I'm not saying there are any killer spoilers out there. It's just that this is an almost perfect example of a snappy pre-code movie with sex and violence (mostly hinted at), snappy dialogue, comedy, and drama all moving at lightning speed. So the less you know about it, the greater your enjoyment.
But if you must know, it's about two construction worker buddies, Gunner (John Gilbert) and Bucker (Robert Armstrong) and the woman who comes between them, Mary, a gal of easy virtue (Mae Clarke).
Kudos to the film's portrayal of rowdy blue-collar workers ribbing and playing practical jokes on one another, good-naturedly and not so good-naturedly, and to the excellent rear projection work making their high-girder work look convincing.
Gilbert, as you probably know by now, was not at all a squeaky-voiced ham who couldn't transition from silents to talkies, as some have portrayed him. In fact, he's very much in the mold of William Powell and expert in the same sort of fast-talking con man roles. Clarke seems to relish getting to play a tough cookie, an amoral gold digger, instead of her usual victim roles.
If you're still reading this, the gist of the plot is that Mary, one of Gunner's rotating cast of girl friends, becomes engaged to Bucker who, though no sap, is an easy mark for women, and Gunner, well aware of her past and present, tries to break it up without being too obvious about it.
In typical pre-code fashion there's no moralizing and everyone is basically out for whatever he or she can get, plus there's a little social commentary about Prohibition and the Depression. OK, that's enough. Go watch it. Only 66 minutes with, in pre-code fashion, more plot than today's 3-hour epics.
But if you must know, it's about two construction worker buddies, Gunner (John Gilbert) and Bucker (Robert Armstrong) and the woman who comes between them, Mary, a gal of easy virtue (Mae Clarke).
Kudos to the film's portrayal of rowdy blue-collar workers ribbing and playing practical jokes on one another, good-naturedly and not so good-naturedly, and to the excellent rear projection work making their high-girder work look convincing.
Gilbert, as you probably know by now, was not at all a squeaky-voiced ham who couldn't transition from silents to talkies, as some have portrayed him. In fact, he's very much in the mold of William Powell and expert in the same sort of fast-talking con man roles. Clarke seems to relish getting to play a tough cookie, an amoral gold digger, instead of her usual victim roles.
If you're still reading this, the gist of the plot is that Mary, one of Gunner's rotating cast of girl friends, becomes engaged to Bucker who, though no sap, is an easy mark for women, and Gunner, well aware of her past and present, tries to break it up without being too obvious about it.
In typical pre-code fashion there's no moralizing and everyone is basically out for whatever he or she can get, plus there's a little social commentary about Prohibition and the Depression. OK, that's enough. Go watch it. Only 66 minutes with, in pre-code fashion, more plot than today's 3-hour epics.