It's Beulah Bondi here, or at least her haridan character, who needs to get the good dunking, or given a reminder of the Book of James on the evils of "the tongue". she is the leader of a puritanical group of women who take it upon themselves to handle sinner Ida Lupino whom they believe is a fallen woman. She's actually just a bit independent-minded, having grown up with an actress mother (Marjorie Rambeau) who would like nothing more than her daughter to actually be a lady even though there are no lady like qualities in the crude mother. Lupino runs away from school to visit her mother and is promptly sent to visit her aunt (Kathleen Howard) who lives in this puritanical town and wants nothing to do with the social scene.
Young reporter Richard Arlen reports a story on Lupino which he does not get proof of and this sets the ladies tongues wagging, ultimately leading the envious Bondi to have Lupino dunked in a puritanical ritual to cleanse her of her "sins". Bondi's husband (Ralph Remley) handles his wife, while the arrival of Rambeau stirs up more issues as she handles the press. There's also Junior Durkin as Bondi's son, flirting with Lupino in a way that just makes his mother's dated ideas drive her even more crazy.
I've never seen a film like this, even though there have been many films that deal with the evils of gossip. The dunking seen itself is not something to laugh at, but the follow-up where Bondi gets her just desserts certainly is. At this time, the veteran character actress was known for her screen gossips, having played a really hideous one in the earlier "Street Scene". No wonder the actress went out of her way to lighten her image to play loving mothers and even wear aged makeup to play feisty senior citizens a good 30 years older than herself.
Young Lupino, then arising starlet who would not hit complete screen fame until the end of the decade, gets to show some of the moxy that she would later utilize in those tough talking Warner Brothers film noir. Arlen, with his high-pitched voice, comes off a bit odd in the leading romantic role as a big-city reporter slumming It In the sticks. Rambeau makes the most of a basically unsympathetic role, making her quite formidable to watch even though she is playing a rather trashy and horrid character. I'm not sure that this actually can be called a pre-code comedy as the subjects it deals with are not necessarily scandalous and there is nothing shocking outside of the unfortunate violent act committed in the name of religion. It's still a curiosity worth searching out because it certainly ranks as one of the most unique 1930's films I've ever seen.
Young reporter Richard Arlen reports a story on Lupino which he does not get proof of and this sets the ladies tongues wagging, ultimately leading the envious Bondi to have Lupino dunked in a puritanical ritual to cleanse her of her "sins". Bondi's husband (Ralph Remley) handles his wife, while the arrival of Rambeau stirs up more issues as she handles the press. There's also Junior Durkin as Bondi's son, flirting with Lupino in a way that just makes his mother's dated ideas drive her even more crazy.
I've never seen a film like this, even though there have been many films that deal with the evils of gossip. The dunking seen itself is not something to laugh at, but the follow-up where Bondi gets her just desserts certainly is. At this time, the veteran character actress was known for her screen gossips, having played a really hideous one in the earlier "Street Scene". No wonder the actress went out of her way to lighten her image to play loving mothers and even wear aged makeup to play feisty senior citizens a good 30 years older than herself.
Young Lupino, then arising starlet who would not hit complete screen fame until the end of the decade, gets to show some of the moxy that she would later utilize in those tough talking Warner Brothers film noir. Arlen, with his high-pitched voice, comes off a bit odd in the leading romantic role as a big-city reporter slumming It In the sticks. Rambeau makes the most of a basically unsympathetic role, making her quite formidable to watch even though she is playing a rather trashy and horrid character. I'm not sure that this actually can be called a pre-code comedy as the subjects it deals with are not necessarily scandalous and there is nothing shocking outside of the unfortunate violent act committed in the name of religion. It's still a curiosity worth searching out because it certainly ranks as one of the most unique 1930's films I've ever seen.