.. like Joan's dependable sassiness and some funny bits from Allen Jenkins, but this isn't a DVD I'd put under anyone's Christmas tree. The plot, very briefly, revolves around Joan as a switchboard operator who is used (more than once) to help someone else commit a crime, and Pat O'Brien is a phone line repairman who (separately) becomes involved with her.
O'Brien's character is a sleaze, to say the least. We see early on that he treats women like samples in a meat market, but once he sets his sights on Joan, he goes all out, first insulting and bullying her into giving him a tumble, then eventually overturning her dining table so her dinner will be ruined and she'll then let him take her to a restaurant! (I kid not...) Joan gives as good as she gets, of course, but inexplicably, his boorish behavior wears her down and she falls in love with him. Okay, I realize this was made in the 1930s, but really!
As mentioned, I liked Allen Jenkins and his comic moments, one with a bogus palm reader (the great Louise Beavers), another when he's needed to listen in on dirty dealings by phone, and while there is mayhem going on he is there, fast asleep! His frequent delivery of the line, "Let's get outta here!!" in an exasperated voice is funny and doesn't get old.
Thumbs up to Eugene Pallette's performance, too. He sees O'Brien for the worm that he is and isn't shy about expressing it. I'd recommend it mainly for brassy Joan Blondell.
