A drama with Boyd and Carol Lombard. The storyline is good, but the dialogs are mediocre, and the squabbling and haggling of the cop and the host contradict the movie's style and deflate the characters. The movie is neat, and has a good sense of the cinematography.
It's true that Boyd was better than the western jesters and harlequins he later worked with. Better than them, but not enough for the lyrical realism intended in this drama. From his role here, you can see both that Boyd, here 6 yrs before 'Hop-a-long ', was a good actor (that is, better than his future colleagues in the B westerns), and that he's not as good as desirable in this role, because it offered more than he achieved; an ordinarily good actor, unable to provide the intelligent, piercing performance required by this role. Anyway, his style matched the movie's. Aside from the leads, the cast gives modest, homely performances, and Boyd brings a lyrical glow.
In the outdoor scenes, the cinematography achieves effectiveness. A handful of menaced people, walking, playing, or facing danger .
Carol's role has the quality of sadness and doom, already there in her early roles, either as a gangster's moll, or, here, as a convicted girl.
It's true that Boyd was better than the western jesters and harlequins he later worked with. Better than them, but not enough for the lyrical realism intended in this drama. From his role here, you can see both that Boyd, here 6 yrs before 'Hop-a-long ', was a good actor (that is, better than his future colleagues in the B westerns), and that he's not as good as desirable in this role, because it offered more than he achieved; an ordinarily good actor, unable to provide the intelligent, piercing performance required by this role. Anyway, his style matched the movie's. Aside from the leads, the cast gives modest, homely performances, and Boyd brings a lyrical glow.
In the outdoor scenes, the cinematography achieves effectiveness. A handful of menaced people, walking, playing, or facing danger .
Carol's role has the quality of sadness and doom, already there in her early roles, either as a gangster's moll, or, here, as a convicted girl.