Prostitution, suicide, larceny, conniving idle rich--a gritty pre-Code item about two down-on-their-luck misfits who acquire some ill-gotten gains, make a suicide pact, and fall slowly, quite convincingly in love. Carroll, at the peak of her powers, is utterly natural and appealing as a not-that-nice girl, and she plays well against Louis Calhern, in an early rich-cad role. George Abbott was more of a stage than movie director, but he sure shows his acumen with actors here. Even Holmes, who was often too pretty and too whiny to be a convincing leading man, miscast as he is here, is convincing. There's some fine early-talkie camera-work and a surprisingly modern, almost existential gloom to the material. It doesn't cheat its way to an entirely happy ending, and it's one of the best showcases for Carroll's talent I've seen.
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marcslope21 March 2011
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kidboots21 July 2008The first scene is startling - two shadows walk past an old billboard advertising Wonder Bread - "sliced - just say Wonder cut". Mary is a street walker - her mannerisms show that she is new to it. Later on she explains that she was a dancer who lost her place and this is her first night on the job. Joe is a young man Mary first assumes to be drunk - then she notices blood in his hair. He has committed a robbery - he has $20,000 and wants to live life to the full, then when the money runs out he will shoot himself. Mary helps divert the police by putting him in bed and pretending he is a customer - even by pre-code standards it is pretty racy.
He asks Mary to go with him, and that's when it falls flat. It loses its grittiness when they start to live it up at a Palm Springs resort. Something went wrong with the story about 2 down and outers who grab their chance of happiness regardless of the price.
The establishing shot of the resort is great - firstly showing the orchestra and lastly the dance floor, where Mary (with a beautiful new look) and Joe are dancing. Nancy Carroll is absolutely gorgeous whether as a down on her luck dancer or among the idle rich. She has a few really good scenes - when she is trying to convince the police Joe is just a customer, when she is reminiscing about her life, telling Joe what she wants out of life and the sequence where she gambles her last $1,000, thinking it is her last night on earth.
Even though with 3 films together ("The Devil's Holiday", "Stolen Heaven" and "The Man I Killed") they were a team (sort of) Holmes didn't seem very comfortable in their scenes together. Nancy came up trumps but Holmes struggled and made the dialogue ("they'll never take me alive") sound trite which it was. May be he was out of his depth. Frederic March would have made a much more believable Joe. Nancy and Phillips certainly win the award as the most beautiful couple in the movies. Louis Calhern does well as the cad that comes good.
Recommended. -
wes-connors13 July 2010Rain dampening business, streetwalking Nancy Carroll (as Mary) heads up to her New York apartment with what she believes is a handsome young drunk. Instead, Phillips Holmes (as Joe Bartlett) turns out to be a thief with a head wound. Correctly sensing Holmes is a soul-mate, Ms. Carroll covers for him when police search the apartment building. Agreeing they both have no real future, the pair decide to spend the $20,000 he has stolen, then commit suicide. They go to Palm Beach for their last hurrahs
There, love complicates matters
"Stolen Heaven" scores points for re-teaming Carroll and Holmes, so promising in "The Devil's Holiday (1930), and a good opening. But, it's downhill from there. As the madcap couple frolic in Florida, you begin to see some serious strains in the script. Co-stars Carroll and Holmes often appear directionless and/or under-rehearsed but blocked. The script, obviously not written for its stars, needed a revision. And, don't expect any reason on Earth for its main characters to be named "Mary" and "Joseph".
***** Stolen Heaven (2/21/31) George Abbott ~ Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, Louis Calhern, Edward Keane -
drednm20 May 2007Interesting pre-coder directed by famous stage director, George Abbott, and with several excellent scenes.
Nancy Carroll plays a hooker who gets followed by a young man through an ugly and shadowy city. She thinks he's drunk (Phillips Holmes) but is turns out he's been wounded in a robbery of a radio factory where he used to work. As the police swarm into the seedy tenement, she decides to help him and the two forms an uneasy alliance culminating in a suicide pact.
He's gotten $20,000 and they decide to go out on a high note, blowing all the money and then killing themselves. Both have been beaten down by life. They escape to Palm Springs where we catch up with them in a great shot that starts with a marimba band and slowly pulls back to reveal the lush resort filled with fashionable people. Then we spot the young couple on the dance floor, immaculately dressed and rubbing elbows with the rich. Louis Calhern plays a rich lech who's after Carroll.
But the cops track them down as they are about out of money. They must decide on their agreed-to suicides or to keep running or go back and pay for their "crimes." Calhern gets involved in the conclusion.
Carroll and Holmes are quite good even when they're overacting, just because the story is so surreal. The moral of the story seems to be that life is good as long as there is plenty of money. But is it? -
mark.waltz26 November 2020It's a definite fact that Phillips Holmes and Nancy Carroll are two of the best actors that only the really diehard classic movie fans have heard of. there are others who were forgotten up until TCM began broadcasting their films, but for some reason, outside a few films, these two are not well known. Their personalities in the films I have seen have withstood the test of time, and homes seems like he could have been successful in the 21st century as he was in the 1930's.
Having starred in the leading role in the original version of "A Place in the Sun" ("An American Tragedy", the same year as this), he is the personification of brooding desperation as a man who has robbed his employers and is planning on spending all of the money while on a luxurious excursion before committing suicide. He encounters prostitute Nancy Carroll who is equally desperate, and convinces her to join him. But while on their tropical john's, they fall in love, and Carol becomes determined to stop Holmes from going through with his plans.
While on vacation, they encounter the wealthy Louis Calhern who declares his love for Carroll and agrees to aid them. But is he friend or foe? this is a perfect example of why pre-code films have stood the test of time while many films made after the code seemed dated and silly. It really shows desperation of struggling people in the depression, and Holmes and Carroll really ignite a spark. Carroll, who appeared in several musicals, gets to show her dancing abilities here, and is really sensational. Their performances help make the implausibilities of the plot a bit more believable, and it is difficult to not root for them to somehow get away with their plans. -
view_and_review8 February 2024I've seen Nancy Carroll and Phillips Holmes together before in my favorite movie from 1932: "Broken Lullaby." After "Stolen Heaven" I can see that these two have that "it" when they're together.
In "Stolen Heaven" they play two characters on the wrong side of the law. Nancy plays Mary, a prostitute, while Phillips plays Joe Bartlett, a man wanted for a robbery. The two met by chance and made a pact: they'd live life to the fullest on Joe's stolen $20,000 then end it all. Their lives were both miserable, so they figured they'd go out on top.
They took a trip to, what I believe was Cuba. They spent money like there was no tomorrow and enjoyed every minute. While there Mary caught the eye of Steve Perry (Louis Calhern), a rich playboy. Even though Mary claimed to be married to Joe, Steve didn't care. "Solomon was married too," he quipped.
Steve, with all of his charm and money couldn't tear Mary away from Joe. They fell in love in the few days they were together which, as you could guess, changed Mary's mind about their pact. Joe was still going to go through with it even without Mary because all he had to look forward to was prison. Mary, if she so chose, could live a cushy life being a part of Steve's concubine. Either decision they made was going to be tough.
Free on Plex. -
AAdaSC24 March 2019Phillips Holmes (Joe) ends up at the apartment of stranger Nancy Carroll (Mary) after following her in a dazed condition. She is actually a street walker and he has just stolen $20k. He is injured and the two of them open up to one another and seem to have a connection. However, the police are not far behind and come calling at Nancy's apartment block to catch the thief. She shields Holmes and the two of them make a suicide pact. They will spend all the money together and then end it all.
The film starts well and the acting is fine. Louis Calhern (Steve) appears as a wealthy womaniser with an interest in Nancy and he has a nice transformation during the film - he starts out as a creep. There are some entertaining sections of dialogue and poignant moments in the film, eg, when Carroll tells Holmes that they have been invited to a party the following week to which Holmes replies that they won't be around. We deduce from this that the money has run out. Do they see it through? -
The opening sequence is incredible, starting with the shadows on torn billboards of the two protagonists in a seedy cityscape. She's a whore, and he, stumbling drunk, is following her to her room. Actually, she discovers when they get to her room that he's not stumbling drunk--a bullet had grazed his head and nearly knocked him out. There's no question, though, about her being a cheap whore, and the room a being whore's room. At one point, he looks around and says, "How'd I get here?" Her disgusted response: "The fairies brought you." He asks for a drink, and she gives him one: "One of the girls left this bottle here yesterday." There's a commotion in the hall. Detectives are searching the house for the man who just held up the payroll in the factory opposite. She tells the boy, "Quick, get off your clothes." He jumps into the bed and pretends a drunken sleep. The detective is looking for bigger fry and doesn't give her too hard a time for prostitution. She says he's been there for hours; she doesn't know anything about him. In these scenes, the acting, direction and writing are simple and direct. The two are shown as both cynical and naive; two lost souls. So far, superb! But then they decide to take his money, go on a spree, and when it's gone they'll commit suicide. Not superb. After the great opening sequence, the story becomes very sloppy, degenerating into primitive and unbelievable melodrama. At one point, for example, she asks how much money is left. Just $1,000, he says, only one day left. One day on $1,000 in 1931?? And Nancy Carroll unabashedly chews the scenery: "I don't want to die!" Hey, OK, so who's forcing you? But the film doesn't totally disintegrate. For example, the opening shot at a ritzy Havana hotel starts with a close-up of the band and gradually pulls back, tracking through the diners, all the way back for a long shot of the dance floor. When a stateside detective catches up with them, there are some lively plot twists, and Calhern, a wolf who has been after Nancy, winds up helping them when he sees that true love is bound to triumph. See this for the vital, gritty, pre-Code opening sequence; the rest is OK in a primitive way.
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Donaldwarren5630 April 2008pre code with surreal start, with a very depression era backdrop, streetwalker Mary, Nancy Carroll is cautiously walking (rolling her eyes in great 30s movie fashion), Behind her is a slightly discheveled Joe,Phil Holmes, thinking he is Drunk Mary drags him to her rundown flat and almost has to guide him up the stairs.. once inside Joe seems disorientated, Mary is now getting impatient he has made no pass, with a little pleading Mary pleads Kiss Me, stroking his beautiful Blonde hair, (Holmes not Carroll), she sees blood, cleaning him up they get in a deep conversation about morals, life and other things..A banging on the door brings to attention there was a robbery across the street at the factory, Mary quickly realizes her trick probably committed this crime and gives him a drink to ease the pain tells him to remove his clothes and get into bed, the cops search her room and are convinced joe has been there all day drunk and asleep.. after more deep conversation, joe offers Mary any or all of the 20 thous. he has stole to go off and start a new life- then when the money runs out they will do a double suicide, they are both so bitter on life, returning to this slum or prison is no longer acceptable, they are now deeply in love and it shows in there acting, Holmes and Carroll had great Chemistry together, arrive. in palm Beach they are the "it" Couple everyone is talking about, inc. very rich playboy Steve Louis Calhourn .. Married now they are Mr. & Mrs Bartlett, they attend party's Dances, beach romps and still so in love they now feel something is missing, they want to come clean, return this money (that is now gone), on the night they must decide, Suicide or Prison they party, Making a Deal with Steve - 20, thous is given to Mary who thinks in 5 min Steve won this money at roulette, Now Police arrive and Handcuff the beautiful couple, they escape again and make a run to Steves House to hide out, Steve, has them Go to the beach and wait for his Boat to run them to Cuba, Again they are caught, Declairing there devoted love and With Steves help, they will probably get a light sentence... Again, Movie Love over All, even in the over acted hysterics of Carroll and HOlmes this is a griping film for all pre code lovers....