Otto Kruger plays a waiter in a Moscow restaurant in 1914.He is able to make a lot of money by using tips received from grateful customers to speculate on the stock market.He keeps his teenage daughter in ignorance of his true occupation,making her believe that he is a wealthy businessman.He gets a guarantee from wealthy business man Walter Rilla, to help him buy the restaurant.However what he doesn't know is that Rilla is romancing his daughter.Matters come to a head when Rilla refuses to honour his promise and the daughter overhears her father's voice.The daughter finds true love with her music teacher and Kruger makes a fortune on the stock market.This is a rather strange film which rather lacks pace and entertainment.At barely over an hour it still seems rather long.
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malcolmgsw30 May 2015
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mark.waltz28 December 2021I have mixed feelings about character actor Otto Kruger. At times, he's terrific support, as he was to Jane Wyman in "Magnificent Obsession", but other times, he's a complete snake. In this film, he's a combination of both, devoted to daughter Mary McGuire almost obsessively, yet extremely ruthless as a head waiter who slaps one of his charges across the face for a simple spill, then acts like he's the head of an investment firm while he's on the phone. He's completely gentle with the aging nanny (Marie Wright), and a total gentlemen with piano player John Wood. But how would he feel if he knew that Wood was courting his daughter secretly, or even worse that his daughter was having clandestine meetings with his wealthy mentor Walter Rilla.
This is certainly a glamorous film to look at, filled with great art deco sets and obviously extremely expensive. No quota British quickie this one. But there's not really a plot, only Kruger as a character study, and what a character he is. You expect something to happen with either one of the men interested in his daughter, something violent which never happens. This isn't one of those possessive father films where the father carries around a gun just in case, but Kruger's character is definitely a neurotic, at least when it comes to his daughter. Maguire certainly is lovely, but her character isn't really consistent. This is a mixed bag of good things and empty moments, ultimately becoming one of those films that you wish had just tried to be a little more daring.