A Cuban waterfront dive is the setting for this version of "Frankie and Johnnie" where the usually soft Helen Twelvetrees is all onions and vinegar as the embittered Frankie, a "working girl" who handles the drunks and perverts at this bar with the toughness of a sailor. Even though this was pre-code, she doesn't curse, although there's little bits of dialog here that disguise the real meanings underneath. She's learned to take care of herself, and when accused of stealing someone's pay, she stands up for herself even with Johnnie (Ricardo Cortez at the lowest form of his game, and excellent doing it), her pimp, protecting her. With "Frankie and Johnnie" playing in the background, she falls in love with handsome singing sailor Phillips Holmes which leads to violence as Cortez reacts to her intentions to run out on him.
Thelma Todd and Marjorie Rambeau (excellent in a drunken floozie role) add to the female toughness of Twelvetrees' performance, and even Franklin Pangborn shows a surprising "macho" side, using his brawny fisticuffs but getting a knock-down for his efforts to defend himself. James Gleason is among the many character performers adding reality to the many drunken characters who pop in and out of this dive. Twelvetrees gives without a doubt her absolute feistiest performance, making me wonder how she would have fared in equally tough girl roles in the 1940's when most of the leading men were off at war. This has to be one of the more fascinating early sound movies of life at the bottom of the heap and gives a mesmerizing look at the famous blues song that is still heard today.
Thelma Todd and Marjorie Rambeau (excellent in a drunken floozie role) add to the female toughness of Twelvetrees' performance, and even Franklin Pangborn shows a surprising "macho" side, using his brawny fisticuffs but getting a knock-down for his efforts to defend himself. James Gleason is among the many character performers adding reality to the many drunken characters who pop in and out of this dive. Twelvetrees gives without a doubt her absolute feistiest performance, making me wonder how she would have fared in equally tough girl roles in the 1940's when most of the leading men were off at war. This has to be one of the more fascinating early sound movies of life at the bottom of the heap and gives a mesmerizing look at the famous blues song that is still heard today.