Movie Review: Indiscreet (1931)

-

Synopsis: After realizing he isn't serious about their relationship, fashion designer Geraldine "Gerry" Trent breaks up with her lover, Jim Woodward, on New Year's Eve. Sometime after, she falls in love again, with novelist Tony Blake, who wants to marry her even after finding out she's no longer a virgin. Her happiness is soon put to the test, however, when her sister, Joan, returns from Paris and Gerry learns Jim has stolen her sister's heart. Determined to protect Joan, Gerry works to break up their relationship and puts her engagement to Tony at risk in the process.

Who's in it? The movie stars Gloria Swanson, Ben Lyon, Monroe Owsley, Barbara Kent, Arthur Lake and Maude Eburne. 


Review: My original choice for a movie this morning turned out to be pretty bad, bad enough for me to turn it off after only about 10 minutes. Indiscreet was readily available as an alternative so I gave it a try. It ended up being an OK choice.

Gloria Swanson was an incredible actress, and this movie did a good job demonstrating that. I found I liked Gerry. She was a woman who was incredibly independent but had a good heart that easily fell in love and cared about those closest to her, especially her sister (Kent). Her character also worked well with the somewhat dated plot - hiding a past that involved premarital sex because of what people might think despite everything else going for her.

This made her somewhat unpredictable as well, especially when it came to her own happiness. She was the kind of woman who would be willing to sacrifice her own relationship to save her sister or even potentially do something that would result in her going to prison.

On the flip side of that, Jim (Owsley) was an intriguing antagonist. It was clear he was only seeing Joan because he knew she was Gerry's sister. However, it was unclear if he was trying to get back together with Gerry or if he was just trying to hurt her. It made me wonder just how far he'd be willing to take things, especially after meeting her fiancé, Tony (Lyon) and seeing how much in love she was with the writer.

Tony himself was a bit of a wild card. There were times when he seemed a bit too perfect, making me wonder if another shoe was about to drop, especially after the inevitable third act conflict resulting from witnessing a situation he didn't fully understand. I wondered if he was legitimately a good guy or just another version of Jim who was better at hiding it - something Gerry must have wondered as well considering she could have avoided a whole lot of drama had she simply told him who Jim was and about her concerns.

My only real complaint about the movie is, while it is described as a comedy, it did feel much more like a drama. I don't know if I just wasn't catching the 95-year-old jokes, but I can't remember any point in the movie that made me laugh. It all seemed fairly serious to me. Fortunately, as a drama, it does work.

Final Opinion: Other people might find it funnier than I did, but I thought it was a decent film with some intriguing characters and did enjoy watching it.

My Grade: B

___________________________________________________________________________

Here are some reviews of other movies from 1931:

Movie Review: The Sea Ghost (1931)

Movie Review: Behind Office Doors (1931)

Movie Review: Corsair (1931)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Arctic King 5000 BTU Window Air Conditioner

-
Image
I manage to avoid using an air conditioner until this past weekend, when the temps were in the 90s, it was extremely humid and very uncomfortable. However, after digging our portable air conditioner out of the shed and getting it going, we discovered it developed a leak over the winter. While this is something we can probably fix, my wife and I weren't in the mood to mess with it right now and, because we also didn't want water all over our living room floor, I decided to just purchase a cheap window AC unit instead and picked up this air conditioner at Wal-mart yesterday morning. My primary reason for purchasing this air conditioner was the $116 price tag, which was about $30 less than the next most affordable choice. Since we are on a bit of a tight budget during the summer, I was trying to spend as little as possible and, because of that, there really weren't any other serious factors that weighed into that decision. I did have two big concerns about this air co...
Read more

Movie Review: Volcano (1997)

-
Image
Synopsis: Mike Roark, the head of the Los Angeles Office of Emergency Management, has his vacation cut short when an earthquake triggers a volcanic eruption in the city. With no time to evacuate, Roark must find a way to stop or divert the steady stream of lava flowing freely through the city streets and the subway tunnels before thousands of people are killed. Who's in it? The movie stars Tommy Lee Jones , Anne Heche , Gaby Hoffmann, Don Cheadle , Jacqueline Kim and John Corbett. Review : I had an opportunity to watch Volcano again yesterday evening and, mostly because there wasn’t much else on at the time, I did just that. I had been a while since I had seen this particular film, and I didn’t remember that much about it other than not liking it as much as Dante's Peak . After re-watching it, I decided it was better than I recalled. I think if there is anything that makes this movie watchable, it is Tommy Lee Jones. He is an actor who is always at his strongest when playing...
Read more

Movie Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)

-
Image
Synopsis: Walter Mitty uses daydreaming as a way to escape a life of boredom and verbal abuse from his mother, fiancée and others. His dreams of excitement suddenly become too real when he shares a taxi with a woman he met on the train and discovers his life is in danger. Who's in it? The movie stars Danny Kaye , Boris Karloff , Virginia Mayo, Ann Rutherford and Thurston Hall. Review: I remember first watching The Secret Life of Water Mitty about a decade ago with my wife. While I remembered liking it enough to want to see the 2013 Ben Stiller remake (something I have yet to do), I realized that was about all I could recall about the film. So, since I had some time before going into the office this morning, I gave it another try.  Now I remember why I liked it. I have not seen a whole lot of Danny Kaye films, and this is a movie that makes me realize that is a mistake. The movie's script and his role as the title character give him an opportunity to show off his wide range...
Read more