Highlights:
Lowlights:
- The casting for the family of grifters. They're played by Roland Young, Billie Burke, Janet Gaynor, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., an interesting group of actors, and each are allowed to have their moments. Afterwards, Gaynor would retire from films at just 32, making this her last major part, and that alone makes it worth seeing.
- The old woman they try to bilk after latching on to her on a train, played by Minnie Dupree. We feel a tinge of sadness in her character, but mostly kindness and wisdom. She's travelling alone when they meet her, and says "Oh, I've seen many lovely things on this little jaunt. But I've had to see them alone. And after all, we see them best, really, through the eyes of those we love. Wasn't it Rossetti who said something like that somewhere? Beauty without the beloved is a sword through the heart." And yet, she's not a sad or pathetic character at all, on the contrary, she's dignified, and seems to accept life. Later she'll say "I've learned not to judge people. I've learned to take them as I find them, not as others find them. And most of all, I've learned to give complete and unquestioning faith to the people I love." She's wonderful.
- The futuristic 'Flying Wombat' car in the film, the prototype 'Phantom Corsair' in real life, is fantastic. What a fun touch this was.
- Several cute dog moments, including the little pupper tripping while trying to get up a couple of stairs.
Lowlights:
- A little too sugary and light, at least for my taste (though hey, it's a comedy). I never felt that this family of grifters was truly real, and I wish there had been at least an element of menace. There is a niceness to them even when they're scheming, and it doesn't feel like they're as underhanded as they should be. Part of that may be the likeability of the cast working against them (Gaynor is as angelic as ever), but I think it has more to do with the script (e.g. their unlikely honesty and forthrightness about their plans) and the tone the film took. I think the film's payoff would have been more powerful had it been otherwise.
- The love interests for Gaynor and Fairbanks, played by Richard Carlson and Paulette Goddard, are tepid and mostly wasted in the roles of consciences for the pair.
- The ending. I won't spoil it with a description or even an adjective, but will just say it felt kind of glued on there.