User reviews

Slightly married is a mixture of comedy, drama and tragedy. Richard Thorpe, who seems to have directed every poverty row feature in the early 30s, shows his professionalism in pulling this mixture off. It could have been bathos, but it isn't. It could have been ridiculous, but it isn't. And it could have been horrifying but it isn't. Instead, it's a programmer that rises above standard fare. The subject is handled with taste and delicacy. The leads are more than adequate to carry it off. Despite the improbability of the situation, the film is believable, and worth watching..

An undernourished romance, "Slightly Married" clunks along at an uneven pace, milking various gimmicks until its long-delayed but telegraphed conclusion.

The obscure leads are merely competent in roles that required a lot more talent and charm to put over. Of course, the subject matter mocking class distinctions and naughtiness (prostitution, unwed motherhood, etc.) grabs one's attention but is merely a source of sentimentality. Crudest gimmick is to give over the movie almost entirely to the earthy, amusing Marie Prevost for the final reel or so, after introducing her in merely a cameo in the very first scene. It's a glaring sort of "hail mary" pass to try and save a movie that's run out of gas.

Using the Peter Principle, director Richard Thorpe was kicked upstairs to handling impersonal projects with big stars at MGM.

When drunken Walter Byron claims to be the man Evalyn Knapp was waiting for on a street corner on order to get her out of a charge for prostitution, they may wind up married, but there is the usual ruckus when a rich young man marries a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. The leads have a great deal of chemistry to enliven this poverty row second feature, but the script loses its way about the half-way mark, uncertain what to do when they realize they love each other, but they have their pride -- and Byron won't come into his own money for a couple of years.

Nor is this the sort of material that director Richard Thorpe is particularly good with. There is some real talent in supporting roles, including Jason Robards Sr. as Byron's friend who tries to move in when Byron leaves, and Marie Prevost comes in towards the end to try to buffer the plot and offer some comedy, but after the first twenty minutes, the movie loses steam and never recovers.