Oddly enough this was slated to be a Clara Bow vehicle (and she would have brought some much needed vivaciousness to the role) but after her breakdown, Mae Clarke was handed the prize part (she had just worked with James Whale in "Frankenstein"). The press once again predicted instant stardom for this superlative actress who just never quite clicked. I thought Mae and Lew Ayres made a terrific team in "Night World" but in this one I thought they were a little too world weary.
Ruth Robbin (Clarke) is a secretary to a suave divorce lawyer (John Halliday) and what she sees behind office doors is slowly turning her off men for life. In her apartment block it's the same, a fight between her neighbours in the morning results in a suicide attempt that night. Ruth saves the woman and calls an ambulance - which throws her together with a young doctor Myron (Lew Ayres) who is just as cynical about married life as she is.
Clarke and Ayres make a very cute couple but cute as a button Una Merkel is the reason to see this movie. She is so vibrant she dominates every scene as Alabama Betty, Ruth's dizzy flatmate, who is an A1 cook with a yen for the "gentleman nurse" (Andy Devine). It would have been a real treat to see her work side by side with Clara Bow. There were a lot of movies bought for Bow that she didn't get to do but I think she would have been super as Ruth and I could hear her saying a lot of those lines plus adding some much needed pathos and emotion to her part. She would have really held her own with Una and not let herself be subdued by Una's snappy personality.
Things take a dramatic turn when Ruth breaks things off with Myron and lets herself be talked into accepting the lease of a very nice apartment by her boss who lives in the same building. Wrong impressions are formed and Ruth goes back to living in a run down flat when an attack of appendicitis occurs - I just wonder who the doctor will be who will perform the emergency operation???
I thought this was an uneven comedy-drama, the print I saw was patchy which may have influenced my feelings. It would have been right up Clara's alley - it's a pity she wasn't able to do it.
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