Jane Randolph has been driving a cab for two years because her husband, Nils Asther, has been unable to work. In Europe he was a famous author, but since he was driven from home, he has become an alcoholic. When Miss Randolph drives Doctor John Loder, they talk about Brahms. When they meet again at a restaurant, Asther is verbally abusing his wife, and they fall in love. This shocks Karen Morley, who is Loder's assistant and has been in love with him for years.
At first this might seem a film noir, but I thought it was much more European, like Visconti's OSSESSIONE or a movie by Molander: tragic poetic realism. The director, Gustav Machatý, had been an important director in Hungary in the late 1920s and early 1930s. His movie EKSTASE had brought him to Hollywood's attention with its nude shots of a young Hedy Lamar. Five years later, both were working in Hollywood, but while Lamar was a top MGM star, Machatý was in the background, running photographic collages. He only directed three credited movies in Hollywood in seven years, and Asther's character seems more a mocking self-portrait of the director than an invented character. Machatý returned to Europe and directed one more movie.
Visually it shows a good deal of visual flair, although the process shots are obviously faked. Most of the actors are solid, but Miss Randolph's line readings are weak. I suspect that even after most of a decade in Hollywood, Machatý's direction was not up to the task. This failure of the central player makes what might have been a great movie merely very interesting... but that is still quite good.
