My Sin (1931) User Reviews (13)

True love is the salvation of MY SIN

[melvelvit-1 · 7/10 · 19 October 2006]

On a visit to Panama, Roger Metcalfe (Harry Davenport), the president of Metcalfe Oil, is given a tour of the local hot-spots by an employee permanently stationed there. Metcalfe finds the semi-tropics "exotic", but is told that the heat and monotony can make people "come apart". Just then, "Exhibit A" walks into the cantina. Dick Grady (Frederic March), once a Harvard football star and lawyer ten years before, is now a derelict. The female of the species is the "hostess" of the cantina, an American named Carlotta (Tallulah Bankhead). When she's introduced to Metcalfe she says she can't shake hands as both of hers are full of "the only things that matter": a wad of bills, a cigarette and a drink. Later that night, Carlotta shoots her pimp and is charged with murder. When no reputable lawyer is willing to represent her, Grady sobers up, takes the case and gets her acquitted. Metcalfe, impressed with Grady's performance, offers him a job while Carlotta, shunned by the women of the town and evicted from her apartment, tries to kill herself. Grady stops her just in time and suggests she only kill off the Carlotta in her. They decide to call her "Ann Trevor" and he stakes her $500 so she can make a new start in New York. Over time, Grady is transferred to Mexico and Ann becomes a successful Manhattan interior decorator. Grady realizes he's in love with Ann who is half-a-world away and being pursued by, and falling for, wealthy blue-blood Larry Gordon (Scott Kolk). In New York on business, Grady meets up with Ann and she's shocked when he tells her he loves her. Ann loves Larry and it's Grady's turn to be shocked when Ann tells him she has no intention of telling Larry of her past. One week before the wedding, at a dinner party with Larry and his socialite mother, Ann is introduced to Larry's uncle ...Roger Metcalfe! Will "Carlotta" be exposed? Can "Ann" brazen it out?? Can love truly conquer all???

Of Tallulah Bankhead's five starring roles during 1931-32, two were set below the equator, two played out in the concrete jungle of Manhattan and MY SIN is split between both. Bankhead's Pre-Code forte was the "woman's picture" with all it's romance, suffering and melodramatic angst. Not as sleek as Kay Francis or as chic as Constance Bennett, Tallulah still managed to make her own distinctive mark on the already overcrowded genre. Her allure can best be described as "shopworn chic" with the battered-but-not-defeated heart that goes with it. In MY SIN (Bankhead's third film for Paramount) her "look" and "niche" were still being refined. Bejewelled, be-furred and gowned by Travis Banton, with her hair slicked back during the Manhattan dinner party, Tallulah photographed better than she did in her two previous outings. Her make-up, all crimson lips and huge mascara-ed eyes, is reminiscent of Joan Crawford. She gets a chance to show off her svelte figure and gorgeous gams in satin and lace step-ins and an Art-Deco-design bathing suit. Her distinctive voice is showcased too, as she warbles a jazzy "scat" ditty called "Crazy Tom" while sitting on the bar in the cantina. Bankhead shone best when given a leading man who was capable of sharing acting honors with her and Frederic March fills the bill nicely. The plots of most of her films seem ripped from the then-current "True Confessions" pulp magazines and this one is no exception. Women could relate to the double standard that her character had to endure. There are some interesting ironies concerning the stigma attached to the fallen. When Grady sobers up, he's hailed and rewarded with a prestigious job with Metcalfe Oil. When Carlotta (as "Ann") turns over a new leaf she has to live in constant fear of being exposed. When Grady can't believe Ann isn't going to come clean with Larry before the wedding, she tells him that it was he himself who said to "kill off Carlotta" and make a new start without looking back. He tells her, "Yes...but I never thought THIS would happen!" Hmmm... There's a telling moment when Ann, torn as to whether or not to marry Larry, sees an organ-grinder in the street and gets a flashback to the Panama cantina. She decides she can never marry anyone. The "sin" in MY SIN is Bankhead's past AND it's cover-up. There's many romantic ups and downs and quite a few melodramatic (and suspenseful) moments where Tallulah gets a chance to reely emote. One standout is the killing of her pimp. Accident or murder? The audience hears the shots from outside Carlotta's window and can draw it's own conclusions. During her trial it comes out that Carlotta was once a college co-ed who the scoundrel pretended to marry so he could take her to South America and prostitute her. He seemed so thoroughly reprehensible that it doesn't really matter whether she intended to shoot him ...but even more shocking (in another standout scene) is the dinner party's reactions when Ann is slowly being exposed as Carlotta by Metcalfe. He tells Larry and his mother of a certain notorious woman who was tried for murder in Panama and the disgust and disdain they feel towards "a woman like that", no matter what her extenuating circumstances, gives audience sympathy to Ann. A man can triumph over a sordid past but never a woman. Only when Ann finally sees what was in front of her all along does she have the courage to go forward, marry the man she really loves and move right into the plush, hypocritical neighborhood of those who'd scorn her. MY SIN is one of the more intriguing films in the Pre-Code Bankhead canon. Hokey and predictable, with any number of outrageous co-incidences, it's still a lot of fun and highly recommended ...especially for Tallulah-heads.

In his spare time

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 25 August 2018]

Fans of director George Abbott and of Tallulah Bankhead should want to see My Sin which was shot at Paramount's Astoria Studios in New York and which George Abbott must have directed in his spare time when matinees of his Broadway work were not played. This is one of Paramount's efforts to make Tallulah Bankhead a film star. But they never quite succeeded.

Fredric March was Bankhead's male lead and both play down and outers living in the Panama Canal Zone. March a drunken and dissolute former attorney and Bankhead a dissolute cabaret singer kills a man who was robbing and beating on her. March gets her off and it's the first step toward rehabilitation for both of them.

This pre-code melodrama is way too old fashioned to be remade today. It creaked even in 1931. One thing I will say that the film does note, that woman have it rougher on the comeback trail than men. True today as well.

It helps to love Tallulah.

Tallulah's Sin

[EdgarST · 7/10 · 5 February 2017]

While collaborating for a catalog of international films that have something to do with Panama (including those that were partially or entirely set there, others that were filmed entirely or partially in Panama, or those in which the country is simply mentioned or shown for some relevant reason in the plot), I came across this 1931 film, made prior to the implementation of the Hays Code, and therefore having more freedom to tell a story of sexual corruption and decay, starring the controversial great actress Tallulah Bankhead. It did not take me long to locate the movie and to see what Tallulah's sin was. Based on Frederick J. Jackson's play "Her Past", a third of the story takes place in the capital city of the Republic of Panama. Tallulah is Carlotta, a singer- hostess in a most cheerful and lively bar that seems to be located on 12th Street of the Santa Ana neighborhood. Besieged by her ruffian husband, Carlotta kills the fool with two shots, is arrested and accused, but in her trial she is defended by Fredric March (at his most handsome), an American heavy-drinking lawyer, who wanders through the seedy joints of the outskirts of Panama City, but manages to have her declared innocent. The verdict radically changes the perspective from which they both see their lives, and when she migrates to New York and he goes to Mexico positive changes occur. The rest of the film is a romantic melodrama with their past passing the bill, and class difference as a conflicting force. Not a big deal, but it was a Paramount A product made by George Abbott, a true New York theater legend who lived 108 years, in which he directed dozens of plays, won 11 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer prize, and wrote, among many others, «Pajama Game», «Damn Yankees!» and »A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.» He did not direct many films, concentrated more on his stage activity, which may explain why he frequently shot the scenes in long shots, with few close-ups, from a script that mainly consists of long dialog scenes. In short, «My Sin» is a curiosity, with a lively first section, evoking the Panama night life, enlivened by Cuban melodies by Gonzalo Roig, Nilo Meléndez and Ernesto Lecuona.

Cute romantic drama

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 17 July 2018]

Tallulah Bankhead and Fredric March get second chances in the drama My Sin. He's an alcoholic lawyer and she's a loose nightclub singer. When she gets arrested for murder, no one will defend her except Freddie, since his career can sink no lower. Then, when she's acquitted, they both vow to make fresh starts-she moves away and even takes a new name!

Tallulah Bankhead is a lovely, sultry actress, who preferred the stage to the screen. If you're lucky enough to find one of the few movies she made, you're in for a real treat. If you like Barbara Stanwyck, you'll like Tallu; they're both tough yet very emotional. She carries the spirit of this movie on her shoulders, and she effortlessly shifts from tough to confident to classy to romantic. She and Freddie make a darling pair, even when they're just leaning on each other in friendship, and this movie will probably make you wish they made more movies together! I liked this cute drama, and it's pretty short so you can pair it with another old flick for a double feature!

Melodrama reigns supreme

[JasparLamarCrabb · 7/10 · 28 December 2021]

Melodrama reigns supreme. Tallulah Bankhead is Carlotta, a nightclub "hostess" in Panama accused of killing a man...Fredric March is a drunken lawyer who defends her. Redemption ensues for both as they make their way (on different tracks) to New York, where Bankhead becomes a successful interior designer and March continues a career as a corporate lawyer. Coincidence throws the together several times. Bankhead is terrific in a pretty understated performance and March (always capable of hamminess) is pretty low key as well, at least when he's not drunk. George Abbott directed in New York (and takes his camera to the street a few times). The supporting cast includes Anne Sutherland, Scott Kolk (as Bankhead's persistent romantic persuer) and Harry Davenport, who nearly steals his scenes as a titan of industry who knows everyone's secrets. Cinematographer George Folsey teamed up with Bankhead and Abbot for the equally entertaining film THE CHEAT the same year.

Small World, Isn't It?

[boblipton · 6/10 · 16 May 2019]

Frederic March is another American professional wrecked on the rocks of booze and a foreign shore. He's a lawyer in Panama who has just hocked his fancy lawyer's desk so he can gamble and drink with 'hostess' Tallulah Bankhead, only she's not having any. Her husband appears, demands the money she has been saving and slaps her around. A gun goes off and she's on trial for her life, with a sobered-up March getting her off. Oil Company owner Harry Davenport likes March's moxie and hires him, and he does very well.

Miss Bankhead also moves away. She heads to New York and when the audience next sees her, she's an interior decorator. She gets engaged to rich stockbroker Scott Kolk. When they go to visit his mother to break the news, his uncle is there. Guess Who!

It's another of those movies which imply there are only about twenty or thirty people in the world, and I find the coincidences bizarre. Miss Bankhead, Mr. March and Mr Davenport are very good, which I found a bit surprising, because this was directed by George Abbot, taking a couple of years off from Broadway to see how the movies were. He didn't stray too far, since this was shot at what is now the Kaufman-Astoria Studio in Queens. After a dozen movies in total, it was back to Broadway, returning to the flickers direct three more movies -- filmed versions of his Broadway hits.

Abbott had first appeared on Broadway in a revival of Gilbert & Sullivan's YEOMAN OF THE GUARD in 1915. He last worked on the stage on a revival of DAMN YANKEES in 1994 and died the following year at the age of 107. Now that's a long run!

Doesn't Live Up to It's Title

[richardchatten · 4/10 · 10 September 2016]

In August 1928 - while currently the toast of the West End stage - the Home Office attempted to have Talluluh Bankhead deported from Britain on the grounds described in a confidential report by M15 to the Home Secretary "(a) that she is an extremely immoral woman and (b) that in consequence of her association with some Eton boys last term, the latter have had to leave Eton." The report quoted an informant that "she is both a Lesbian and immoral with men" and "bestows her favours 'generously' without payment", had indulged in "indecent and unnatural practices" and that "her 'circle' is a centre of vice patronised by at least one of the most prominent sodomites in London." Tallulah and early 30's Paramount should therefore have been made for each other, but 'My Sin' alas doesn't begin to live up to it's racy, pre-Code title; and both she and director George Abbott soon returned to Broadway.

Filmed at New York's Astoria Studios on Long Island, it starts promisingly enough with her playing Carlotta, singing in a bar in Panama and being pestered for money by a lowlife who had previously tricked her into a fake marriage. A gun goes off in her hotel room, and the creep is found shot dead. Although acquitted owing to the brilliant defense of a young lawyer played by a young Fredric March, Panama is now too hot for her and with her newly adopted whitebread name of Ann Trevor, accompanied with an appropriate new highfalutin accent, her life is now open to a successful new career as an interior designer in New York.

'Ann' is disappointingly bloodless compared to the worldly Carlotta we originally met in Panama, and the remainder of the film plods along until about twenty minutes from the end when - now engaged to a wealthy young blueblood - she encounters a former acquaintance who recognises her as 'Carlotta'. The awkward dinner party that follows is a treat worthy of Hitchcock; enhanced by the fact that it's the one time in the movie that Bankhead looks really glamorous: her hair slicked back and wearing one of those backless early thirties spray-on dresses. But we've known all along that she's going to end up with March in the end, so the film finally stops wasting our time and surrenders to the inevitable.

The presence of an uncredited Eric Blore in the opening sequence bodes well (as does the presence of a young Joseph Calleia), but the film falls disappointingly short of the wit and grit the title and period might have led one to anticipate. Abbott's lacklustre direction fails, for example, to capitalise on Broadway actress Lily Cahill - making an extremely rare film appearance - who is robust and engaging as Ann's cynical workplace buddy; but doesn't get a single close-up. It's interesting though to see a substantially younger-than-usual Harry Davenport as the ghost from Ann's past who reappears to haunt her.

Two people help each other climb from the abyss

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 26 December 2014]

Fredric March plays Dick Grady, an American attorney in Panama who has become a hopeless alcoholic despite efforts by a local attorney to give him a job and help him recover. Eventually he has to fire Dick because all he wants to do is drink. In a separate story, Tallulah Bankhead plays Carlotta, a nightclub performer. One night a man she apparently knows barges into her rented room and demands money, there is a struggle, and a gun goes off with the man dead. Carlotta is charged with murder although she claims the gun went off accidentally. No other attorney will touch her case because they don't want the publicity of being involved in such a sordid affair. However, Dick Grady has nothing to lose. The challenge is just what he needs to clean up and get sober.

Dick wins Carlotta's freedom, but only after he reveals her whole sordid story in open court- that Carlotta was from the Midwest, she thought she was marrying the man she killed but it turned out the marriage was not legal, thus being what in those days was considered "damaged goods" she could not return to her family and was brought down to debauchery by her common-law husband until the struggle for the gun that accidentally went off and killed the blackguard that ruined her. So with her whole story revealed, she gains her freedom but loses her job, her landlady kicks her out, and she is just about to swallow poison when Dick rushes in and stops her. He tells her she needs to "kill" Carlotta once and for all, take a new name, and start over back in America. Dick has impressed a local lawyer so much with his handling of Carlotta's case that he now has a job, and he stakes her the money she needs to get a fresh start.

Time passes, Carlotta becomes a well known decorator in New York, and is about to marry into a prominent family. This intersects with the now successful Dick paying a visit to New York and running into her. Carlotta - now Ann Trevor - tells Dick she has never told her fiancé about her past and never intends to do so. Unfortunately for Ann, while at her fiancé's house, she runs into an old family friend of her fiancé's family, Roger Metcalf, who just happened to be present at her murder trial in Panama. She claims she is not Carlotta of Panama, so Roger dials up Dick and asks him to come over to identify her. Will he lie for her? Will she tell the truth anyways? The fly in the ointment here is that Dick realized before he ever came to New York that he loved Ann, so this complicates his possible action. What will he do? Watch and find out.

I think the title "My Sin" says it all. The film considers Carlotta to be the sinner even though her initial naiveté when she met her "husband" was her downfall in the first place. There is a well done scene when Carlotta/Ann is in New York with her hearing a tune that she used to sing in Panama being played by an organ grinder on the street. She looks out the window and sees her past actions overlaid with the view of the organ grinder on the street. Dick, on the other hand, fell apart in Panama just because he wanted to, and despite good jobs that would have allowed him to pick up the pieces. Yet he is allowed to just sober up and fly right and nobody ever questions his past because A. his "sin" involved alcohol not sex and because B. he is a man.

This film was very well acted by the entire cast. I'd recommend it if it ever comes your way.

Left Hanging

[view_and_review · 6/10 · 3 August 2022]

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the last six minutes of this film, which really sucks. I liked what I saw and I'm very interested to know how it concluded.

Of interest to me was the eventual relationship between Richard 'Dick' Grady (Fredric March) and Carlotta aka Ann Trevor (Tallulah Bankhead). Dick Grady cleaned himself up enough to represent Carlotta in a murder trial in Panama, which is how they met, but then they went their separate ways.

Carlotta was a woman of the night who killed a man in self-defense. We never see the exchange, but we do see the abuse she was taking up until the homicide. She said the gun went off in a struggle, and whether it did or not, it was clear she had to kill the man to protect herself.

Dick was the only lawyer who would defend her. All the other qualified lawyers believed her case was a loser. Dick, who was a drunkard, had nothing to lose by defending her and, furthermore, needed money. He sobered up and defended her admirably, to the point she was acquitted and he landed himself a good job.

Carlotta ceremoniously changed her name to Ann Trevor then moved to New York to start over. Carlotta was now dead and a new woman was in her stead. What she didn't know is that Dick was in love with her. So, when she began her new life, she also accepted a marriage proposal from Larry Gordon (Scott Kolk), a wealthy New Yorker who was crazy about her.

That only became a problem when Dick came to town and professed his love for her and asked her if she had told Larry about her past. When she said no, it set up for an emotional dilemma.

A.) Tell my fiance about my past and potentially lose him.

B.) Keep it a secret because that part of my life is over and I'm a different person.

I got to the part where Ann told Larry about her past and the movie froze right there never to continue. I searched and searched for another source of the movie to no avail. I would even pay to see the last six minutes. I'm not nuts about the movie, but I hate that I invested so much time and interest in it without being able to see its conclusion.

Free on YouTube.

There's no dame like a shady dame with a past.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 11 April 2014]

Murder in Panama sets a woman acquitted of the crime on a desperate search for respectability, and this means changing her identity and getting a prestigious job as an interior decorator so she can enter society the right way. When that shady dame is none other than Tallulah Bankhead, the chances of her succeeding is extremely rare. Going from the bottom of the heap to the well-dressed social climber with a heart of gold, Tallulah bares all the emotions that has made her a legend, and her husky voice adds to that.

Unfortunately, on screen as a young woman, Tallulah never seemed at home, her casa being the stage. She would have to obtain that legendary reputation through years of good and bad publicity, finally capturing her magic on-screen more than a decade later in "Lifeboat". Her early film talkies only toss her into the category of being a rival to the more exotic Dietrich, no matter how sincere her performance is.

Fredric March serves as window dressing to the unforgettable Tallulah as her attorney in Panama who helped her to alter her identity. Harry Davenport is excellent as another attorney who recognizes her immediately behind her silks and sequins when she ironically becomes engaged to his nephew. Stagily directed by Broadway legend George Abbott, this only has a few of those pre-code moments that made the "sinning woman" films of this era so much fun. Without Tallulah in it, I'm afraid I'd have to dismiss this as standard early talkie melodrama.

Two folks hit rock bottom and then reinvent themselves.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 12 December 2022]

The story begins in Panama. Carlotta (Tallulah Bankhead) ends up shooting a man who broke into her room and attacked her. While this was entirely justified, Carlotta is a woman with a past...a 'fallen woman'. Because of this, most lawyers won't defend her. Eventually, an alcoholic lawyer, Dick (Frederic March), agrees to defend her and manages to get an acquittal. Following the trial, both Dick and Carlotta realize it's an opportunity for both of them to begin new and productive lives...to reinvent themselves in a better way. Dick gives her some money to book passage to the States while he seriously begins working as a sober attorney.

Some time passes. Carlotta has renamed herself 'Ann' and she's a very successful interior decorator. She also has a rich man who has fallen for her and his mother seems happy with the engagement. But what about her past? And, what if the fiance discovers who she used to be?

I liked this film. While it has a very simple plot, it makes a nice point about redemption and features several really nice performances. A very nice film.

No, you haven't seen this before - it's just similar to the last 1931 film you watched.

[1930s_Time_Machine · 5/10 · 6 March 2024]

It seems to be accepted as fact (and faithfully copied and pasted with the exact same wording on countless reviews) that Tallulah Bankhead made two good films in the 1930s - DEVIL IN THE DEEP and FAITHLESS and four terrible pictures where she over-acts, is too theatrical and lacks a natural screen presence. That so many people have simply copied others' comments and opinions winds me up - so I watched this and was pleasantly surprised.

Just to say that I agree that DEVIL IN THE DEEP and FAITHLESS are good films and that Tallulah Bankhead was great in them. Was she a stage actress who couldn't adapt to pictures? No, not at all. I think this myth, this lie, originates from Paramount's desire to claw itself out of the financial nightmare it found itself in in 1931. Someone said: "Let's get the biggest star from the theatre, put her in a couple of our pictures and we'll make millions!" Well, they got theatre's biggest star, put her in a couple of pictures but found that they were no better ....but importantly, no worse than the rest of what they were churning out. In those first pictures she wasn't the instant perfect match for the movies like Joan Blondell or Barbara Stanwyck but seriously - one of Paramount's biggest stars was Kay Francis for goodness sake! Nancy Carroll wasn't much better in her early days and over at MGM, Norma Shearer was considered a great actress simply by gazing wistfully in the distance every fifteen seconds. She's not quite got the skill she showed in the two later films in this but she's absolutely fine and actually better than most of her contemporaries. Fredric March is also fine, the direction is fine and considering it's from 1931 it looks extremely professionally made.

All that aside, it is however not an especially original story - even from 1931. Every second Tuesday of each month one of the studios (I think they took it in turn) was contracted by law to make a film about a girl from the wrong side of the tracks falling in love with a boy from a stuffy well to do family who would subsequently make her life hell. The slight twist in this is that our girl gets into a spot of bother so has to change her identity. For us the audience, that's not the most entertaining decision because without wanting to disrespect interior designers out there, her first life as a wanton, boozy, high-class prostitute is somewhat more interesting than her second persona as an interior designer. But she's great in both and this film really does keep your attention.

So ignore all the copy and paste negative reviews about this but also don't expect anything too wonderful. It is what it is: a well-acted, well-produced routine 1931 melodrama.

There is always a skeleton in the closet

[AAdaSC · 5/10 · 23 June 2019]

Poor Tallulah Bankhead (Carlotta). In this film she ended up in Panama working as a prostitute - smoking, drinking, singing and generally having a great time. However, her pimp husband Joseph Calleia ruins it all by demanding her money and one day he is no more. Bang! Bankhead goes on trial for his murder but gets off thanks to drunken lawyer Fredric March (Dick). Both these character's lives are turned around after this incident. It is obvious that they belong together yet they go their separate ways and become successful in their own right - she as an interior decorator and he as a lawyer. Rich, snooty Scott Kalk (Larry) becomes Tallulah's love interest but will her past come back to haunt her? When wealthy oil tycoon Harry Davenport (Roger) shows up as one of Kalk's relatives, it looks like things aren't going to work out. Tallulah reminds him of a girl involved in a murder trial in Panama some years ago...

Well, it's a pretty stupid storyline in which we are given painfully contrived scenarios. We know what the outcome will be and we just wait for the romance to pan out and the right two characters to pair off with each other. There is nothing very interesting about the film once it moves away from the Panama setting. Tallulah is good in the lead - a sort of Bette Davis character before Davis was around. She entered film so that she could sleep with Gary Cooper, so her character at the beginning of the film is what she was actually like. She got her way with Cooper, by the way.