Illicit
Directed by Archie Mayo
Written by Edith Fitzgerald, Robert Riskin, and Harvey F. Thew
1931/US
Warner Bros.
IMDb page
First viewing/My collection
Anne Vincent Ives: Nearly every girl I know, Mr. Ives, is either unhappily married or happily divorced, and I’ve simply come to the conclusion that marriage is disastrous to love. There’s so much about it that’s all wrong – the awful possession that people exert over each other, the intimacy, and the duties. I don’t know… but love can’t stand the strain, that’s all.
This movie can be criticized on several grounds, but Barbara Stanwyck’s performance isn’t one of them.
Dick Ives (James Rennie) and Ann Vincent (Stanwyck) are upper class New Yorkers who run with the fast crowd. They are in madly in love with each other and, though they don’t live together, go away on lots of weekend get aways. Ann thinks marriage would only kill the spontaneity and fun they currently enjoy. She eventually talks Dick into going along with her, though he hates the hiding they must do.
Finally James’ father talks them in to marrying. All the things that Barbara feared happen and then they flirt with disaster and old flames played by Ricardo Cortez and Natalie Moorehead. Can this marriage be saved? With Joan Blondell as a friend.
Stanwyck is by far the best actor in this movie. Though this is not a comedy, she exudes a charm and pep in the early love scenes that provide an early glimpse of her talents as a comedienne. Other than that, the movie just seemed to plod along while not really being long enough to earn its rushed ending.
clip
