Contrary to MGM, Warner's films had little to do with the glitz and glamour of the era and a lot to do with the decay and corruption and the little people that was the norm in the early Depression years, and before the Code came and basically threw most creativity out the window, many of the females were strong, gritty, tough-as-nails vixens who exuded an earthy sexuality and lots of brains to keep themselves afloat in what was a men's world.
Barbara Stanwyck, no stranger to strong roles, was one of them, and here she plays an openly amoral woman, Lily Powers, who is practically being pimped by her own father in a sleazy speakeasy. Once it burns to the ground, she and her maid Chico (Theresa Harria who has quite a lot of screen time at almost a co-starring level), take to New York City and it's not long before Stanwyck is essentially climbing the ladder man by man when she gets a job in a bank, among them a young John Wayne in a brief appearance, casually breaking their hearts until she basically has reached the top but eventually pays for it when a crime of passion takes place in her posh flat and she has to flee to Paris. A tacked-on romance between Stanwyck and George Brent and a moment when she (sort of) comes to terms with her dog-eat-dog attitude, mainly caused by the dawn of the Code era and censors who were outraged brings this film to a happy conclusion as she goes back to her home town.
Barbara Stanwyck, no stranger to strong roles, was one of them, and here she plays an openly amoral woman, Lily Powers, who is practically being pimped by her own father in a sleazy speakeasy. Once it burns to the ground, she and her maid Chico (Theresa Harria who has quite a lot of screen time at almost a co-starring level), take to New York City and it's not long before Stanwyck is essentially climbing the ladder man by man when she gets a job in a bank, among them a young John Wayne in a brief appearance, casually breaking their hearts until she basically has reached the top but eventually pays for it when a crime of passion takes place in her posh flat and she has to flee to Paris. A tacked-on romance between Stanwyck and George Brent and a moment when she (sort of) comes to terms with her dog-eat-dog attitude, mainly caused by the dawn of the Code era and censors who were outraged brings this film to a happy conclusion as she goes back to her home town.