Notorious But Nice

Marian Marsh and Don Dillaway are in love. John St. Polis doesn't like it. Miss Marsh has been employed in his office, on the basis that she came from his home town, but there's no record of anyone by that name. She refuses to speak of her past. St. Polis would like his daughter Rochelle Hudson to marry the man. So he sends Dillaway out of town for a while, fires her, and blackguards her name throughout the city. Six weeks later, she collapses from hunger, and only Betty Compson stands by her. She gets her a job at a night club, where club owner and gangster J. Carroll Naish falls for her. With Dillaway out of the way, Miss Marsh marries Naish.

One evening, Dillaway and Miss Hudson come to the club, where Miss Marsh tries to talk to him. Naish has him thrown out, takes her back to his office and abuses her. From outside, a shot is heard, and when people enter, Naish is dead.

It's a bit strained, but it's still a well-performed and produced Poverty Row B picture. Miss Compson has a swell time, chewing gum in court, and Dewey Robinson has a rare sizable role, which he performs well. Even the idiot plotting points turn out to be well motivated. It's no world beater, but it showcases director Richard Thorpe's ability to run an interesting, economical production. He would get out of Poverty Row the following year, first at Universal, then a third of a century at MGM, where his efficiency, unusual at that studio, was prized. He would retire in 1967 and die at age 95 in 1991.