VIRTUE (1932) on TCM 12/14

[Jezebel38]

This Columbia pre-code was making the rounds a couple years back at the revival houses, and I made the trip up to The Castro in SF just to see another of my favorite sleazy bad-boy Jack La Rue's performances. The stars are Carole Lombard and Pat O'Brien - love her, can't stand him, but I was more interested in the supporting cast. Carole doesn't show up much on TCM, so that may be enough for some of you to tune this in, but I really liked this snappy little (70 minutes) talkie, and it does have the best performance by Mayo Methot (3rd Mrs. Bogart) that I've ever seen.

[cinemalover]

Jezebel,
Thanks for the heads up. I'm not familiar with this one at all but I'll have to set the recorder to check it out. I always enjoy Carol and I think Pat O'Brien is under-rated due to all the type casting he received.

[pvitari]

The stars are Carole Lombard and Pat O'Brien - love her, can't stand him,

Get outta my head!

(Seriously... adore her, loathe him)

[intothenitrate]

Psyche!!!!

...and ditto

[feaito]

Today I watched this snappy Precoder and I loved it. I think that Carole and Pat O'Brien made an excellent team together....This Pat O'Brien has nothing to do with the Pat O'Brien of the late 1930s WB films. Here he's a tough, skeptical guy who falls head over heels for ex-streetwalker Lombard, who's superb! (Who said that she learned to act in 1934 after co-starring with John Barrymore in Twentieth Century?) She's one of those hardboiled, unforgettable, attractive, irresistible dames....so who can blame Pat for falling for her? It's a Columbia film, but it has the atmosphere of a WB tough-Pre Coder, with Ward Bond (very young) as Pat's pal and fellow taxi-driver. Pat who thinks he knows everything about dames....ends being the least knowledgeable!! Mayo Methot is excellent as another of those dames, with plenty of experience, with a heart of gold, who befriends Carole, but who has bad taste in men, falling for despicable gigolo Jack La Rue. Shirley Grey plays another of those dames, but she's not on-the-level! Sincere story and performances and realistic settings and plot. Robert Riskin's script helps a lot. A pleasant surprise. Would watch it again anytime. Lombard looks gorgeous!