User reviews

Incorrigible and beautiful Constance Bennett (as Lorry Evans) and her gin-loving pal Pert Kelton (as Minnie Brown) are released from prison on the same day. Dressed to the nines, the pair set out to seduce and rob wealthy men on the way to New Orleans. Ostensibly a prostitute, Ms. Bennett nonetheless avoids sex by getting her victims too drunk to perform. An old trick. En route, Bennett meets and falls literally and figuratively for tall, dark and handsome Joel McCrea (as Dan). After robbing Mr. McCrea, Bennett installs herself as well-kept mistress to wealthy publisher John Halliday (as Stephen "Steve" Paige). As the film progresses, Bennett and the cast realize what you knew all along, but Bennett's past and present could prevent her future happiness with McCrea…

****** Bed of Roses (6/29/33) Gregory La Cava ~ Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, Pert Kelton, John Halliday

Bed Of Roses is the fourth and final film that Joel McCrea and Constance Bennett did which certainly should qualify them as a screen team. Paired by RKO Pictures the two worked well together.

The fact that both Bennett and Pert Kelton are a pair of prostitutes recently released from prison qualifies this film as a before the Code classic. The picture is quite frank about what they do.

In fact they're back doing it as soon as they're released shows they haven't repented. But both are looking for some comfortable permanent arrangements. For Kelton she manages to rope a traveling salesman, but in that same dodge Bennett jumps off a Mississipi riverboat fleeing from the captain after she's caught rolling another of the salesman for his dough.

Where she's picked up by Joel McCrea who runs and lives on a cotton barge. Thanks, but no thanks says Bennett, she's after bigger game and lands it in the person of New Orleans millionaire John Halliday.

I won't say any more, you know how this will end. And remember this is before the Code went in place. The lack of the Code made motion pictures a lot more free with details, but the American movie-going public expected stories to go a certain way.

What might have been nice is a bit more of Pert Kelton, her scenes have some real bite to them, but Bennett and McCrea acquit themselves well here.

Actually, not a bad film for an old antique. Bennett and Kelton are two prosties with no shame in their game. The films open with the girls having served their time---either for soliciting or theft--and getting booted out of the clink. Bennett rolls a drunk for his bankroll aboard a barge headed down the river. She gets busted by an adamant Matt McHugh, and jumps overboard rather than face the music and go back and do more time. She is fished out of the river by Joel Macrae, who skippers a cotton barge. Despite his kindness to her, she rolls him too--for the whole payroll...and skips. But this time, her conscience gets to her...and she discovers love. She pays him back...instead of blowing a fuse, he proposes to her. But she is busy milking another sucker, a sugar daddy she meets by way of deceit. He falls for her, and takes her in, giving her some stability. But...love will out...she's ready and willing to throw it all away because she loves the cotton barge skipper. But , she has a past that needs to be reconciled, and sugar daddy beats her over the head with it. So, with love in her heart, but with low self esteem and fear of rejection by the lover she has at long last found, she dis-appears, even gets a job ! Remarkable. Macrae finally finds her, and what happens is the stuff fairy tales are made of. The film is a worthwhile watch, though I am certain that audiences of the early '30s did not look upon it the same way they would some half a century later with the likes of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Pert Kelton gets special mention...she steals her share of scenes and was quite a siren of the screen during that period...she had sex-appeal that oozed and dripped from the screen. Maybe it did her more harm than good, but she is one of the sexiest women on the screen during this period. One line she utters that I really like is "...I'll take vanilla", one of the strident wisecracks of the screen during this time. Also, Mildred Washington appears, playing a maid. Mildred did not shuffle, and was a star in her own right on the Black circuit. Her unfortunate early death robbed us of a presence on film that was both intelligent and vivacious. See this film...despite its age, it deals with the subject matter realistically, for the most part, is well made, and very entertaining.

This one's really a very good picture and upon watching it...I didn't feel like watching an old piece of a museum...no, no, on the very contrary, it's a lively, very well paced, cast & acted film, I'd even say it didn't seem dated to me. Surely Gregory LaCava (later responsible for Carole Lombard's 1936 "My Man Godfrey") did an excellent job with this picture.

I'd never seen before Pert Kelton, in her young days...and she's hot!, I found myself laughing loudly, after listening to her endless wisecracks, playing the heroine's (Constance Bennett) pal, world weary, self-assured, etc... her way of speaking reminded me of Mae West. Both Girls (Bennett & Kelton) impersonate a pair of streetwalkers or "easy women" who want to make it big & go places, after being released of prison.

Johnny Halliday is very good too, as the millionaire Bennett tries to "catch"... and Joel McCrea, is the usual good guy, ... but no so naive, honest man, for whom Connie Bennett falls . He plays very well opposite Bennett, 'cos they have lots of chemistry...well, that may be the reason why they were paired more times by RKO.

Look for Jane Darwell (uncredited) as the head of the women's prison from where Kelton & Bennett are released at the beginning of the movie and for Frankling Pangborn as a clerk... I'm even sure that I saw Louise Beavers (star of "Imitation of Life" (1934)), as one of the women that were released along with Bennett and Kelton.

You've got to watch this one, not only if you're fond of Pre-Code early talkies, but for plain fun.

This is a superbly engrossing melodrama with a hard-hitting edge presented in an accessible, non-confrontational style.

Like a lot of early thirties pictures, the theme this deals with is the pitiful and frighteningly awful lack of opportunities young, poor women had back then. It's not as shocking as Loretta Young's SHE HAD TO SAY YES (actually an even better film) which left you with the jaw-dropping realisation of what times were really like but nevertheless it still destroys any false preconceptions that gold diggers or prostitutes did that out of choice.

In a challenging role, Constance makes her character difficult to like at the start. Her task is to try to get the get the audience on her side which she achieves effortlessly. She mainly played heiresses or glamorous romantic heroines so this was a bit of a departure for her but any worries that she'd not be able to convey a low-life, hard boiled amoral girl from the wrong side of the tracks were instantly dispelled. (She does a million times better at this than her sister did in the terrible ME AND MY GAL) I wonder if this character was a man would the audience be so easily swayed - but of course what made this person so unpleasant was specifically because she wasn't a man: she had had to survive in that brutal society in the only way she knew how.

Director Gregory la Cava never lets your attention slip for a minute, makes it lovely to look at and plays a lot with symbolism. It's interesting to compare how different Constance Bennett's character behaves depending on what sort of room she is in particularly in the prison cell or the ill-gotten opulent suite, her self-made prison cell.

Overall it's a fabulous insight into how life had to be lived in the early thirties. It's directed with energy and fun so although it's all serious stuff, it still feels funny. Constance Bennett is surprisingly brilliant, she gained her fame from her looks but this proves that she's wasn't just a pretty face. She carries this whole film herself so how good the rest of the cast are doesn't really matter - although you do get a little irritated by Pert Kelton's annoying Mae West impersonation.

Constance Bennett stars with Joel McCrea, Pert Kelton, and John Halliday in "Bed of Roses" from 1933.

Bennett and Kelton are Lorrie and Minnie, two prostitutes who are released from prison and go looking for money - even if they have to steal it. On board ship, Lorrie is accused of stealing (which she has) and threatens to jump overboard. Then she does.

As luck would have it, she swims to a ship carrying cotton, the crew led by Dan (Joel McCrea). This could only happen to Constance Bennett. The two of them are attracted to one another; she steals money from him and takes off. Somehow she gets to shore.

Donning a new wardrobe, Lorrie talks her way into the office of a publisher (John Halliday) and pretty soon gets him drunk and makes him think he's compromised her. He sets her up in a gorgeous apartment, and she has all kinds of money and servants. But her heart is on the cotton barge.

This is a very enjoyable film with both Bennett and Kelton turning in wonderful performances. Pert talks like Mae West and is very funny; the usually sophisticated Bennett can sound tough when she needs to. Joel McCrea is adorable, with that dreamy naivete that made him so appealing.

All in all, recommended.

Lots of pre-Code banter and sauciness from Constance Bennett and Pert Kelton are the highlight of this film, which is average for the period, but well-paced and entertaining nonetheless. The pair are fresh out of prison and looking to get their hooks into men with money who can get them to New Orleans, and it's clear what Kelton will be doing with a truck driver in exchange for a ride down to the docks, which is just the beginning for them. The theme of getting rich quickly was common during Depression era pre-Code films, and "bad women" are often depicted as shrewdly using their wiles to break down dimwitted, supposedly moral men as a way of going about that, and this film is certainly in that category. The motif is a mix of being a reflection of the times, titillation, and empowerment of female sexuality, one that may seem odd or contradictory (or simply off-putting) to some viewers, but which I find intriguing maybe because of all of those things.

The plot is pretty straightforward but the film takes an interesting turn when Bennett gets caught stealing money from a guy she's gotten drunk on a steamboat, and then jumps overboard to elude capture. She gets picked up by the captain of a humble cotton barge (Joel McCrea), who is a decent guy, but she steals from him too before fleeing in the night. We know that somehow they'll run into one another again, and of course they do. As Bennett is known more for character types that were upstanding, it was fun to see her in this role, and do things like sip ever so suggestively from a shot glass to seduce yet another guy. Kelton makes the most of her part and her scene exits too, exaggerating her walk in ways that brought comparisons to Mae West. Unfortunately the film isn't all that well developed, and McCrea is mostly wasted in a role that's too simple, though the moment after he kisses Bennett and she says breathlessly "What was that, a tidal wave? Try it again" is pretty steamy.

Entertaining romance with Bennett and McRae as believable romantic leads. What I enjoyed most, though, were the many very witty lines, particularly those written for and delivered deliciously by actress Pert Kelton. Many funny lines, performed with skill and perfect timing, some had me laughing out loud.

Constance Bennett and pal Pat Kelton get out of prison and will do anything--ANYTHING--to get a man with cash. Bennett eventually falls in love with poor Joel McCrea--but will she be able to tell him about her past?

Nothing new story wise but some of the dialogue and situations are pretty frank for 1933. It's made quite clear that Bennett and Kelton have, and will, sleep with men for money. Also one woman is very obviously a kept woman. Very much a pre-Code film.

The dialogue is sharp, funny, fast and racy. All the acting is great--Bennett is just beautiful, McCrea is young, hunky and handsome and Kelton is hysterical doing a Mae West imitation.

Quick (67 minutes) and worth catching.

Lorry and minnie are fresh out of jail for prostitution. And clearly they haven't been rehabilitated! Although to be fair, there probably weren't a lot of decent jobs to be had in the early 1930s! So they keep on the current career path, taking advantage of every man they meet. Stars constance bennett, joel macrae. Bennett had started in silents but is probably best known for topper and merrily we live. Macrae was known for sullivan's travels. It's a sign of the times, where people did whatever they could to survive. Small role for one of my favorite characters, frank pangborn. It's entertaining, not to be taken seriously. But it is a chance to see bennett, macrae, and pangborn.

Constance Bennett and Pert Kelton are a comical hoot playing two small-time hustlers on the make for wealthy husbands; Joel McCrea is a riverboat skipper who falls for Constance, who gives the earthy captain nothing but heartache. Extremely brief early talkie directed by Gregory La Cava, who also worked on the screenplay. McCrea is attractive and likable (as usual), and there are several snappy dialogue exchanges, amusing interplay between the gals. Nice collection of character actors in the supporting cast, including Jane Darwell as a prison matron. Nothing extraordinary, but a fairly fun outing with a satisfying wrap-up. ** from ****

A witty vehicle for the beautiful Constance Bennett, this has dialogue that seems to aspire to that of Noel Coward.

Bennett and the delightful Pert Kelton leave prison at the same time. (Later, Bennett refers to Kelton as her roommate from convent. One wonders if Patrick Dennis was inspired by this when he had Belle Poitrine describe her reform school friend Winnie as a friend from boarding school. This occurs in "Little Me," one of the most hilarious books ever written and surely, 40 years or more after its publication, a dead-on commentary on movie star autobiographies.) Bernnett finds herself a nice sugar daddy in John Halliday. He sets her up in some swank apartment, let me tell you! Alas, she meets Joel McCrea, here the owner of a fishing boat. He looks bony here -- but as gorgeous a man as ever graced the screen. His only equal was Gary Cooper around this time.

Bennett falls for him and is willing to dump her riches to take to the sea with him -- as who in his or her right mind would not have. These plans are thwarted by jealous Halliday. But after a Mardi Gras sequence that doesn't entirely work, all ends happily -- at least for our two beautiful stars.

"Bed of Roses" is a film that some who get hung up on the early Hollywood rating code would be quick to call a "pre-code" film. While some such early sound films were quite risqué, the vast majority of them weren't, even by standards of the time. Many modern "R" rated films are far more explicit with sex, nudity, and more. The point is made here because this film has nothing like that. But what it does have is innuendo, suggestion and unspoken sex content. So, it's a good example of what the Hollywood writers would have to be doing in all such films within the next year, when the studios began enforcing their "Breen" code through the Hays office. Those are the names of the men who were the first to handle this task for the movie moguls.

Of course, what makes this a so-called "pre-code" film is its obvious reference to the two female leads as prostitutes from the very opening. Even such a reference would get tougher screening within a year. So, the two female leads are hookers whose livelihoods consist of trying to roll prospects before having to deliver the goods.

It's interesting for that aspect, where so few films were made before the mid-to-late 20th century about such characters. There were many films about gold-diggers and women (and some men) looking for wealthy prospects for spouses. But this is an early look at a couple of women who make their living by rolling dupes.

Obviously, the plot had to be more than that, and so one of the women decides to go straight after she falls for a hard-working river barge operator. The setting is around the Mississippi River and New Orleans. A number of early movies were set on paddle-wheelers (besides the musical, "Show Boat").

The screenplay is somewhat weak in spots, and the direction and editing seem sloppy at times. The cast are okay, but not exceptional. That goes for Constance Bennett as Lorry Evans and Joel McCrea as Dan. John Halliday's Stephen Paige seems a little overboard at times, and wooden at other times. The best performance in the film is by Pert Kelton as Minnie Brown, the girlfriend and fellow crook of Lorry.

The film is a comedy romance and drama. The comedy is mostly in some snappy dialog quips by Lorry or Minnie. The best line is by Minnie, when she says, "Mmm, you know, Mr. Paige, it's too back you wasn't born twins."

Snappy comedy drama. With all the biting dialogue and crusty dames, I kept thinking '30's Warner Bros. but it's RKO on a Warner's trip. Bennet and Kelton are a couple of hookers on probation looking for a way to get by. So guess what, Bennet meets sugar daddy Halliday who sets her up in comfort after initial misgivings (she probably applied her professional know-how). So it's now a bed of roses except that she can't get over cotton barge captain McCrea. Trouble is he's a straight shooter who might reject her if he finds out about her past. So what's she to do-- stay with sugar daddy or follow her heart and risk rejection. And will Kelton's presence help since she's a constant reminder.

All in all, it's a little gem, with sassy Kelton providing spark. Some of the lines are knee-slappers, like the guy who tells the girl he's a boll-weevil exterminator to which she replies, "I ain't done nothin' ". Mc Crea may get top male billing, but it's really Halliday getting the screentime. Note too how the screenplay finesses prostitution even though 1933 is still pre-Code. And that's along with cracks about Prohibition, which was about to end its 13-dry years. Anyway, thanks to the writers including underrated director La Cava, it's a nifty programmer of the sort old movie fans love to stumble across. I know I did.

I agree with my IMDB colleagues that the pre code repartee is amusing. Would that the writers had expended even a fourth the effort they spent on the dialogue into providing us with a story. And Pert Kelton's ripping off Ms. West is both irritating as well as un amusing. However, it's always nice to be reminded that Constance Bennet was in the same league as Blondell, Farrel, Harlow and Sothern and just a hair below Babs and a few hairs below Lombard. Give it a C plus.

Bed of Roses (BOR) is a pre-code romantic drama that starred Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, Pert Kelton and John Halliday. It tells a story of two cynical prostitutes, who after graduating from "the school of hard knocks" manage to overcome their difficulties and (in the case of Bennett and McCrea) find true love. It is a classic tale of the travails endured by poor single women in the early years of the Great Depression. There is probably little in BOR that hasn't previously appeared in other films of the period, but here the narrative is supported by an excellent cast of actors working at their prime.

In BOR, Bennett was 29 and still at the peak of her youthful beauty. She could project the tough as nails hardness of a trollop and then move seamlessly into a vulnerable woman in love. It is a tribute to her acting skill that Bennett made both dimensions of her role look honest and believable.

McCrea reinforces his image as another Gary Cooper with a sincere portrayal of an ordinary guy in search of happiness, who has learned from experience to forgive and forget. Actually, McCrea was probably somewhat better than Cooper at roles projecting humor and vulnerability--like his cotton barge captain in BOR.

Kelton is a revelation in BOR at the youthful age of 26, with her wise-cracking sassy Mae West knockoff. She played her"best friend" part in a most charming and engaging way. Those who know Kelton only from her matronly character parts later on (like the mother in The Music Man) will be astonished at just how appealing Kelton was early in her career.

As for Halliday, he could by now play his part of an aging rake easily seduced by Bennett's obvious charms with no difficulty at all. People who know him just from his more mature later serious parts (like Katharine Hepburn's father in The Philadelphia Story) will be pleasantly surprised at how likable Halliday made his character in BOR through the force of sheer acting ability.

BOR is an obscure film that is little known today. It turns up from time to time on TCM. It spins its narrative economically and effectively. Bennett and McCrea had appeared as co-stars in a few prior films, and they worked easily and attractively together. Catch it if you can!

I have watched many movies of the 1930's and I think I can make the following statement in clear conscience: the first 15 minutes of 1933's "Bed of Roses" is the dirtiest sequence of main stream film to grace the screen for the next 25 years! Wow, it is awesome. The great Constance Bennett, and her hooker partner Minnie, both just out of jail, need a ride to New Orleans. Minnie cozies up to a truck driver, asks for a ride, he says "what's your offer?" Then, a minute later, Bennett sidles up, and Minnie asks her, "can you drive?"! Implied yet relatively explicit is the suggestion that Minnie will be "paying off" the driver in the back of the truck! Wow! Then, once on the riverboat, the two girls are short of cash, so Minnie quite obviously whispers a rude offer into the steward's ear. He rejects the offer, but she doesn't mind - "nothing personal" she declaims. Judy Garland never behaved this way with Mickey Rooney over at MGM!

Folks, I am ever-grateful that the "Code" forced Hollywood to keep its movies very clean for 2 or 3 decades: the art of that period will never be surpassed again. But taking this path makes all those slightly naughty movies of the early 30's that much more fascinating and wonderful to see, like they got away with something, and we are the beneficiaries of that daring.

Another interesting decision the director makes is to take about 15 minutes worth of early action, which takes place on the Mississippi River, and have it all occur in a quite heavy fog. The hazy sheen in which the actors perform is noteworthy for how long this goes on for. Again, daring and interesting.

Constance Bennett is fantastically seductive, cynical, world-weary and manipulative. Joel McCrea is great being himself. And Samuel Hinds, one of my favorite minor character actors, with his perpetually silvery hair, is his usual fatherly best.

A great one from the early days, not to be missed, even if not one of the characters has a Louisiana accent.

Lorry Evans (Constance Bennett) and Minnie Brown (Pert Kelton) are released from prison. They are hookers who sometimes roll their drunk clients. When Lorry is accused of stealing, she jumps off the steamboat and gets fished out by barge owner Dan (Joel McCrea). She falls for him, but he is not rich enough. She still steals from him before leaving. She next targets wealthy publisher Stephen Paige (John Halliday).

This is a pre-Code dramedy. The character Lorry is definitely pre-Code. She's also hard to root for. It could be fun to be a con, but she's not fun. She's bitter. When she tries to be a victim, it doesn't work. I'm not sure about Paige either. I get the physical attraction, but he can do better if he just wants a fling. Their start does not warrant his investment. The love triangle is problematic. Pert Kelton is doing the sassy wise-cracking best friend and she's probably the only hitting the right notes. This is a borderline case.

In order to seduce a rich publisher, Bennett, posing as a newspaper interviewer, wears spectacles. In spite of beauty disguised, Halliday tumbles into her trap. The morning after a boozed-filled night, and although he's wise to her game, what does Halliday do? He tells his valet he'll be apartment hunting that day. Within 12 hours Bennett lands herself in a Bed of Roses.

Soon after, Bennett, having grown accustomed to maid service and her super-deluxe apartment, tires of luxury. The pampered and bored Bennett yearns for love - in the handsome face and figure of Joel McCrea. She decides she will find her happiness on his cotton barge sailing up and down the Mississippi. Halliday tells her she'll tire of river boating and cooking and cleaning and looking after McCrea after the honeymoon euphoria wears off- and I agree.

The film's message is that a girl won't find lasting happiness in feathers and furs - true - but in self-respect - true - and romance - false. Except for the first 15 minutes of tawdry sordidness where I wondered why Bennett agreed to make this film, I enjoyed watching the Bad Girl turn herself into a Good Girl.

Gregory LaCava, shows he is a very inspired director with "Bed of Roses" a film that dealt frankly with things that were to be forgotten when the Hays Code was finally enforced in 1934. This was a different Hollywood, one that took chances in presenting things the way they were, and without being hypocritical about them.

This was obvious a vehicle for Constance Bennett, the beautiful actress. She plays Lorry Evans, who has just been released from jail. Together with her partner, Minnie Brown, they hit New Orleans in search for a meal ticket, preferably a rich man to keep them in style.

Lorry finds such a man in Steve Paige, who is more than generous, but he demands something that the beautiful Lorrie doesn't feel for him, love! She meets hunky Dan Walters, and it's love at first sight, or so it seems. The only problem is that Dan is a poor man who can't give Lorrie what she has been used to.

As far as the melodrama goes, it's pretty conventional. What made an impression on this viewer was the frankness in which the subject matter is presented. Constance Bennett and Joel McCrea are perfect together. Both of them were attractive and young, in contrast with "sugar daddy" John Halliday, who keeps reminding Lorrie about her new acquired tastes. Pert Kelton, is seen as Minnie in a fantastic performance.

This was a film produced in Hollywood before the Code and it shows.