An opening image shows a diamond ring next to the title, so one guesses the lead characters won't remain unmarried by the end of the story. This was Helen Twelvetrees' last motion picture at the age of 30. She had become famous a decade earlier as a precode tragedienne, deftly combining pathos and respectability. Especially when she was playing gals of ill-repute in search of a better life.
Here she is helped by her sassy line deliveries as a world weary nightclub hostess involved with a third-rate boxer (Buck Jones) who's seen better days in and out of the ring. Incidentally, Jones was Twelvetress' leading man in her last three films; and at this point, they are most believable as a romantic couple plagued by a series of personal and financial conflicts.
Robert Armstrong plays a gambler who knows both of them and frequents the club. When a wager Armstrong placed on Jones' latest fight goes sour, because Jones got knocked out, Jones feels obligated to help Armstrong. But Twelvetrees won't loan Armstrong a dime, despite Jones' best efforts. Armstrong is in badly need of cash for an undisclosed reason (to pay for his son's private school education). Out of desperation, he robs the safe at the club during a chaotic police raid.
Armstrong is shot, but Jones makes it look like Armstrong committed suicide instead of going down as a crook. Since Twelvetress' club has been closed by the law, she and Jones decide to get out of town for awhile. They learn about a home Armstrong had in the country, and head there. But they are not counting on this decision to change the rest of their lives.
In the scenes that follow, the couple is introduced to Armstrong's 12 year old son. The kid is played by 14 year-old Donald O'Connor who already had a few feature films to his credit plus considerable experience on the vaudeville circuit.
Part of the plot's irony is that Twelvetrees and Jones feel a sense of responsibility in helping raise the lad; and they become his foster parents though they are not married. Somehow the writers get around the production code, as it's pretty obvious that Twelvetrees and Jones are having intimate relations in the house while parenting O'Connor. Of course, the focus isn't on whether they share a bedroom or not. Instead, the story at its heart is one of sentiment. We see Twelvetrees and Jones grow as people, becoming an unexpected picture of domestic happiness despite not officially being hitched.
There's an excellent scene when Twelvetrees prods Jones to finally tell O'Connor that his dad isn't away on an extended trip, but has in fact died. Jones beats around the bush, talks sports, but then must get to the point. The emoting from young O'Connor is just perfect; and Jones, who typically did better in westerns and action flicks, really nails this moment on screen.
A later subplot involves the kid, now in college and aged to 21 (played by John Hartley), becoming an athletic star. He wows spectators on the football field, but gets it into his head that he'd like to be a boxer. He has no idea this was Jones' former occupation. Jones knows that the boy has the smarts to live a more respectable life, and he tries to quash any boxing ambitions. There is a great scene where Jones attempts to wallop the boy, to show him he doesn't have the stuff in him to be a real fighter.
Meanwhile Twelvetrees and Jones have bumped into another ex-fighter (Buster Crabbe) they used to know. Crabbe makes derogatory remarks about Twelvetrees looking old before her time. The way Twelvetrees bursts into tears at the drop of a hat, and a subsequent scene in which she studies herself in a mirror with her hair down, is reminiscent of her best precodes.
The plot resolves with Twelvetrees and Jones grateful for the choices they have made in life. Despite the unusual situation of their long-term relationship, they finally tie the knot.
In real life, Twelvetrees was just coming off her second failed marriage. She had a son born in 1932 that she gave to relatives to raise while continuing her career as a film and stage actress. She would walk away from Hollywood after completing this starring role. She never had supporting roles in film or tried television. In later years she was content with her life as the wife of a military official, traveling the world with her husband.
The movies were poorer after Twelvetrees left the biz. Gone was that beautiful Brooklyn gal whose fragile psyche conveyed the deepest sorrows with ease and made us glad when she found happiness, or at least some kind of peace.
