The Easiest Way (1931) Online

The shopgirl-turned-clotheshorse concept was a staple of 1920's a 30's films, with Joan Crawford wringing quite a bit of success out of the formula. Here, Bennett gives it a go in a story that was based on a 1909 stage play. She portrays the eldest of five children living with their parents in a squalid, cramped New York tenement. The father resists working while the mother barely manages to wrangle the kids and put supper on the table. Bennett toils behind the tie counter at a department store until one day she gets the opportunity to pose as a model for advertising artists. She doesn't stop with this modest success and proceeds to hook up with the boss (Menjou), who fixes her up with a fancy apartment and all the jewels and furs she can handle. During this, she aids her family as well, though a few of them reject her for the way she earns her keep. On an extended visit to Colorado, she happens upon handsome young writer Montgomery and quickly falls for him. She decides to give up her lavish "kept" lifestyle and return to work while he is away on assignment, knowing he will be back for her to marry him. But can she take that step backwards? Bennett, one of the highest paid and most popular stars of the era presents an appealing and attractive persona (check out that waist!) She knows that what she's doing is "wrong", yet circumstances seem to prevent her from doing otherwise unless she wants to exist in poverty. Menjou is assured and manipulative in his role. Montgomery is quite fresh and likable for the better part of his screen time. Page appears to great advantage as Bennett's far earthier sister who winds up wed to Gable in one of his very earliest roles. He's handsome though his character is a little self-righteous. Rambeau makes an impression as one of Bennett's sidekicks in the modeling biz who also reaches for the top in the mistress game. Virtually all of the cast members give vivid performances. The opening sequences in the rundown apartment are quite fascinating in their snappy dialogue and depiction of the hard times. Today's audiences will be able to see through the predictable plotting, but the film still holds interest. Though the Hays Office is sometimes blamed for tampering with the material, the 1917 silent version had at least as downbeat an ending as this one does. In fact, if the story were to end any other way than it does, there'd be very little point to it all!

THE EASIEST WAY is an outstanding film. As so many early talkies it has rather poorly developed episodes, but that's OK with me. The varied & colorful scenes make it really entertaining. Somehow it impressed me.

Many of the scenes are brilliantly photographed : The camera climbing up the skyscraper and into the photo studio's, the opening scene of the poor New York apartment with the whole family lying in their beds, the scene of Bennett and Montgomery on horseback and sitting by the lake.

It's professionally acted by the entire cast (save Robert Montgomery). Beautiful Constance Bennett makes her character of the dreamy and uncertain girl totally believable : With a restrained, anxious attitude, never totally at ease. (In real life Bennett had a somewhat different character !) And Anita Page as her more earthy sister. Clark Gable has a small but important role, one of his very first - and he looks quite natural. Robert Montgomery was not a great actor, he's always the same in every movie. His character in this film is pretty annoying. Adolphe Menjou comes across as more sympathetic.

The final scene is very unusual and beautiful. It's like a scene in a dream : It uplifts the whole film.

Should be seen in a theater for maximum impact.

A beautiful young model finds THE EASIEST WAY to support her needy family is to become a rich man's mistress -- until she falls in love with an energetic reporter.

This little film is strictly soap opera, but it's well presented and makes a pleasant diversion. The production values are good, especially in the opening sequence which reveals the inside of a tenement flat, and causes the viewer to appreciate the trouble MGM expended on even its small pictures.

Beautiful Constance Bennett is very convincing as a woman who frankly admits her moral standing -- until true love complicates everything. Urbane Adolphe Menjou, as the rich businessman who controls Bennett, is slightly more sympathetic than usual in a role he could probably have played in his sleep. And Robert Montgomery gives his patented friendly portrayal as the steadfast fellow who earnestly loves Bennett -- until he is told the truth of her situation.

A fine supporting cast helps the proceedings: tough-talking Marjorie Rambeau as an aging model out to squeeze every penny possible from the male animal; lazy J. Farrell MacDonald & careworn Clara Blandick as Bennett's poor parents; blonde Anita Page as Bennett's lively younger sister; and sturdy Clark Gable, as Page's laundryman boyfriend, who would eventually supplant Montgomery as MGM's favorite heartthrob.

Movie mavens will recognize jovial Dell Henderson and stately Hedda Hopper, both uncredited as Bennett's Colorado hosts.

Precode movies are always interesting because the plot lines were so cutting edge for their era and often still are for now. While the idea of a kept woman may seem quaint by today's morality, the deeper argument of men controlling a woman's life is still relevant today. A woman could/can use her beauty to gain quick and easy access to wealth. But when the beauty fades so may the access to wealth. Men controlled the jobs a woman could get, her access to society, and even her access to her own family. I was disappointed that the kept woman was so lazy about her circumstances. It took the older kept woman to wake her up to the reality of her situation. On the other hand there is the sister - who gets ahead the 'right' way. She starts out a tenement brat - and ends up a neat happy homemaker with an adorable kid & a good husband. It took time and hard work but she made the comfortable life eventually. There are other things that are worth looking at in this film - Advertising - once upon a time all print advertising was created by artists, with live models. Pencil & paint and cramping muscles. Poverty - Hot crowded tenements with thin, malnourished undereducated people. No privacy, no quiet, no prospects, no reason to play by the rules. Social Security - Once upon a time the old and tired were on their own. If they washed up at 65 with no money - and too tired and broke down to keep working - there was no safety net - just a cheap boarding house that locked you out when you missed the rent.

When the prospects are dismal - who can blame a kid for taking the easy way out.

Hard to believe, Constance Bennett, now only know to old film fans, was once, for a little while, not only the most popular actress in America but billed as the highest paid actress in the world!!! Constance was considered the epitome of chic, not quite as aristocratic as Norma Shearer or Ann Harding, but finding her own type as the poor shop girl, wooed by riches into a degrading lifestyle, but by the end of the movie finding strength to stand up for the decent things in life. In other words the "sin movie", which peaked in popularity in the early thirties. Having an abrasively honest personality didn't help her popularity and the depression weary public began to tire of her public extravagance (apparently in 1931 she spent $250,000 on a new wardrobe while most of the country battled the depression.) Nowadays "The Easiest Way" is remembered for being Clark Gable's first MGM feature but, in 1931, it was then one of the many popular Constance Bennett movies being rushed into the cinemas.

Laura Murdock (Constance Bennett) longs to escape the poverty of tenement life. Her father is off work indefinitely, her mother (Clara Blandick) is a drudge and her sister Peg (Anita Page) is all set to marry self righteous Nick (Clark Gable) who operates a family laundry business, but Laura wants more. She works at the tie counter at the local department store but is whisked into the world of modeling and advertising by a talent scout. Enter the movie's villain - advertising executive, Will Brockton (Adolphe Menjou) who takes Laura under his wing. Laura takes to luxury like a duck to water but the only family member who is on her side is her free loading father (J. Farrell MacDonald), who is always coming to her for handouts!! Nick is not happy and tells her exactly what he thinks of her, the new dress she has given to Peg and the fancy car she rides around in.

Posing as Brockton's secretary, Laura goes to the mountains and meets reporter Jack Madison (Robert Mongomery). They fall in love and while Jack knows all about her relationship with Brockton, he makes her promise to stop seeing him and return all his gifts. Jack goes to South America and Laura falls upon hard times - she is locked out of her apartment because she can't pay the rent and her mother dies because she has not been able to give her father the money for an operation. She goes to Brockton for a loan but ends up going back to him. Of course Jack comes back and Effie St. Clair (a just fantastic performance by Marjorie Rambeau) tells her to grab her happiness while she can. She was an elderly mistress who has been left destitute when her "sugar daddy" dies. Laura tries to - by lying about her circumstances but Jack sees through it and the film ends on Christmas Eve with Laura being taken in by Peg and a penitent Nick, and hoping that Jack will forgive her in the near future.

It was hard to feel a lot of sympathy for Laura. There was not a lot of emotion in Constance Bennett's performance. I was expecting a showdown at the end but she was happy to try to sneak out with Jack and avoid a confrontation with Brockton, who with a few subtle clues ("you'll find my handerchiefs in the top draw") was able to fill Jack in. Whatever happened to Anita Page? She may have portrayed Clark Gable's first on screen love interest but it was pretty thankless, being very much a supporting part and not very glamorous. Considering she was so memorable in "Our Blushing Brides" only the year before - what happened??

Highly Recommended.

"The Easiest Way" is an example of how Hollywood could deal with thorny subjects before the arrival of the Hays Code. We are presented with a situation in which a young, poor, but attractive young woman, could go up in the world using her natural charms in a realistic way. That was going to change in a few more years, as the Code would not let themes such as this one be dealt with the frankness prior to its arrival.

The film, directed by Jack Conway, is curiosity piece by today's standards. The original work was made for the stage where there was an open mind about risky situations. We are presented with a poor family at the beginning of the story living in a crowded tenement. Laura, the beautiful young girl has no future of getting a rich man that will take her away from the poverty she is living. When a rich man enters her life, she sees the opportunity to escape her humble origins.

The film deals in a realistic way with the subject of the illicit affair between Laura and Bill Brockton. When she falls for young Jack Madison, she believes that she must abandon the man that provides her comfort and easy life, until she finds herself penniless and must face with the fact that she has to go back to Bill, but loses Jack in the process. At the end, we watch her spying outside her married sister's suburban house which is the epitome of happiness.

Constance Bennett makes an interesting Laura, but this is not her best role in the movies. Robert Montgomery is not seen enough in the film. Adolph Menjou makes a great Bill Brockton, the rich man who loves Laura in spite of the fact he knows Laura doesn't care for him. Clark Gable made a good impression as the brother-in-law critical to Laura. Marjorie Rambeau, Anita Page and Hedda Haper appear in minor roles.

Constance Bennett stars as a lower class girl who takes the easy way. That is, she becomes a kept women. We see her in beautiful gown, in jewels, in furs. Adolph Menjou is footing the bill.

Then she meets newspaperman Robert Montgomery and wants to give it all up for true love. I won't reveal the ending. But it's not an especially happy one, and three cheers to Hollywood for not selling out.

A few comments on the perfumers: . Robert Montgomery is not someone I can imagine anyone's throwing over even a modest income for.

. Clark Gable has a fairly small role here. He plays, with of course no mustache, Bennett's proper working class and disapproving brother-in-law.

. Bennett is chic as she always is. But she isn't photographed in a faltering manner. Her profile is rather flat. She appears to have an overbite and her false eyelashes seem apparent. Maybe the director of photography and she did not get on well.

. The brilliant Marjorie Rameau turns in the earliest of her fine performances that I have seen. She plays another kept woman. When Bennett is down on her luck and asks for a loan, she sends her packing. But when her daddy dies, she comes to Bennett for money and is given it.

Her performance is in a different realm from that of any of the other players in this movie.

Bennett is a strangely forgotten star of early movies. Rambeau is a sadly underrated actress, whose career spanned several decades.

Wonderful story ruined by Hays Office has fabulous Constance Bennett escaping her New York slum upbringing by becoming a model and mistress to Adolphe Menjou. All is well until she runs into reporter Robert Montgomery in Colorado Springs (the Wild West in 1931). He's off to South America and asks Bennett to be good and wait for him. Well that lasts about a month. She runs out of money and goes back to Menjou. Better than it sounds until the hack ending. Solid performances by the stars, especially Bennett, and ably supported by Anita Page, Marjorie Rambeau, Clark Gable (his first MGM film), J. Farrell MacDonald, Clara Blandick, Jack Hanlon (as the sullen brother), and Hedda Hopper. The opening tenement scene is just wonderful. Gable is dynamic is his first big part. Rambeau is always terrific. Page is quite good in a supporting role. Menjou is slimy, but Constance Bennett is front and center and mesmerizing. She was a major star of her time--too bad she's mostly forgotten now.

The initial sequences of this film, and indeed a good portion of it otherwise, are arranged in such a way that truly evokes the environment of the time period, with the beginning shots capturing the squalorous destitution of the family home, and the amusing shot in particular of the family eating breakfast while the camera remains idle, focusing on their activity-- that's the type of stuff which I love. As others have stated; as the year implies; as I no doubt need to mention-- this is a Pre-Code film. Unlike films made later in this very same decade that have been rigorously codified and placed into the upper echelons of Golden Age fantasy and whimsy, this is one of those films that truly captures the gritty reality of the Great Depression, and which keeps all the trimmings in the process. What I find most interesting about this films is indeed the reality which they offer, which is something that goes to foreshadow the development of the sitcom; and indeed to watch a Pre-Code is exactly like to watch a modern sitcom (or at least one of the more classic sitcoms before that genre itself became overdone).

At any rate, this film in particular really caused me to question the cultural in the given period of time; Art, after all, is a habit which reflects the mindset and mores of a given place, and therefore I'm brought to wonder concerning how much women of 1931 could relate to those in this film. To what extent is the normal woman living in destitution, blessed perhaps with supreme feminine charm, faced with such conflicts as are portrayed in this film-- I mean of course in 1931. Surely what the overwhelming majority of these Pre-Code films leads me to understand is that showbusiness and all other methods in which the female body can be exploited for a profit are things which women of this time are flocking to, at the expense of what is held to be traditional morality. Though with Art being a lens into a period of time, as above mentioned, I continued throughout this film to wonder as to how widespread the morality-for-riches tradeoff occurred actually.

As far as a take-away message goes, this film in my opinion posits the existence of two classes-- one exuberantly rich, and one exorbitantly poor; conflict occurs, the film says, when people don't mind their class, and by this I mean that if the poor and destitute remained poor and destitute yet endured their struggle, they will find their due happiness in time. Similarly, if the rich abide by their own class, herein represented by Adolphe Menjou's character, then they too will find their due pleasure in life. Menjou always in my viewings perpetuates the same character: he is rich and sophisticated yet takes an interest in the exact type of woman that can never love him. Therefore, to betray your own class is akin to masochism: let the rich inhabit a romance with the rich, and the poor with the poor, for love cannot exist in any way befitting if these lines are crossed.

I have not at all provided a synopsis of this film, since it is well documented by others and on websites, yet I have not rated its quality: to that end, to wit, this is a wonderful Pre-Code film enshrouded in MGM's spectacular production films, with a visual sheen and gloss that is pleasing to the eye. I encourage all with an interest for this period, or any of the factors above mentioned, to view it.

As sound and dialog came to films the Broadway stage became more and more a source for movie properties even if they had to go back considerable ways for material. The Easiest Way was a play written by James Walter and produced by that eminent showman David Belasco first in 1909. It was most typical of the Edwardian era morality works that Belasco so favored.

It could never be done today, in fact it was barely acceptable in 1931 for its incredibly anti-feminist stand. According to the character played by Marjorie Rambeau men rule, make said rules, and women just have to deal with it. Submit cheerfully to being wives and mothers with some occasional outside work if you can fit it in.

Constance Bennett with her small job in a department store doesn't think this is all that's for her. She help supports her parents J. Farrell MacDonald and Clara Blandick and a couple of small brothers. Sister Anita Page is getting ready to marry honest laundry man Clark Gable who has some most chauvinistic views about women, but also about the value of honesty and hard work.

So when advertising executive Adolphe Menjou suggest to Bennett that they shack up, she's ready to take The Easiest Way and go for a life of luxury. That is until she meets newspaperman Robert Montgomery who's ready to marry her once he gets back from a long assignment in Argentina.

Without going into details Bennett makes a holy hash of her life and those tried and true standards of the time for women serve as a lesson to her and all in the audience. Be good wives and mothers and don't take The Easiest Way to prosperity.

The original play only had six characters and so it was expanded considerably at MGM and updated to Depression times where such lessons were not completely appreciated. Still this cast did manage to put it over.

The Easiest Way was the first film at MGM for Clark Gable who was billed eighth down in the cast. By the end of the decade Gable was acknowledged King of Hollywood before Elvis was known as the King. Nearly all the players billed above him would be below him in cast lists in the future. His appeal on the screen was immediately discernible and in the end of this film, he's given a bit of humanity and shown as not the blue nose stinker you might originally have thought him to be.

The Easiest Way is way old fashioned for today, I doubt too many stock companies do the original play today. Still some will find it a curiosity and Gable is always good to watch.

Constance Bennett is a woman who gets a sugar daddy in "The Easiest Way," also starring Adolphe Menjou, Robert Montgomery, Anita Page, and Clark Gable. Made in 1931, it's directed by Jack Conway, and it's very well done.

Bennett plays Laura, who lives in a crowded tenement with her large family, which includes her father who manages not to work. She gets an opportunity to model for an advertising agency. While there, she catches the eye of the boss (Menjou) who offers her a life of luxury. She takes it. Her mother shuns her, and her brother-in-law, Clark Gable, has no use for her. While she and Menjou are in Colorado, she meets a reporter, Robert Montgomery, and they fall in love. She promises to be faithful to him while he's in South America for three months. But it's pretty hard to make it on her own.

This is an interesting film. Because the actors were getting used to sound, the rhythm is occasionally off, i.e., there are sometimes awkward pauses between lines. Everyone's acting is good, with the exception of Marjorie Rambeau, who has a very melodramatic role and does the tremulous voice thing in her big monologue. Rambeau, however, had been a Broadway star, where her theatrics were more appropriate, and it took actors time to learn the art of film acting. She was a fantastic actress, and I particularly remember her as Joan Crawford's mother in "Torch Song." Constance Bennett, as usual, was very beautiful. She is excellent in the part of a torn, vulnerable woman. Gable is a tough guy sans mustache. He hadn't yet developed his screen persona, but the gorgeous smile was there. Robert Montgomery is wonderful as a young reporter.

There was a neat shot where the camera travels up a building, zeroes in on a window, and then zooms in. It was dizzying and exciting, and it's the kind of detail that makes "The Easiest Way" a good watch. There are real outdoor scenes, too, no painted backdrops, and opulent sets. If they weren't opulent, they were realistic, for instance, the crummy apartment where Laura's family lives.

There was another ending to this film that the Hays office vetoed. Apparently it was shown in some theaters but is no longer available. I'm a sap, so I liked the ending that's in the movie.

Regardless of the quality of the story, I felt I had to see "The Easiest Way" because it's one of Clark Gable's earliest films. He plays a supporting character, Nick, a guy far less sophisticated and lacking the trademark mustache.

Laura (Constance Bennett) lives in a crowded apartment with her trashy family. They're poor and the father is a genial drunk. Because of this background, it's not at all surprising that when she is given a chance to become her boss' mistress, she jumps at the chance. After all, he's loaded and pampers her like she's never been pampered before! But folks who know her realize what sort of a woman she is, particularly her brother-in-law, Nick. He's wise to the trampy sort of life she leads.

A bit later, when Laura is on vacation out west, she meets a nice- guy reporter, Johnny (Robert Montgomery). He's handsome, sweet and you assume they'll soon marry---and he knows what sort of woman she was. However, this is only about half-way through the film, so you know IF there's going to be a happily ever after, it will have to come after a few plot twists!

This film is a great example of the so-called 'Pre-Code' and its sensibilities. Although most folks today think all the movies made back in the good 'ol days were very prudish, this was NOT the case before mid-1934. In the early 30s, studios made all sorts of very adult films with plots involving prostitutes, abortion, fornication and even, occasionally, nudity and cursing. While the films sometimes didn't always SAY that is what was going on, it was always heavily implied and the adults in the audience know the score. Here in "The Easiest Way", words like 'mistress', 'prostitute' or even that she's sleeping with the suave boss (Adolph Menjou)...but it's clearly happening! On top of that, he no-good dad doesn't mind...he LIKES the money she can send home! Welcome to the pre-code era, folks!

So the important question about all this is whether or not the film is any good. If you're watching it for Gable like I was, don't expect too much from him. His role is very limited and he clearly is just a contract actor in this film. As for the film itself, its quite good. The only negative, and I actually liked this, was that the ending is very vague--so if you're looking for a perfect, formulaic sort of picture, this ain't it!

Bennett's screen image was that of a sophisticated girl who knew how to take care of herself and get what she wanted. Her fans (wrote Griffith & Mayer) believed she would get out of traps that would hold them fast. Surprisingly then, in this film she's passive, unambitious and defeated at the ripe old age of 20 something. Makes me wonder what her benefactor, Menjou, saw in her that kept him interested for several years.

The beginning scene in the tenement apartment is terrific, the crowded setting warm and cozy as the family members get ready to start the day. The entire cast is perfect. Gable is very watchable and it's easy to see he would soon be a star. Montgomery is charming and believable when he tells Bennett he knows about her and Menjou but he loves her and wants to marry her as long as there is no more dilly dallying with Menjou. Rambeau is especially good in the scene where she refuses to loan Bennett $100 (a lot of money in 1931), telling her to get off her high horse and do what Rambeau does to support herself. And the generous but not-the-marrying-kind Menjou is likable and his suits are beautifully cut and fitted.

And Anita Page is excellent. A commenter asks what happened to Page's career. In 1930 Page was a star. In 1931 she was a supporting player. In 1933 her MGM contract was not renewed and she retired. Studio politics is what happened to the star who was second in popularity to Garbo.

So there was another ending filmed but not used. My guess is that a despairing Bennett jumped onto the RR tracks, ala Anna Karenina, or teamed up with Rambeau as a I-hate-men gold digger.

The Easiest Way is directed by Jack Conway and adapted to screenplay by Edith Ellis from the 1909 play of the same name written by Eugene Walter. It stars Contance Bennett, Adolphe Menjou, Robert Montgomery, Clark Gable and Anita Page.

Obviously tame by today's standards, it's still not hard to see why The Easiest Way ruffled feathers back in the day. Essentially the plot finds Bennett as Laura Murdock, a poor shop girl who grows so tired of sharing a cramped tenement home with her large family, where three to a bed is the norm, she lands herself a rich older man (Menjou) and becomes a kept mistress. This ostracises her greatly and stuck in a loveless relationship, she's in a bad place emotionally. Hope comes in the form of Jack Madison (Montgomery), and the two hit it off right away and fall in love, but can Laura leave behind the wealth for the sake of love? Just what is the easiest way?

And so it is, running at under 75 minutes, pic gets away with what it can by ensuring the taboo nature of the story centre is cunningly evident. Conway and Mescall show some deft ambition with mobile camera work and nice framing shots out in the exteriors. Performances are all credible, with Gable serving early notice of what was to come in his career, and the ending, one of many filmed as the makers searched for tonal closure, works just fine to linger as a bittersweet aftertaste.

Montgomery isn't in it nearly enough given that he is playing one of the key characters, and the big issue of women striding out for their right to challenge society's stone-age ideals is inadequately unfurled. Other than that this is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of of pre-code classic cinema. 7/10

Since having had a fun time watching Otto Preminger's daring 1953 movie The Moon Is Blue a while ago,I decided to search around on Amazon UK for any titles that had come out on the Warner Archives DVD label,which would give me a chance to take a look at Robert Montgomery for the first time.

The plot:

Annoyed about hearing her family constantly screaming at each other,Laura Murdock leaves her mum,dad and sisters behind in their tiny house to continue their arguments,whilst she desperately rushes to get to work on time.Quickly saying hello to her longtime crush Jack Madison as she rushes down the street,Murdock reaches her work place, (a perfume counter in the city's leading shopping centre)without a moment to spare.

Feeling relieved to have reached her workplace,Laura is soon left in a state of shock,when a male customer arrives to buy some perfume for his wife,and gives Murdock a card for a model agency,that he says Laura would be a "perfect fit" for.

Despite having always felt that she did not have the traditional looks to be a model,Laura decides to pay the modelling agency a visit,who she finds out are currently holding interviews for new talent.Finding herself surrounded by beautiful women,Murdock begins to have serious doubts that she will be noticed in the slightest when her audition time arrives.Noticing Laura sitting on her own in the corner,a fellow would be model comes up to Murdock and tells Laura that even if she fails at her audition,there are still plenty of ways to make cash from modelling,with the main alt option that this fellow would be model tells Murdock about,being one that involves something called a "sugardaddy"…

View on the film:

Before getting to the movie itself,I have to mention that whilst the print does have some specks of dirt,the DVD edition by Warner Archive's includes a fabulous,crisp soundtrack which allows every line of dialogue to be fully heard.

Despite not filling her adaptation of Eugene Walter's 1909 play and the earlier French film adaptation Quand On est belle with the bouncing dialogue that appears to be ripe for picking in this movie,the screenplay by Edith Ellis instead places the transformation of Murdock's life right at the centre of the film.Keeping a careful balance of showing Laura's desire for money by making strong,underhanded suggestion of Murdock being an escort,Ellis makes sure that Murdock's smile is kept on the edge of her lips,so that it can be wiped away by a wonderfully bitter X- Mas day set harsh swipe.

Breaking the movie out of its stage origins,director Jack Conway uses tracking shots to cleverly show the squeezed,claustrophobic nature of Murdock's family life,which along with fantastic performances from a smooth Clark Gabel in a supporting role,a very good Robert Montgomey as the well meaning,but native Jack Madison and Constance Bennett giving an excellent performance which show the mixed,dark emotions that Murdock is experiencing,which make this film one that is easy to enjoy.

Pre-code films are always fun to watch although they do seem primitive by today's standards. But as a measure of what Hollywood was able to do despite film censorship that had to downplay the more censorable aspects of the original story, this is pretty risqué for its time.

Bennett, of course, was the Joan Crawford of her era, always playing a put upon heroine in sob stories that never had too much credibility. Here she pines for Robert Montgomery (singularly lacking in the big romantic star department, even then), while her disapproving brother-in-law (Clark Gable in an early role), frowns on her unorthodox behavior as a kept woman (Adolphe Menjou is the rich sugar daddy).

Enjoyable only as a relic. Bennett does a passable job, no more, her false eyelashes and peroxide blonde hair making her look a little harsh under those kleig lights. But the most natural performance, as well as the most charisma, is clearly Clark Gable's. He comes across as a handsome newcomer who steals a scene by his mere presence. He has the final Christmas scene with Bennett, and it's a touching one.

He would later become the big romantic male star that Robert Montgomery failed to develop into.

Having returned to cinema after a five year absence, Gable began to draw attention to himself on the screen with the aid of talking films like this one. Silent features did nothing for him as an actor, but hearing him speak provided him with regular work.

Heard about Joan Bennett, but never viewed any of Constance Bennett's films, and in this 1931 picture she was very young and had great talent. Constance,(Laura Murdock),"Sin Town",'42, played a young gal who lived in a low income flat with her large Irish family and a father who was lazy and drunk most of the time. Laura decided to move out and go on her own when she meets Adolphe Menjou(William Brockton)," I Married a Woman",'58, who played a fat, rich, dirty old man who buys Laura's body and soul. As the picture progresses, Laura has plenty of worldly goods, but deep down is very unhappy and Bill Brockton does not intend to marry Laura, but just gives her promises. One day, Laura meets Robert Montgomery,(Jack Madison),"The Great Gatsby",'55 TV, who is a reporter and falls in love with him. You will also see Clark Gable, "The Misfits",'61, who portrays the role as a laundryman who goes house to house and eventually marries Laura's sister. The "Easiest Way", was performed on the New York City stage and was a rather sexy play for 1931, because Laura was considered a prostitute living with a man unmarried in those days. You will like this ending, but the real ending was a great deal different.

wearing a fox fur wrap complete with head.

Shop girl Laura from poor family catches the eye of a rich ad executive and is soon doing more than modeling for him. We see her being gifted with jewels, an apartment, clothing, cars.

Her sister's husband gives her the righteous speech, calling her a "woman like you." There's one in every picture, even in this pre-code film.

Constance is beautiful as always and wears clothes better than anyone else of her time.

Off she goes to Colorado with her boss/lover and attends a very strange picnic where she meets Robert Montgomery. A whole pig (poor thing) spins over a pit while a Native in long braids is seen wandering around. She and Robert M. spend some time at the shore of a dubious-looking river bed, and ride horses together, while he makes pretty speeches. And then he proposes marriage.

Laura is in love; she breaks off with her rich lover, but soon finds herself in dire straights. In the end, she has to choose-the poor life with the man she loves, or comfort and security with the rich lover.

What is really remarkable about this pre-code drama from MGM is that it takes a typical depression era problem and shows the audience that issues are not always resolved, that not all so-called bad girls are really bad, and that survival sometimes means doing things that others will judge you ethically for paths that you had no other choice for chosing. This shows a typical large lower class family, waking up at the start of their day, and arguing over every little thing, from no butter at the breakfast table to who will need to get into the bathroom first. The arguments are silly, but then so is so much family interaction, and this extended sequence (with Clara Blandick and J. Farrell MacDonald as the gruff parents, and Constance Bennett, Anita Page and Jack Hanlon as their children) is so real that it is almost like a camera was planted in some real family's kitchen and followed them around as they went about their day. Bennett goes to work, is noticed by the boss (Adolph Menjou), becomes his "kept woman", then falls in love with the not yet successful Robert Montgomery. Even though Bennett sends her family money after moving out, they pretty much disown her for what they consider immoral behavior.

Meanwhile, sister Page gets married to rough around the edges Clark Gable who sees Bennett outside the house at Christmas time and gives her the third degree for bringing shame to the family. Bennett, attending social events and swank parties, is torn between both true love with Montgomery and financial security with Menjou. Old acquaintance (and veteran kept woman) Marjorie Rambeau gives her hell for considering dumping Menjou for Montgomery. the script gives the audience the chance to see the conflict within Bennett's mind. She respects Menjou but doesn't love him, and loves Montgomery, but is afraid of being poor again. So what is a girl to do? That's where the script leaves the audience the choice to guide her fate after the MGM lion roars the end, and it's an interesting way of presenting this situation. Bennett never seems like a girl from a poor family, with her regal ways and fastidious way of making herself up, but then again, many early talkie female movie stars (like Stanwyck and Crawford) never looked like they came from poverty either. Menjou, although using his power and position to make Bennett his mistress, is not really a cad, and that gives him some sympathy. Montgomery's character, however, is not really developed. At the bottom of the billing, Clark Gable first got notice with his small part (three scenes), and it is obvious that he was being geared for stardom. The future Auntie Em (Clara Blandick) is no-nonsense and tough as the mother, and J. Farrell MacDonald shines in a scene after Bennett has been rejected by her mother where he comes to her for financial help (presumably for a visit to the bootlegger). Small elements like this makes this rise above the many similar women's dramas of the pre-code depression early talkie era, and that makes this a must.