MartinHafer This film was made by the low-budget Weiss Brothers Studio and this surprised me. I knew that the Weiss' had made some silent comedy shorts with Ben Turpin and Snub Pollard, but I didn't know that their tiny production company made any sound films. Apparently this is among their later productions and it stars Virginia Valli—a name virtually forgotten today.The story is about a seemingly perfect marriage. When the wife catches her husband with another, she runs to Reno for a divorce. Once there, the husband seeks her out, as he wants a reconciliation. Near the end, however, the story gets really weird as a murder appears in the plot from completely out in left field—leading to an interesting conclusion.While the story in this B-movie wasn't bad, the acting sometimes was. The worst of the bad actors was probably the maid near the beginning of the film—she could barely recite her lines better than a drunk robot! But, Clarence Wilson as Mr. Garrett was a bright spot in the film. The skeletal actor was a common bit actor in various films (including playing 'Mr. Geezer' in the Little Rascals films) but here he has a larger than usual and more comical role than you'd expect from him—and he makes the most of it—making at least his scenes very entertaining as a shifty divorce attorney. Sadly, though, this isn't enough to make this film anything more than just passable entertainment.

classicsoncall Well you'll just have to see the humor in this picture because the story itself is largely unexplainable. When a pretty young wife (Virginia Valli) is cheated on by her husband (Jameson Thomas), she heads off to Reno for a quickie divorce, engaging the services of one of the most annoying screen attorneys I've ever seen (Clarence Wilson). Later, husband John Wyatt seeks out the same attorney in an attempt to reconcile with his wife. Questions abound regarding lawyer/client confidentiality, as well as conflict of interest when lawyer Garrett accepts a retainer from both parties. I'm no expert, but that seems just the slightest bit unethical to me.Then there's that scene with the police chief towards the end of the story when he asks Wyatt to confess to a murder to let his wife June off the hook. And he agrees! What?!?! And where exactly did that conversation take place? It wasn't in a police station, because the room was decked out like a library! Pay attention though, and you'll catch an interesting quip from the bald headed old coot who traded his hairpiece for a stake at the gambling tables. Sitting next to Wyatt at the night club, he's overheard speaking to his lady companion about a trip to Africa, where animals go in and out your window, and you find 'beavers under your bed'. I don't believe there are beavers in Africa, but I don't think he was talking about the four legged kind to begin with. Have to love that pre-Code stuff.Anyway, like a lot of these films of the era, you'll just have to see 'em to believe 'em, and if you're like me, you won't believe 'em even then. I'd like to say if you've seen one you've seen them all, but that's just not the case. Pick up the sixty disc/two hundred fifty film DVD Mystery Collection from Mill Creek Entertainment and it will have you scratching your head for answers picture after picture with offerings like this.

kidboots I found this film in a box set of 50 and wondered what night life in Reno would have been like in 1931. What a wonderful surprise to see Dixie Lee's name playing "the other woman". She didn't make many films after this being too busy as Mrs. Bing Crosby. She is completely ravishing as Dorothy and it is very believable that she could charm away Virginia Valli's husband (although he seems a bit of a stuffed shirt).Unfortunately within 15 minutes she is out of the film and Virginia Valli is on her way to Reno to get a divorce. Her husband, John, quickly follows, hoping to bring about a reconciliation. She has other ideas.He finds a chum (Roy) who wants to set him up with a date for the night. Roy's date turns out to be John's wife. She also turns out to be a big flirt.Virginia Valli is pretty insipid in the main female lead as are the two men (they both looked very similar to each other). Carmelita Geraghty has a small part as Roy's estranged wife Rita and she adds a bit of colour to the film's drabness.Night Life in Reno was a big yawn.

cobram-1 For an early talkie this movie is actually pretty good. The story is told quickly, the movie only bogs in a few places, but it's entertaining and great to see the details of the clothing, cars and norms of the times. The basic storyline is that a husband picks up a hussy at a party, the wife catches them (almost) in the act, and she goes off to Reno to get a divorce (only a 6 week wait in Nevada). Evidently Reno in 1931 was frequented only by sleazy lawyers, heavy drinking, smoking, gambling and sexing people living it up while they waited for their 6 weeks to roll by. I liked the movie, especially since it gets straight to the point on a few of the subplots, instead of drawing them out like many other films do. This is now a public domain movie, and is available for free download from several sites on the internet. I downloaded a 3 gig Mpeg and the quality of the images were excellent, the sound could use some work, but as with many of these pre-Dolby films, nobody is going to go to the expense and trouble of cleaning up the soundtrack for free. On a scale of 1 to 10, judged against all movies, I'd give it a 6. Judged against other movies of it's era, I'd give it an 8.