Love Is a Racket

A "pretty good" starring role for the dashing Douglas Fairbanks jr, who had good movies and bad movies. Here, he is a newspaper reporter Jimmy Russell, trying to catch a gal who cannot seem to settle down. Co stars are Ann Dvorak (Merrily we Live and Three on a Match) and Frances Dee (Little Women, Human Bondage), and Lee Tracy (Dinner at Eight), who has a most interesting biography on his page on IMDb. Oddly, we don't really know much about his character in this movie... he's just kind of there. Dedicated black- and- white- movie watchers will see Eddie Kane and Gino Corrado, who play waiters at Sardi's restaurant – they were assistants or sidekicks in just about every movie made since dirt was invented. Of course Russell (Fairbanks) has an adversarial relationship with his newspaper boss (although this film probably pre-dated most of the others that used that ploy).... and there are a couple of other hard to believe things going on here, but I won't spoil any plot monkey-business. Watch for the cool telephone gadget at the very beginning....and a long, lecture on love and life at the very end.

Love is a Racket (1932)

** (out of 4)

Boring melodrama about a gossip writer (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) who falls in love with a struggling actress (Frances Dee) but she might be two timing him with a gangster (Lyle Talbot). William A. Wellman must have fallen asleep in the director's chair because there's not an ounce of energy in this film. Even by 1932 standards the film seems dated and rather routine. There's really not a single thing going for it as we sit there waiting for something to happen yet it never does. Fairbanks is very bland and boring in his role. At the end he gets a big speech about love, which comes off very silly. Frances Dee is good in her role but she doesn't have too much to do. Lee Tracy and Ann Dvorak co-star.

This almost seventy-five year old programmer holds up amazingly well due in large part to the skilled acting of the leads, a witty script that keeps everything lighthearted, and the masterful direction of William A. Wellman. The title may sound silly but if the viewer watches the entire film, "Love is a Racket" is explained by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. at the very end via a harangue on the ephemeral nature of romantic love.

Filled with cynicism draped with roses Fairbanks learns about love from all the wrong people, in particular from the wily, ambitious Mary Wodehouse (Frances Dee), who has been spoiled rotten by her Aunt Hattie Donovan. Seems Mary has been bouncing checks and wants Jimmy Russell (Fairbanks) to bail her out. When he attempts to retrieve the hot checks by asking the holders to wait a while before cashing them, he learns that a mobster has picked them up already. When Jimmy finds the mobster dead, he takes possession of the checks and makes it all look like a suicide unawares that his columnist buddy, Stanley Fiske (Lee Tracy), is watching.

This little gem from the early days of the Great Depression is well worthwhile and still entertaining even after seven decades.

The quality of films from 1931 was variable to say the least but if William Wellman's name was on the credits you could be assured of getting slick, professional and expertly made entertainment.

This is no exception although it's not exceptional.

Although Douglas Fairbanks Jr is definitely Clarke Gable if your studio can't afford the real Clarke Gable, he's fabulous in this. He's like someone you meet on holiday and think you've known since school. How he manages to do this is something only a few actors can do. His character is not unlike the role he played a year later in (the much better) 'Union Depot' but a bit more cynical. The rest of the cast too are all exceptional as well - everyone one of them. It's brilliantly put together, it's got excitement, plays with your emotions with menace, excitement and hope and you will enjoy watching this ...but somehow 24 hours later, like that bloke you met on holiday, you'll have forgotten it as though you were at the bathtub brew, had a great time somewhere but can't quite remember.

Maybe because it's so well made (not just for 1931) you don't notice how lightweight the story actually is. Maybe because you'll forget that you've seen it is a good excuse to watch it again - it's worth it.

This is a highly entertaining film that just misses being a pre-Code era classic. Doug Jr. is a Broadway columnist and Tracy his sidekick in this comedy-melodrama told in Wellman's odd straight-ahead style. Doug's a winning hero, and Frances Dee perfect as a truly sexy, selfish bitch who could string anyone along. Warren Hymer is better than usual as a doofus who's nonetheless fairly quick witted. Tracy is a bit muted, but, as always, is a joy to watch. In this cynical world, the high road is NOT doing an expose of milk price-fixing. The wise-cracks are plentiful and fun, but they don't quite jump up off the paper.