Tallulah Bankhead made her name on the stage and came to Hollywood under contract to MGM. "Faithless" would be her last film until 1944's "Lifeboat." Bankhead's particular style of acting was not effective on film, and it was probably because of the way she was cast. In "Lifeboat," she's perfect - Hitchcock wanted "the most oblique, incongruous person imaginable in such a situation." Actually, part of her role in "Faithless" fits that description also, but this time, it works against her. Bankhead plays an heiress intending to marry Robert Montgomery. When he insists that they live on his salary, she walks out. She soon learns that she's flat broke and, after borrowing from everyone she knows, gets a sugar daddy, leaving him when Montgomery comes back in her life. Both broke, the two marry and struggle to keep going.
As one would suspect, Bankhead is great as the heiress but not quite believable when she's poverty stricken trying to get work in a coffee shop. She lacked the vulnerability of a Constance Bennett or the sadness of a Kay Francis.
The film, however, is a very good depiction of life in the depression. This was no MGM romantic comedy or fantasy film. When her husband is injured, the Bankhead character turns to prostitution. The best scene in the film is between her and the landlady, who realizes what she's about to do.
Robert Montgomery plays one of depression's many unlucky - what jobs he gets, he loses because the companies close, and he's finally attacked on the job by employees who feel threatened. Through it all, he keeps his dignity and hope.
Both actors were young stars who were put into this film probably for contractual reasons. They're good, but they're both too elegant and classy to make parts of this film work the way they were supposed to. Bankhead, however, has some wonderful dialogue that she delivers with aplomb, and it's great to see her before the smoking, drugs, and booze got to her face.
Some of this plays melodramatically, and there's a particularly odious performance by Maurice Murphy as Montgomery's brother. But "Faithless" is an intriguing look at the desperation caused by the depression, and Bankhead is fascinating to watch.
