I prefer the early George Brent. Or should I say, the pre-mustache George Brent. ;)
I always like that bit of Irish lilt to his voice. He couldn't hide the accent entirely, though he did a good job of it.
Last night I watched The Keyhole, which was Brent's first pairing with Kay Francis. It's a pre-Code from 1933, so the goings-on can be pretty sordid. Kay's slimy first husband is blackmailing her because he never filed the divorce papers, so her current marriage to a bazillionaire is fraudulent. Kay has already paid hubby no. one a lot of money but he keeps asking for more. Rich hubby knows something is going on, so he hires private detective George Brent to follow her. Brent's speciality is spying on married women and sometimes he produces the needed evidence himself by sleeping with the ladies. (!) (In fact, that's how we meet him -- in a rent-by-the-hour hotel where he's just "proved" his latest case.) But when he's hired to follow Kay, it turns into a Vertigo precursor and he finds himself falling in love. Well, who wouldn't, given how gorgeous Kay looks in her series of stunning Orry-Kelly gowns, and the enormous sets built to set her off.
It's not the snappiest pre-Code around but it has its moments. ;)
Comic relief provided by Allen Jenkins as Brent's sidekick and Glenda Farrell as the grifter who ropes him (Jenkins) in. ;)
This was a big hit for Kay Francis and helped seal her position as queen of the Warners lot.
Re:: AnnD !
