Barabara Stanwyck plays Joan, a bawdy nightclub singer who's trying to land a rich man as her husband.
But she messes things up when she has an illicit affair with a bootlegger, and the man's family finds out.
Feeling stuck in a life that's going nowhere, she sets off to Montreal, to get away from the bootlegger, who won't take the hint and leave her alone.
He's already married, and she doesn't just want to be someone's mistress.
However, he gets his cronies to track her down.
So she has to go on the lamb again.
This time, choosing to take the place of her maid, who has sold herself to a wheat farmer in North Dakota as a mail order bride.
The whole situation gets off on the wrong foot.
But he doesn't force himself on her, and his rejection only acts to make her love him more.
Despite life being crude compared to what she's used to, she grows accustomed to it...and is truly happy with her life on the farm.
Ultimately, she's presented with the choice to go back to her old life, or stick it out, and try and save a man who's barely holding on.
Making the whole story one about a woman being forced to decide between love and convenience.
With the heart winning out, above all odds.
Stanwyck shines in her role as Joan, with the supporting cast being competent, but not overshadowing her.
The highlights of the film include the raucous wedding party, with all the antics of the country drunkards, and a rough and tumble fight scene between Jim (her farmer husband) and Eddie (the bootlegging gangster who tries to lure her back to her old life).
But what really stands out is that Stanwyck seems to do her own stunts, as she helps Jim battle a blaze with blankets, to save the crops they worked so hard to sow together.
Which, itself, acts as a metaphor for their whole situation, as it comes around in the conclusion of the film.
The whole thing is rather short, being just over an hour.
But that is typical for pre-code talkies.
And it really manages to keep your attention, as you become invested in seeing how it all plays out in the end.
It's certainly not the best film ever made, or any sort of cinematic feat, but it's a heartfelt, and enjoyable, little story that manages to keep you engaged throughout.
6.5 out of 10.
But she messes things up when she has an illicit affair with a bootlegger, and the man's family finds out.
Feeling stuck in a life that's going nowhere, she sets off to Montreal, to get away from the bootlegger, who won't take the hint and leave her alone.
He's already married, and she doesn't just want to be someone's mistress.
However, he gets his cronies to track her down.
So she has to go on the lamb again.
This time, choosing to take the place of her maid, who has sold herself to a wheat farmer in North Dakota as a mail order bride.
The whole situation gets off on the wrong foot.
But he doesn't force himself on her, and his rejection only acts to make her love him more.
Despite life being crude compared to what she's used to, she grows accustomed to it...and is truly happy with her life on the farm.
Ultimately, she's presented with the choice to go back to her old life, or stick it out, and try and save a man who's barely holding on.
Making the whole story one about a woman being forced to decide between love and convenience.
With the heart winning out, above all odds.
Stanwyck shines in her role as Joan, with the supporting cast being competent, but not overshadowing her.
The highlights of the film include the raucous wedding party, with all the antics of the country drunkards, and a rough and tumble fight scene between Jim (her farmer husband) and Eddie (the bootlegging gangster who tries to lure her back to her old life).
But what really stands out is that Stanwyck seems to do her own stunts, as she helps Jim battle a blaze with blankets, to save the crops they worked so hard to sow together.
Which, itself, acts as a metaphor for their whole situation, as it comes around in the conclusion of the film.
The whole thing is rather short, being just over an hour.
But that is typical for pre-code talkies.
And it really manages to keep your attention, as you become invested in seeing how it all plays out in the end.
It's certainly not the best film ever made, or any sort of cinematic feat, but it's a heartfelt, and enjoyable, little story that manages to keep you engaged throughout.
6.5 out of 10.