A story like this, which will have us root for a couple carrying on an extramarital affair, would not get past the censors once the production code was fully enforced in 1934. Interestingly, Universal thought it struck gold with this formula and remade the tale two more times...in 1941 with Margaret Sullavan and in 1961 with Susan Hayward. In this first screen adaptation of Fannie Hurst's novel, Irene Dunne plays the 'back street' gal and handsome John Boles is her paramour who's marred to someone else.
I think part of the problem I had with the story is how transparent it was in manipulating the audience to feel sympathy for Dunne's character. At one point, late in the film, Boles' grown son (William Bakewell) confronts dear old dad's mistress and gives her a tongue-lashing which a short time later causes him to feel remorse...well that and his father's sudden death...so that he goes back to see the woman, makes amends with her and offers to support her financially for the rest of her life. Totally unbelievable.
Personally I felt that both Boles' children would never accept this woman. Out of loyalty to their mother, they would barely tolerate the role Dunne played in their father's life. They would never forgive her and certainly would not agree to give her money. They would have stuck to their resolve that the woman was no good, and if they did pay her anything, it would be through a lawyer, with a signed agreement that she'd never talk to anyone about the affair, in order to protect the family's name.
Not only was the son's quick reversal unbelievable, it was also quite implausible that Dunne would have stuck with such a man for over twenty years with hardly anything to show for it. Would she really have been so naive and stupid?
At nearly every turn, we see how grand this love affair is and how she is making a supposedly noble sacrifice choosing to be a woman on the side. But I think any self-respecting female would have decided at some point she needed to do much better for herself.
Another thing that disappointed me in watching BACK STREET was how the drama was so overly fixated on Dunne and Boles, we had very little development with the supporting characters. I wanted to know more about Boles' wife (Doris Lloyd), and I wanted to see Dunne break things off with the automotive tycoon (George Meeker) who offered to marry her. All we know is that she is briefly engaged, but when Boles shows up to talk to her, she has abruptly ended the engagement and goes back to shacking up again with Boles. We really needed to see the consequences play out with the supporting characters.
Despite the flaws, it's an engrossing melodrama. And Dunne certainly pulls out all the stops, especially in the picture's final moments when her character must deal with Boles' death and then soon experiences her own death. It feels a bit ambiguous how she dies. I guess in the great lachrymose tradition she dies of a broken heart, but it seems more logical that she would have committed suicide realizing how futile her life had been loving a man she could never fully have. The reality of her choices would have been devastating to her once the scales had fallen from her eyes.
I think part of the problem I had with the story is how transparent it was in manipulating the audience to feel sympathy for Dunne's character. At one point, late in the film, Boles' grown son (William Bakewell) confronts dear old dad's mistress and gives her a tongue-lashing which a short time later causes him to feel remorse...well that and his father's sudden death...so that he goes back to see the woman, makes amends with her and offers to support her financially for the rest of her life. Totally unbelievable.
Personally I felt that both Boles' children would never accept this woman. Out of loyalty to their mother, they would barely tolerate the role Dunne played in their father's life. They would never forgive her and certainly would not agree to give her money. They would have stuck to their resolve that the woman was no good, and if they did pay her anything, it would be through a lawyer, with a signed agreement that she'd never talk to anyone about the affair, in order to protect the family's name.
Not only was the son's quick reversal unbelievable, it was also quite implausible that Dunne would have stuck with such a man for over twenty years with hardly anything to show for it. Would she really have been so naive and stupid?
At nearly every turn, we see how grand this love affair is and how she is making a supposedly noble sacrifice choosing to be a woman on the side. But I think any self-respecting female would have decided at some point she needed to do much better for herself.
Another thing that disappointed me in watching BACK STREET was how the drama was so overly fixated on Dunne and Boles, we had very little development with the supporting characters. I wanted to know more about Boles' wife (Doris Lloyd), and I wanted to see Dunne break things off with the automotive tycoon (George Meeker) who offered to marry her. All we know is that she is briefly engaged, but when Boles shows up to talk to her, she has abruptly ended the engagement and goes back to shacking up again with Boles. We really needed to see the consequences play out with the supporting characters.
Despite the flaws, it's an engrossing melodrama. And Dunne certainly pulls out all the stops, especially in the picture's final moments when her character must deal with Boles' death and then soon experiences her own death. It feels a bit ambiguous how she dies. I guess in the great lachrymose tradition she dies of a broken heart, but it seems more logical that she would have committed suicide realizing how futile her life had been loving a man she could never fully have. The reality of her choices would have been devastating to her once the scales had fallen from her eyes.