wes-connors Rain dampening business, streetwalking Nancy Carroll (as Mary) heads up to her New York apartment with what she believes is a handsome young drunk. Instead, Phillips Holmes (as Joe Bartlett) turns out to be a thief with a head wound. Correctly sensing Holmes is a soul-mate, Ms. Carroll covers for him when police search the apartment building. Agreeing they both have no real future, the pair decide to spend the $20,000 he has stolen, then commit suicide. They go to Palm Beach for their last hurrahs… There, love complicates matters… "Stolen Heaven" scores points for re-teaming Carroll and Holmes, so promising in "The Devil's Holiday (1930), and a good opening. But, it's downhill from there. As the madcap couple frolic in Florida, you begin to see some serious strains in the script. Co-stars Carroll and Holmes often appear directionless and/or under-rehearsed… but blocked. The script, obviously not written for its stars, needed a revision. And, don't expect any reason on Earth for its main characters to be named "Mary" and "Joseph".***** Stolen Heaven (2/21/31) George Abbott ~ Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, Louis Calhern, Edward Keane

kidboots The first scene is startling - two shadows walk past an old billboard advertising Wonder Bread - "sliced - just say Wonder cut". Mary is a street walker - her mannerisms show that she is new to it. Later on she explains that she was a dancer who lost her place and this is her first night on the job. Joe is a young man Mary first assumes to be drunk - then she notices blood in his hair. He has committed a robbery - he has $20,000 and wants to live life to the full, then when the money runs out he will shoot himself. Mary helps divert the police by putting him in bed and pretending he is a customer - even by pre-code standards it is pretty racy.He asks Mary to go with him, and that's when it falls flat. It loses its grittiness when they start to live it up at a Palm Springs resort. Something went wrong with the story about 2 down and outers who grab their chance of happiness regardless of the price.The establishing shot of the resort is great - firstly showing the orchestra and lastly the dance floor, where Mary (with a beautiful new look) and Joe are dancing. Nancy Carroll is absolutely gorgeous whether as a down on her luck dancer or among the idle rich. She has a few really good scenes - when she is trying to convince the police Joe is just a customer, when she is reminiscing about her life, telling Joe what she wants out of life and the sequence where she gambles her last $1,000, thinking it is her last night on earth.Even though with 3 films together ("The Devil's Holiday", "Stolen Heaven" and "The Man I Killed") they were a team (sort of) Holmes didn't seem very comfortable in their scenes together. Nancy came up trumps but Holmes struggled and made the dialogue ("they'll never take me alive") sound trite which it was. May be he was out of his depth. Frederic March would have made a much more believable Joe. Nancy and Phillips certainly win the award as the most beautiful couple in the movies. Louis Calhern does well as the cad that comes good.Recommended.

Donaldwarren56 pre code with surreal start, with a very depression era backdrop, streetwalker Mary, Nancy Carroll is cautiously walking (rolling her eyes in great 30s movie fashion), Behind her is a slightly discheveled Joe,Phil Holmes, thinking he is Drunk Mary drags him to her rundown flat and almost has to guide him up the stairs.. once inside Joe seems disorientated, Mary is now getting impatient he has made no pass, with a little pleading Mary pleads Kiss Me, stroking his beautiful Blonde hair, (Holmes not Carroll), she sees blood, cleaning him up they get in a deep conversation about morals, life and other things..A banging on the door brings to attention there was a robbery across the street at the factory, Mary quickly realizes her trick probably committed this crime and gives him a drink to ease the pain tells him to remove his clothes and get into bed, the cops search her room and are convinced joe has been there all day drunk and asleep.. after more deep conversation, joe offers Mary any or all of the 20 thous. he has stole to go off and start a new life- then when the money runs out they will do a double suicide, they are both so bitter on life, returning to this slum or prison is no longer acceptable, they are now deeply in love and it shows in there acting, Holmes and Carroll had great Chemistry together, arrive. in palm Beach they are the "it" Couple everyone is talking about, inc. very rich playboy Steve Louis Calhourn .. Married now they are Mr. & Mrs Bartlett, they attend party's Dances, beach romps and still so in love they now feel something is missing, they want to come clean, return this money (that is now gone), on the night they must decide, Suicide or Prison they party, Making a Deal with Steve - 20, thous is given to Mary who thinks in 5 min Steve won this money at roulette, Now Police arrive and Handcuff the beautiful couple, they escape again and make a run to Steves House to hide out, Steve, has them Go to the beach and wait for his Boat to run them to Cuba, Again they are caught, Declairing there devoted love and With Steves help, they will probably get a light sentence... Again, Movie Love over All, even in the over acted hysterics of Carroll and HOlmes this is a griping film for all pre code lovers....

bensonj The opening sequence is incredible, starting with the shadows on torn billboards of the two protagonists in a seedy cityscape. She's a whore, and he, stumbling drunk, is following her to her room. Actually, she discovers when they get to her room that he's not stumbling drunk--a bullet had grazed his head and nearly knocked him out. There's no question, though, about her being a cheap whore, and the room a being whore's room. At one point, he looks around and says, "How'd I get here?" Her disgusted response: "The fairies brought you." He asks for a drink, and she gives him one: "One of the girls left this bottle here yesterday." There's a commotion in the hall. Detectives are searching the house for the man who just held up the payroll in the factory opposite. She tells the boy, "Quick, get off your clothes." He jumps into the bed and pretends a drunken sleep. The detective is looking for bigger fry and doesn't give her too hard a time for prostitution. She says he's been there for hours; she doesn't know anything about him. In these scenes, the acting, direction and writing are simple and direct. The two are shown as both cynical and naive; two lost souls. So far, superb! But then they decide to take his money, go on a spree, and when it's gone they'll commit suicide. Not superb. After the great opening sequence, the story becomes very sloppy, degenerating into primitive and unbelievable melodrama. At one point, for example, she asks how much money is left. Just $1,000, he says, only one day left. One day on $1,000 in 1931?? And Nancy Carroll unabashedly chews the scenery: "I don't want to die!" Hey, OK, so who's forcing you? But the film doesn't totally disintegrate. For example, the opening shot at a ritzy Havana hotel starts with a close-up of the band and gradually pulls back, tracking through the diners, all the way back for a long shot of the dance floor. When a stateside detective catches up with them, there are some lively plot twists, and Calhern, a wolf who has been after Nancy, winds up helping them when he sees that true love is bound to triumph. See this for the vital, gritty, pre-Code opening sequence; the rest is OK in a primitive way.