Trailer—Ladies of Leisure

Ladies of Leisure_720p(480P)

source: Ladies of Leisure

One reviewer here complimented the whole cast of "Ladies of Leisure." Well, I must respectfully disagree. I found Ralph Graves' performance to be rather wooden. Graves had been in films since he was teenager just after Word Ware I had ended, but clearly he found it difficult to deliver a natural performance in the sound medium. I do recommend the film for historical purposes if nothing else. It was released in the Spring of 1930 and may have been filmed in late 1929. That would definitely qualify "Ladies of Leisure" as a member of that first generation of sound films dating from 1928 to 1930. One thing I wondered about is whether a boom mic was used. I think someone else opined that hidden mics, placed here and there around the set were still used in this production. I do know from my reading that sound film technology was making progress just about on a week by week basis in those early days.

Frank Capra produced, co-wrote, and directed this Barbara Stanwyck performance, her fourth film. It's a star-making performance for her as her character runs the gamut of emotions from A to Z. She plays a mistress with a heart of gold for all it's worth. Ralph Graves plays a rich boy/artist who runs into Stanwyck one night when both are escaping glitzy parties. It's revealed Stanwyck and her room mate, Marie Prevost, are probably not the type of girl you bring home to mother. Lowell Sherman is the would be sugar daddy Stanwyck keeps in the wings while working on Graves. In the hands of a lesser director, Ladies Of Leisure would have become simply another in a long line of boy meets girl from the wrong side of the tracks melodramas. Frank Capra provides just the right touches and fosters a winning Stanwyck performance that elevates the picture above most of its kind. Almost every Capra film focused on romance, like this one, offers an enchantingly unique experience regarding how its counterparts fall in love. This film is no exception. Stanwyck spends the night with Graves one rainy night, and Graves puts her up in his artist's studio while he goes to his bedroom. A girl with Stanwyck's background sees it as refreshing because she's used to guys making passes every chance they get. Watching Stanwyck try to get breakfast ready the next morning will break your heart as she watches Graves go about his business without readily acknowledging her efforts or falling for her as she wants. Graves' parents are played by George Fawcett and Nance O'Neil who are simply trying to look out for what's best for their son's future in rejecting the romance. O'Neil and Stanwyck have a terrific scene together near the end as Stanwyck returns to her rented room with Marie Prevost when O'Neil arrives to have it out with her. Both women display the nuances of mixed emotions in trying to see the opposite point of view. Capra provides nice touches like stop/start motion transitions fixated on the same objects and then pulling the camera back to reveal a different location. Another trademark in Capra's films is the use of motifs repeated throughout the film like the references to Arizona and the stars. Jo Swerling adapted the film based on the play by David Belasco and Milton Herbert Gropper. If one could yield some criticism of the film, aside from its creaky plot, it would be Ralph Graves' acting. Graves is simply a poor match for Stanwyck; there's not a lot of chemistry between them, and he doesn't have the acting chops compared to her. In a few years, like so many other actors and actresses of the silent era, Graves' acting would be reduced to smaller and smaller parts. This is only an inkling of what was to come from a Capra directed film. *** of 4 stars.

I'm contributing this mainly to comment on what most of the other reviews say that I disagree with: Ralph Graves was perfect in this role. Yes, he's wooden, but that's what works so perfectly with Barbara Stanwyck. Where it really matters is in their romantic scenes: first on his balcony, then at breakfast and particularly after his father leaves and they really get together for the first time. I'm not saying he's a good actor in general, but they had great chemistry in this film, and that's worth a lot. He's a realistic type of man, very focused and businesslike; some people think an artist couldn't be like that, but that's not true. It's frustrating to see everyone remarking on the clever performances of Marie Prevost and Lowell Sherman and denigrating Graves. The picture hangs together very well precisely because all the roles are ideally cast. Doubtless Stanwyck and Capra supply the magic. It's a film that's new to me, and I keep going back to it.

This early talkie (so early I understand there was a silent version shot simultaneously) introduced me to the actor Lowell Sherman. Sherman plays drunken cad/best friend to leading man Ralph Graves, who portrays a rich artist. Barbara Stanwyck plays a roaring twenties-esque party girl who ends up modeling for Graves. Stanwyck is excellent and captivating. This was early in her career, and it must've been clear that she was destined to become a star after this film came out. Ralph Graves, on the other hand, turns in one of the worst performances I've ever seen. Stiff, wooden, he almost sinks the picture. He doesn't connect emotionally with his own character or anyone else's. His career seemed to tank after this film. No surprise there. Lloyd Sherman plays your proto-typical cad, and he's the best thing in the movie. He's a scoundrel, overtly trying to get down Stanwyck's pants while still maintaining his charm. Though you're supposed to root against him, you kind of like this ne'er do well. He fully embodies the role, and as far as talkies are concerned, I'd say he invented the drunken cad, the inebriated sophisticate. Actors as disparate as William Powell (think Thin Man) to Dudley Moore (think Arthur) owe Sherman a debt of gratitude. Like Ralph Graves, Sherman is kind of forgotten today. It's not because, like Graves, he didn't have the goods to last and make his mark. It's because Sherman died a few years later, of pneumonia. At the time of his death, he was just starting to direct as well. If you love charming movie scoundrels, raise a glass in Mr. Sherman's honor. He would approve.

I suppose the phrase "Women of Leisure" means prostitutes. I didn't know this before I watched this film, and actually I didn't even look at the title until the movie was almost over. If there was some hint that the girls were prostitutes, it would have made a lot more sense that the man's family didn't want her. Or the fact that Barbara Stanwyk's character was 'burst into tears' in love after only three days with the guy, even though he treated her like hell. The room mate was great. Especially in the restaurant scene when she asked her date if she looked fat, then proceeded to tell the waiter to add gobs and gobs of oil. All in all, you gotta like this movie, and Barbara Stanwyk. How she can attempt suicide by jumping in the harbor and wake up with perfect hair, I'll never know.

Slow-moving, over-long hundred minutes that a few years ago would have been dubbed a "woman's" picture. Though directed by the legendary Frank Capra, too many scenes labor at getting the point across-- the overnight episode, the many scenes of Kay {Stanwyck} "pining" for her man. Frankly, I found myself hitting "fast forward" to eliminate some of the redundancies. Now, I'm not opposed to love stories; I'm just opposed to the needless stretching of a point, and this film has too many over-worked scenes. Too bad that the sparkling opening scene proves misleading. My guess is that movie makers in 1929 were still feeling their way through the new sound technology, even the talented Capra. Certainly, his later films show both the economy and pacing generally absent from this early effort. At least the young Stanwyck gets to show her acting chops as she runs the emotional gamut from great joy to deep sadness. It's quite a performance in an especially demanding role. The trouble is her co-star Ralph Graves has all the charm and appeal of dried cement. Next to Stanwyck, he's a deadening presence and makes drawn-out scenes seem endless. As a supposed artist, he's simply miscast. Unfortunately, he also sounds like one of those silent screen stars unable to deliver the new technology in convincing fashion. Too bad that the enlivening Prevost and the amusing Sherman don't have more scenes to boost the energy level. Nonetheless, there is one scene that almost redeems the rest. Mrs. Strong (Nance O'Neill) visits Kay to break off the disreputable Kay's engagement to her son Jerry (Graves). In an ace performance, Strong enters as a proud, assured woman of wealth and breeding, convinced that son Jerry is about to make a huge mistake marrying a floozie. However, as Kay's noble nature emerges under a common concern for Jerry's wellbeing, Mom begins to see past Kay's dubious reputation just as Jerry has. The emotional stages each moves through toward a mutual respect proves quite compelling. It's a marvelously written and performed sequence, full of nuance and conflicting emotion, and in my view the film's real centerpiece. Anyway, for those interested, the movie now stands mainly as an early look (before her teeth were fixed) at one of the screen's outstanding personalities.

Considering that movies only began to talk in 1928, this early sound film starring BARBARA STANWYCK as a girl of ill repute (she calls herself a party girl), and RALPH GRAVES as an artist who wants to use her as a model, is not bad at all. It's certainly one of the better jobs in sound recording for a film made in the early '30s. As usual with films of this period, there is almost no music on the soundtrack except for the moment when "The End" is flashed on the screen. In the TCM print I watched, the screen then fades to black while some "exit" music is played against a dark screen. Stanwyck is the prostitute with a heart of gold who finds a good man and doesn't want to let him go, even when his family objects to their union when he proposes marriage. She is convinced by the mother to give him up--but circumstances change after she makes a rash decision. Stanwyck is excellent at conveying the brassy qualities of the character, but then reveals the softer nature of the girl as she falls in love with the man who only wants to paint her portrait. The tenderness of the romance that develops is full of nuances that one wouldn't expect from a Frank Capra film. The sentimental ending is more in keeping with his usual style. RALPH GRAVES gives a quiet, assured performance as the man who finds that he does really love Stanwyck. LOWELL SHERMAN does his usual schtick as an inebriated friend who flounces around making wisecracks. MARIE PREVOST has some good moments as Stanwyck's roommate and NANCE O'NEIL does a good job as Grave's well-meaning mother. Stanwyck fans will appreciate her well modulated performance.