I think I prefer this version over MGM's remake, which was made eight years later with Greer Garson in Ann Harding's role. What makes this one work so well is the perfect casting-- Robert Montgomery is excellent as a guy who wants to prove to the girl of his dreams that she's wasting her time on a married man (Frank Morgan); Myrna Loy plays the girl whose warped morals send her down a somewhat destructive path; and of course, Ann Harding is the other lady she meets whose marriage and home are threatened by it all. There are superb supporting performances, too, including Alice Brady as a larger-than-life busybody who serves as a hostess of sorts; and we even have Sterling Holloway in an amusing golf course scene.
Despite the talkiness of the script which betrays the story's stage origins, there is a lot going on-- with all of them experiencing epiphanies about where they are in relation to each other and what they want from life. But I would say the best part is the scene where Loy and Harding sit down to talk about a chapter that Loy is writing for a book. The chapter is about the affair the main character is having and what she would say to her lover's wife. Of course, Loy is writing about herself and at this point she doesn't know Harding's true identity, and Harding hasn't figured out she's the wife in the book. There is just such a great deal of irony and it's like a scene in a therapist's office in a way, with the women probing into their own consciousness about what love means or what it could mean.
Despite the talkiness of the script which betrays the story's stage origins, there is a lot going on-- with all of them experiencing epiphanies about where they are in relation to each other and what they want from life. But I would say the best part is the scene where Loy and Harding sit down to talk about a chapter that Loy is writing for a book. The chapter is about the affair the main character is having and what she would say to her lover's wife. Of course, Loy is writing about herself and at this point she doesn't know Harding's true identity, and Harding hasn't figured out she's the wife in the book. There is just such a great deal of irony and it's like a scene in a therapist's office in a way, with the women probing into their own consciousness about what love means or what it could mean.