best. But Transgression is just out of step with these times.