The easiest way isn't always the best way. Laura Murdock (Constance Bennett) found that out the hard way.
Laura was a "tenement girl." She was a young lady who wasn't from money. She lived in a two bedroom apartment with her entire family. She worked at a department store for a little scratch and had to use it to help out the household.
This was one element of the movie I liked. There were so many high-society movies in the 30's it was refreshing to see regular folks. That's not to say no wealthy people were featured in this movie, because the co-star, Adolphe Menjou, was just that.
Laura was given a way out of her situation when the wealthy owner/president/CEO of an ad agency named William Brockton (Adolphe Menjou) took interest in her. Once she started dating him she was flush with cash and gifts which gave her the ability to send money home. Her father ate it up while her mother and her sister's husband despised her for it. She wasn't married to the man, she was a high priced adornment.
That seemed to change when she met Jack Madison (Robert Montgomery), an upstart reporter. The two met in Colorado and fell in love. After ten days together they were madly in love and practically betrothed. Jack wanted Laura to ditch Brockton and give back all of his gifts. Furthermore, he wanted Laura to stay true to him while he went to South America for a few months on assignment and Laura agreed.
This is where the movies of that era get me--the rapidity in which two people fall in love and change their entire lives for someone. They spent ten days together and Jack expected Laura to wait three months for him. I know love is an emotional thing that can't be quantified, but do the math.
Know someone for ten days. Expect her to wait for you for three months. It doesn't even equate.
Honestly, what does she know about Jack? What could she possibly know about Jack in all of ten days? Not much. All she knew was that she loved him and I'd even question that. The characters of that era had the emotional maturity of teenagers. They fell in love too quickly and, worse still, based all of their knowledge and assumptions of a person on the fact they loved them.
So, while Jack was presumably working hard in South America being a newspaperman Laura was back home in New York starving. She couldn't go back home because her mother was so mortified by her and she couldn't stay with her sister Peg (Anita Page) because her husband (Clark Gable) didn't want that element around. So Laura hocked any and everything to survive since she left Brockton.
When she hit rock bottom she went back to Brockton. She hadn't heard from Jack in weeks and she was on the verge of being homeless. Sure, she could've gotten two or three jobs to make ends meet, but she took "the easiest way."
She asked Brockton for a loan that she swore she'd pay back. Brockton said that he would not give her a loan but that he'd take her back. This is where her love for Jack was supposed to give her the strength needed to resist Brockton and stay faithful, even if it meant being a homeless beggar.
That didn't happen. Laura was hungry, Brockton had food.
When Jack finally breezed back into town he was ready to pick up where he and Laura left off. You could imagine his mood when he saw that Laura was back to being taken care of by her sugar daddy. It bears repeating: the emotional maturity of a teenager.
You knew this woman for ten days. Ten whole days. And you expected her to patiently wait for you in squalor until you came back from your excursion? What could you have possibly known about her after ten days and how could you possibly expect her to wait for you for three months? It's not like you were sending regular checks to take care of her while you were gone. What did you expect her to do to survive?
Jack felt like he was played for a sucker and they broke up. Despondent, Laura left Brockton again. In the end she was finally accepted in her sister's home. It wasn't quite happily ever after, but it ended with hope for Laura that one day Jack would come back and tear up the town looking for her. In other words, it ended on a pipe dream.
Free on YouTube.
Laura was a "tenement girl." She was a young lady who wasn't from money. She lived in a two bedroom apartment with her entire family. She worked at a department store for a little scratch and had to use it to help out the household.
This was one element of the movie I liked. There were so many high-society movies in the 30's it was refreshing to see regular folks. That's not to say no wealthy people were featured in this movie, because the co-star, Adolphe Menjou, was just that.
Laura was given a way out of her situation when the wealthy owner/president/CEO of an ad agency named William Brockton (Adolphe Menjou) took interest in her. Once she started dating him she was flush with cash and gifts which gave her the ability to send money home. Her father ate it up while her mother and her sister's husband despised her for it. She wasn't married to the man, she was a high priced adornment.
That seemed to change when she met Jack Madison (Robert Montgomery), an upstart reporter. The two met in Colorado and fell in love. After ten days together they were madly in love and practically betrothed. Jack wanted Laura to ditch Brockton and give back all of his gifts. Furthermore, he wanted Laura to stay true to him while he went to South America for a few months on assignment and Laura agreed.
This is where the movies of that era get me--the rapidity in which two people fall in love and change their entire lives for someone. They spent ten days together and Jack expected Laura to wait three months for him. I know love is an emotional thing that can't be quantified, but do the math.
Know someone for ten days. Expect her to wait for you for three months. It doesn't even equate.
Honestly, what does she know about Jack? What could she possibly know about Jack in all of ten days? Not much. All she knew was that she loved him and I'd even question that. The characters of that era had the emotional maturity of teenagers. They fell in love too quickly and, worse still, based all of their knowledge and assumptions of a person on the fact they loved them.
So, while Jack was presumably working hard in South America being a newspaperman Laura was back home in New York starving. She couldn't go back home because her mother was so mortified by her and she couldn't stay with her sister Peg (Anita Page) because her husband (Clark Gable) didn't want that element around. So Laura hocked any and everything to survive since she left Brockton.
When she hit rock bottom she went back to Brockton. She hadn't heard from Jack in weeks and she was on the verge of being homeless. Sure, she could've gotten two or three jobs to make ends meet, but she took "the easiest way."
She asked Brockton for a loan that she swore she'd pay back. Brockton said that he would not give her a loan but that he'd take her back. This is where her love for Jack was supposed to give her the strength needed to resist Brockton and stay faithful, even if it meant being a homeless beggar.
That didn't happen. Laura was hungry, Brockton had food.
When Jack finally breezed back into town he was ready to pick up where he and Laura left off. You could imagine his mood when he saw that Laura was back to being taken care of by her sugar daddy. It bears repeating: the emotional maturity of a teenager.
You knew this woman for ten days. Ten whole days. And you expected her to patiently wait for you in squalor until you came back from your excursion? What could you have possibly known about her after ten days and how could you possibly expect her to wait for you for three months? It's not like you were sending regular checks to take care of her while you were gone. What did you expect her to do to survive?
Jack felt like he was played for a sucker and they broke up. Despondent, Laura left Brockton again. In the end she was finally accepted in her sister's home. It wasn't quite happily ever after, but it ended with hope for Laura that one day Jack would come back and tear up the town looking for her. In other words, it ended on a pipe dream.
Free on YouTube.