Illicit

In this house we stan Stanwyck

Joan Blondell x Barbara Stanwyck xoxoxo

Pre-code movies loved to portray marriage as some sort of prison, and this is one of the more eloquent cases for it, thanks to better-than-average writing and the skill of the two able leads. Stanwyck's "remarkable modernism", as Pauline Kael referred to it, is on full display here, and James Rennie keeps up with her admirably, creating what passes for chemistry. Joan Blondell is fun as her sidekick, and Stanwyck and Natalie Moorhead have a long, involved conversation about Dick. Worthwhile.

One of MANY "modern marriage/relationship" films made during the precode era. You know the idea, people being lovers and not married, and when married still date other people. This period was flooded with them. And this one is about average, but a good display from a young Barbara Stanwyck doing an impressive job with a rather lack luster script.