Review of A Woman of Experience

The Austrian Helen Twelvetrees wants to serve her country during World War I. She applies to be a nurse, but her good looks make her an obvious choice for a different kind of mission. Thanks to a commanding officer (H.B. Warner), she is chosen to get close to a rumored spy (Lew Cody) who has a penchant for pretty blondes like herself. But things go awry when she finds herself genuinely attracted to a younger man (William Bakewell) and becomes torn between aiding her country and being true to herself. Things get worse when Bakewell's matronly mother confronts her, believing her to be a woman of ill repute. How will Twelvetress fulfill her desire to serve her country and find personal happiness with a situation like this? During the first few years of the talkie era, Helen Twelvetrees was the epitome of the pre-code actress. She wasn't a Garbo or Dietrich by any means, but her performances were always sincere, and her unusual name always received marquee attention. This is an enjoyable, if sometimes creaky war drama, with Cody and Bakewell in good support and the fluttering Zasu Pitts offering comic relief in a smaller part.