Torch Singer
Directed by Alexander Hall and George Somnes
Written by Lenore J. Coffee and Lynn Starling from a story by Grace Perkins
1933/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
Michael Gardner: You’ve changed all right! You’re selfish, hard.
Mimi Benton: Sure I am, just like glass. So hard, nothing’ll cut it but diamonds. Come around some day with a fistful. Maybe we can get together.
Pre-Code “women’s picture” with plenty of tears.
As the movie begins, Sally Trenton (Claudette Colbert) takes a cab to a charity maternity hospital. There she gives birth to a girl whom she names Sally. She and one of the other unwed mothers set up housekeeping. When her friend leaves to get married, Sally can no longer afford to keep the baby and gives it up for adoption.
She seeks employment as a chorus girl and climbs the ladder of show business until she is a famous, highly-paid torch singer. One day, she fills in as “Aunt Jenny” on a children’s radio show. Her stories and songs are a smash hit. Sally hits on the idea of trying to locate her daughter through the show. With Ricardo Cortez as Sally’s manager and David Manners as a father.
This is an OK watch, principally because of its cast. A tad too much crying for my taste.
