Ladies in Love (1930) Poster

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5/10
A Dirty Trick On Ed Lowery
boblipton27 January 2019
At first there seem to be men than ladies in love in this movie. Johnny Walker wants Alice Day to sing his song, but he's in love with Elinor Flynn; her mother, Mary Carr wants her to marry him because he has inherited some money, but as soon as he's off to New York to get Miss Day to sing his song, she's on the phone with another boy. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Freeman Wood wants to marry Miss Day, but his mother threatens to withhold a million dollars if he does.

It's a fairly standard movie with a few problems, like Walker's New York accent. However, there are some nice touches to it. Miss Day sings three songs in a good voice, and Marjorie Kane sings another. While most of the movie is shot as a melodrama, there are some nice comedy touches, usually directed at Mr. Freeman. In addition, the hard-shelled New Yorkers are portrayed as having a soft center, as they talk about how tough a time they had on first coming to the city, only to be scoffed at.

It's Edgar Lewis' last movie as director. He would play a few bits until 1935, then die in 1938, aged 68.
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6/10
Minor "B" musical
JohnHowardReid25 June 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This cheap "B" musical, edited and directed in a somewhat less than smooth style, manages to hold the interest despite a whole raft of shortcomings including not only its jumpy editing, but a none-too-charismatic hero, namely a songwriter (played in a rather lackluster manner by Johnnie Walker) who seems to specialize in ones. He has only the one suit to wear and apparently only the one song to sell. Remarkably, he does have two women wanting to marry him, namely hometown girl, Elinor Flynn, and radio star, Alice Day. Walker's woebegone presence makes it easy for James Burtis and Marjorie "Babe" Kane to steal the movie as radio announcers who are on the ball all the time, not just in fits and starts. By the humble standards of Chesterfield, a bit of money was spent on this one. Despite what I said above, quite a few of the shots actually match (maybe some of the occasional jumps were caused by editors at TV stations) and the sound recording throughout the whole film is not bad at all. Director Edgar Lewis began his career in 1913. This was his last film, but he continued to act in movies in minor, uncredited roles until 1935. Available on a pretty good Alpha DVD.
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3/10
Ladies in Love review
JoeytheBrit16 April 2020
A hick songwriter travels to the big city in the hope of selling his song to a beautiful singing star. A forgotten early talkie featuring Johnnie Walker, a big noise in silent movies whose star quickly faded once the advent of sound revealed what a godawful actor he was. Leading lady Alice Day is no better. Earns itself an extra half-a-point for Walker's "I hope your goldfish have fleas" parting put-down to his gold-digging girlfriend
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7/10
Torn between two lovers...feeling like a fool
planktonrules11 May 2018
"Ladies in Love", in its time, was a very good film. Today when you watch it, it might seem old fashioned--due, in part, to its primitive sound quality. But if you can look past this and understand that in comparison to other films of the early 30s, it's actually well made and enjoyable. Had it been made a year or two later, perhaps I would have scored it a point lower.

Harry King (Johnnie Walker) is a struggling songwriter from Vermont. He naively thinks that when he comes to New York City that he can just walk in and have stars listen to his song. Because of this, he pesters the radio star, Miss Lascelle (Alice Day), to listen to it. But she is naturally busy and it's only later, when the General Manager of the radio station she works at lies and says that Harry is a millionaire does she notice him! Soon they fall in love...but the false pretenses are a big strike against Harry. The other is that she already has a rich boyfriend! Need another problem? A two-faced girl from back home in Vermont is determined to get him back...even if it means tricking everyone to do so!

This is a cute little romance....nothing grand or spectacular. But it is enjoyable and despite the crappy sound, it is enjoyable.
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