marcslope Fast little Warners item, from a play by Maurine Watkins--who wrote the source material for "Chicago," and this hard-boiled B is very much cut from the same cloth, with big-city corruption, tough-talking dames, and vice not always unrewarded. Ann Dvorak, always good in this sort of part, is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks whose attempts to crash high society are thwarted, and ends up a fugitive, for reasons she's not quite guilty and not quite innocent of. She's also an unwed mom, and not entirely an unsympathetic one, this being a year before they started fully enforcing the Production Code. Lee Tracy plays, as he was born to play, a fast-talking, fast-thinking newspaperman, and watching him at his peak is sort of like watching Cagney--he's so lively he's impossible not to like, even playing a reprobate like this. The story doesn't quite hang together: If Molly was really abandoned by her mom at seven, as she states early on, she's only 16 at the start of the film, which makes no sense at all. And while nobody, not even Tracy, is able to recognize the peroxide version of Molly as the same on-the-lam gal in the picture they have of her, her infant daughter does, at once. The tone's uneven, too, veering between melodrama and uneasy comedy. But Dvorak and Tracy are so watchable, and the supporting cast (Richard Cromwell, Guy Kibbee, Frank McHugh) so quintessential early-'30s Warners, it's a fine time-waster.

kidboots Feisty Ann Dvorak first came to Hollywood as a dancer and choreographer but her dark intense beauty was such that when she broke free of the chorus line she made an immediate impact. "The Strange Love of Molly Louvain" was her first starring role - but unfortunately Lee Tracy got all the attention. Like Ann, pre-code films were his specialty and even though he didn't enter the movie until half way through he proved a huge hit with the audiences.All the boys love Molly (Dvorak) but Molly's heart belongs to Ralph (Don Dillaway), a spineless, rich "momma's boy", who within ten minutes of the film's start, has left her flat - not only holding the baby but fleeing abroad with his mother, who doesn't think Molly is good enough for her son (the usual story). Molly also flees with Nicki (Leslie Fenton), a smooth talking lady's stocking salesman, but after a few years on the road, she is fed up with the life they lead, living on money from petty crime. Leaving her child with a kindly woman and Nick, drinking his troubles away, she becomes a dance hall hostess. She meets up with Jimmie (Richard Cromwell), a bellhop she knew from her old life, who used to have a huge crush on her and is now at University. Before too long they are involved in a police chase, thanks to Nick - the end of which has a policeman dead and Nick fighting for his life. With a new "blonde bombshell" look she and Jimmy are now on the run and run into fast talking newspaper man Scotty (Lee Tracy - who else!!)Cromwell proves that "handsome" is not enough - you need personality!! Tracy and Dvorak have it in spades and they make a sensational team with wisecracks flying all over the place. Sparks fly - if only they had become a screen team. Tracy was definitely an asset to this rather muddled movie. The first half had plenty of action as Molly goes from cigarette girl to gangster's girl to dance hall girl to girl on the run but when she and Jimmy stop running thank goodness Lee Tracy is there to really liven up what could have become a pretty pedestrian movie..This movie had a special significance to Ann. It was were she met husband, Leslie Fenton, and when the movie finished they eloped. Ann also composed songs in her spare time and in this movie one of them is featured - "Gold Digger Lady". She plays it on the piano, in between snatches of "When We're Alone".Highly Recommended.

politian Whatever it was, it's too bad there doesn't seem to be any of it left. Warner Bros. pre-code was like a renaissance atelier - genius in the air, tons of talent on hand, cranking out, if not masterpieces, some unforgettable confections. Tons of bit part players in this one, it's as though they couldn't let anyone just walk on and act, the scene had to be chewed through. This sometimes seems distracting when you're caught up in the story, which, as with "Three on a Match," uses the threatened child to keep you in suspense. But with Lee Tracy and Ann D., plus all these superb faces and shticks, can anyone really complain? Worthwhile to think about why this Warner Bros. vision of life seems to get tremendous lift from exploiting a certain idea of the US press, never better represented than by Tracy - at least until Grant in "His Girl Friday."

Ron Oliver THE STRANGE LOVE OF MOLLY LOUVAIN pushes her to look for love with all the wrong men, leading inevitably to unwed pregnancy, betrayal & murder...This obscure little crime film highlights the kind of fast-moving, tough-talking picture which Warner Bros. did so well in the early 1930's. Good production values help tremendously, but the biggest asset is the piston-powered performance of Lee Tracy as a cynical, amoral reporter. Although his character doesn't appear until 30 minutes into the story, once on screen he dominates his scenes, as he typically did during his heyday. This picture was made shortly before Tracy moved to MGM for his 5 memorable appearances there in 1933. His spectacular fall from grace would spin him out to the minor studios, but here he's in his prime, or nearly so.The other two sides to the film's romantic triangle are made up of Ann Dvorak, very good in the title role, and Richard Cromwell, impressive as the innocent college kid infatuated with her. A sprinkling of character actors - Guy Kibbee, Leslie Fenton, Frank McHugh & Charles Middleton - add to the film's success.Movie mavens will recognize J. Farrell MacDonald as a murdered cop, silent movie comic 'Snub' Pollard as a bill collector & Louise Beavers as a washroom attendant, all uncredited.The film's rather gamey plot proclaims its pre-Production Code status.