Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

NO OTHER WOMAN


NO OTHER WOMAN (1933). Director: J. Walter Ruben.

Anna (Irene Dunne) is in love with steel worker Jim (Charles Bickford), but she despises their environment and wants to have a life without soot and noise and comparative poverty. Jim has no such ambitions, but Anna marries him anyway. When a friend named Joe (Eric Linden) develops a new dye formula, Anna importunes Jim to go in with him, although at first he stubbornly resists. But eventually he succumbs and before you know it he and Anna are living on easy street -- and then the real troubles start, especially in the form of slinky vamp Margot (Gwili Andre). This rags-to-riches soap opera would be forgettable were it not for the performances and an exciting court room scene where Anna pulls out all the stops to get her man back. [One may wonder why she would want him, as he proves to be a first-class stinker.] J. Carrol Naish has a small role as Jim's lawyer, Bonelli, another Italian role for the Irish actor.

Verdict: There have been worse. **1/2.

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