mark.waltz I don't think anybody in Hollywood history ever considered Alan Mowbray a sex symbol of any means, but in this pre-code drama, he is the lecherous lothario who has set his sights on best friend Lionel Barrymore's daughter Madge Evans and has manipulated her into becoming engaged to him. She's a young innocent, and I found it hard to believe that she would choose portly Mowbray over the dashing William Bakewell who is in love with her. Mowbray has jilted the glamorous Kay Francis in favor of Evans, and at a dinner party celebrating the engagement, Barrymore lets on that he approves, while underneath as both a well respected attorney for the defense and the prosecution he is plotting to kill Mowbray and get away with it. When he sees a possible motive for murder with the furiously jealous Kay Francis, he sets into motion the opportunity to blame her for Mowbray's murder, but just as everything seems to be going off as planned, shocking twists turn his scheme around, leading the way to a stunning conclusion.Having defended his daughter Norma Shearer for a murder he committed in "A Free Soul", Barrymore now takes on a more scheming fatherly role here and is captivating. Many of his later performances were more hammy in nature than his famous profile brother John Barrymore, but here, Barrymore is excellent, especially as he harasses Francis with the ideas of how he will prosecute her and have it appear as if she was the guilty party. Mowbray, a delightful mustache twirler, definitely deserves to face the wrath of some poor girl's father, so the tension is thick as Barrymore stalks his prey. This is without a doubt an extremely dated and stagy story, but fills the screen with some delightfully melodramatic performances, including Francis in one of her best before she went onto become Hollywood's most long suffering mother. Even with a sincere performance, I just never could believe Evans' fawning over Mowbray and even threatening to run away with him if Barrymore didn't accept her decision. With all these deficiencies, the film still remains a completely exciting glimpse into a world of perversion that just a few years later would not be able to be done or even re-released without some major editing.

cluciano63 Pretty good murder story in a pre-code kind of way. Lionel Barrymore plays the local legal-eagle, as well as the irate father of the soon-to-be-bride, his daughter intending to marry his old friend, the biggest cad he knows. He tells the fellow he will murder him-justifiably in his mind-if won't give her up, and we see him do so. He even has arranged witnesses to "prove" he could not be the murderer, but the dead man's longtime love, played by a lovely Kay Francis, suspects him from the start.(Her scene at his body is not her best, however.) She then discovers the imprint on a piece of paper of a note the dead man had written before he was murdered, showing that Lionel had threatened to murder him. Of course Lionel is right there when she finds it, and explains in lawlerly detail how she will appear in a trial, since she is the beneficiary of the will.So will Lionel be caught for his misdeed? Or is the one of the pre-codes when murderers do not have to pay for their crime? Lionel Barrymore gives his usual strong, if sometimes over-the-top, performance. Kay plays well in a major supporting role. The rest of the cast is adequate in their roles, but the film is mostly between Lionel and Kay.

dougdoepke Offbeat little programmer that plays like a whodunit, but without the mystery. We know from the outset who killed the bounder Gordon Rich (Mowbray). The fun is in watching the narrative unfold like a Charlie Chan, except it's the killer, of all people, who assembles the "suspects" and gathers the clues. In that respect, it's an interesting variation on the standard whodunit of the time.Watch for cult actress Kay Francis as the dark haired Marjorie. With her distinctive looks and strong personality, I can see why Francis has remained a favorite with old movie fans. Also, there's the lovely Madge Evans as the winsome daughter. Too bad she's become so obscure given her obvious talents. And at least the notorious Lionel Barrymore, in the lead, hams it up less than usual.A kind of philosophical question is posed in the subtext. That is, is murder ever justifiable. Certainly, getting rid of the unprincipled Gordon Rich, who's ruined the lives of many young women, poses the question sharply. At the same time, the movie responds to the issue in an interesting and unexpected way. All in all, the movie is dated in many respects, but is still worth catching up with.(In passing—catch the primitive sound effect of thunder that sounds like someone is snapping a Kevlar tarp! I expect in 1931, the studios were still perfecting their sound effects.)

marcslope What a dopey little melodrama, even by the impoverished standards of early talkies. Lawyer Barrymore brags about being able to commit the perfect murder, then supposedly commits it, then conducts a pointless investigation among the guests in the country house, while a phony early-talkie thunderstorm rages outside. In the end he gets his ludicrous just deserts. Barrymore smacks his lips and harrumphs in his hammy theatrical style that was mistaken for great acting at the time, and he and Kay Francis, playing the deceased's mistress, seem to have a contest going over who can pop their eyes more. The scriptwriting is so lazy that we can't tell how we're supposed to feel about the protagonists, and the pretty young couple who supposedly should capture our sympathies are far too insipid to care about.