In London, suave British officer Adolphe Menjou (as Geoffrey Roberts) begins an affair with shapely blonde Lili Damita (as Alva), unaware she and sinister husband Erich von Stroheim (as Victor Sangrito) are infidelity-brewing blackmailers. As Mr. Menjou leaves for assignment in India, Ms. Damita reveals she has fallen in love with Menjou, and refuses to milk him for more money.
Handsome young lieutenant Lawrence Olivier (as Ned Nichols) joins Menjou in India, and reveals he has likewise fallen in love with a beautiful woman, who turns out to be (you guessed it) Damita. The woman really gets around. Damita takes a shower and gets whipped by von Stroheim. The film ponders, "Is the friendship between two men more important than a woman's love?"
If you're interested in the cast, this may be a melodramatically fun film, despite being wholly unconvincing. With his fine "talking pictures" voice, Menjou was extending his debonair leading man career, but he is much too "long in the tooth" for his role herein. Olivier, in his first "Hollywood" film, is conversely way too "wet behind the ears". Damita shows skin and appears stilted.
**** Friends and Lovers (10/3/31) Victor Schertzinger ~ Adolphe Menjou, Lawrence Olivier, Lili Damita, Erich von Stroheim
Handsome young lieutenant Lawrence Olivier (as Ned Nichols) joins Menjou in India, and reveals he has likewise fallen in love with a beautiful woman, who turns out to be (you guessed it) Damita. The woman really gets around. Damita takes a shower and gets whipped by von Stroheim. The film ponders, "Is the friendship between two men more important than a woman's love?"
If you're interested in the cast, this may be a melodramatically fun film, despite being wholly unconvincing. With his fine "talking pictures" voice, Menjou was extending his debonair leading man career, but he is much too "long in the tooth" for his role herein. Olivier, in his first "Hollywood" film, is conversely way too "wet behind the ears". Damita shows skin and appears stilted.
**** Friends and Lovers (10/3/31) Victor Schertzinger ~ Adolphe Menjou, Lawrence Olivier, Lili Damita, Erich von Stroheim