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| William Powell and Kay Francis |
FOR THE DEFENSE (1930). Director: John Cronwell.
Bill Foster (William Powell of
The Thin Man) is a famous defense attorney known for his flamboyancy and for tricks that keep his clients from going to jail. His main squeeze is Irene Manners (Kay Francis of
Give Me Your Heart), who is loyal to him but discovers that he has no intention of marrying her -- for him things are perfect as they are. Irene goes out for a drive with love-smitten Jack De Foe (Scott Kolk), who proposes to her just before she accidentally runs over and kills a man in the road (we never learn a damned thing about this unfortunate fellow). Jack doesn't want to get Irene involved so he lets her run off while he takes the rap, which is exacerbated by the fact that he was drinking. Irene importunes Bill to take Jack's case and keep him from going to jail for manslaughter, but the lawyer suspects that there's more to the story -- and more to Irene's relationship with Jack.
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| Scott Kolk with Powell |
At a mere 63 minutes,
For the Defense moves at a brisk pace and wastes precious little time in true character development, although the actors, especially an excellent Powell, do much to bring these rather stock characters to life. There's a funny/scary bit in an early courtroom scene when Powell decides to test a piece of evidence, a bottle supposedly filled with nitroglycerine, by dashing it to the floor, giving everyone in the room conniption fits! With a far less dynamic role, Francis can do little to steal scenes from Powell, but she is quietly effective as a woman who loves not wisely but well; Kolk is also effective. The movie with its interesting situations is entertaining despite the contrived script. Poor Francis is decked out in a series of hats that remind one of a classic
I Love Lucy episode when the boys give the gals some phony French fashions! John Cromwell would go on to direct
much better pictures including
Caged. Two years later Powell and Francis reteamed for
Jewel Robbery.
Verdict: Powell is always exciting to watch. **3/4.
Have missed this one, but Powell is elegant and perfect in everything. And so is Miss Francis...she was a great actress who should be remembered more by classic movie audiences...I think TCM does a good job reminding us how talented and special she was. I see a lot more of her movies on there these days.
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TCM pretty much helped audiences re-discover Miss Francis. She was generally dismissed as a clotheshorse, but she could give some splendid and affecting performances in the right vehicle. When I was a kid I knew Davis and Crawford and several others but Francis was utterly unknown to me, although in later years my partner kept talking about her and his admiration for her. Then, thanks to TCM, I got to see her and enjoyed many of her performances. Sure, some of the movies were bad, and she could be perfunctory in a lousy role, but when she was good she was great, LOL!
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