The Easiest Way (1931)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Since having had a fun time watching Otto Preminger's daring 1953 movie The Moon Is Blue a while ago,I decided to search around on Amazon UK for any titles that had come out on the Warner Archives DVD label,which would give me a chance to take a look at Robert Montgomery for the first time.The plot:Annoyed about hearing her family constantly screaming at each other,Laura Murdock leaves her mum,dad and sisters behind in their tiny house to continue their arguments,whilst she desperately rushes to get to work on time.Quickly saying hello to her longtime crush Jack Madison as she rushes down the street,Murdock reaches her work place, (a perfume counter in the city's leading shopping centre)without a moment to spare.Feeling relieved to have reached her workplace,Laura is soon left in a state of shock,when a male customer arrives to buy some perfume for his wife,and gives Murdock a card for a model agency,that he says Laura would be a "perfect fit" for.Despite having always felt that she did not have the traditional looks to be a model,Laura decides to pay the modelling agency a visit,who she finds out are currently holding interviews for new talent.Finding herself surrounded by beautiful women,Murdock begins to have serious doubts that she will be noticed in the slightest when her audition time arrives.Noticing Laura sitting on her own in the corner,a fellow would be model comes up to Murdock and tells Laura that even if she fails at her audition,there are still plenty of ways to make cash from modelling,with the main alt option that this fellow would be model tells Murdock about,being one that involves something called a "sugardaddy"…View on the film:Before getting to the movie itself,I have to mention that whilst the print does have some specks of dirt,the DVD edition by Warner Archive's includes a fabulous,crisp soundtrack which allows every line of dialogue to be fully heard.Despite not filling her adaptation of Eugene Walter's 1909 play and the earlier French film adaptation Quand On est belle with the bouncing dialogue that appears to be ripe for picking in this movie,the screenplay by Edith Ellis instead places the transformation of Murdock's life right at the centre of the film.Keeping a careful balance of showing Laura's desire for money by making strong,underhanded suggestion of Murdock being an escort,Ellis makes sure that Murdock's smile is kept on the edge of her lips,so that it can be wiped away by a wonderfully bitter X- Mas day set harsh swipe.Breaking the movie out of its stage origins,director Jack Conway uses tracking shots to cleverly show the squeezed,claustrophobic nature of Murdock's family life,which along with fantastic performances from a smooth Clark Gabel in a supporting role,a very good Robert Montgomey as the well meaning,but native Jack Madison and Constance Bennett giving an excellent performance which show the mixed,dark emotions that Murdock is experiencing,which make this film one that is easy to enjoy.

"The Easiest Way" is an example of how Hollywood could deal with thorny subjects before the arrival of the Hays Code. We are presented with a situation in which a young, poor, but attractive young woman, could go up in the world using her natural charms in a realistic way. That was going to change in a few more years, as the Code would not let themes such as this one be dealt with the frankness prior to its arrival.The film, directed by Jack Conway, is curiosity piece by today's standards. The original work was made for the stage where there was an open mind about risky situations. We are presented with a poor family at the beginning of the story living in a crowded tenement. Laura, the beautiful young girl has no future of getting a rich man that will take her away from the poverty she is living. When a rich man enters her life, she sees the opportunity to escape her humble origins.The film deals in a realistic way with the subject of the illicit affair between Laura and Bill Brockton. When she falls for young Jack Madison, she believes that she must abandon the man that provides her comfort and easy life, until she finds herself penniless and must face with the fact that she has to go back to Bill, but loses Jack in the process. At the end, we watch her spying outside her married sister's suburban house which is the epitome of happiness.Constance Bennett makes an interesting Laura, but this is not her best role in the movies. Robert Montgomery is not seen enough in the film. Adolph Menjou makes a great Bill Brockton, the rich man who loves Laura in spite of the fact he knows Laura doesn't care for him. Clark Gable made a good impression as the brother-in-law critical to Laura. Marjorie Rambeau, Anita Page and Hedda Haper appear in minor roles.

Pre-code films are always fun to watch although they do seem primitive by today's standards. But as a measure of what Hollywood was able to do despite film censorship that had to downplay the more censorable aspects of the original story, this is pretty risqué for its time.Bennett, of course, was the Joan Crawford of her era, always playing a put upon heroine in sob stories that never had too much credibility. Here she pines for Robert Montgomery (singularly lacking in the big romantic star department, even then), while her disapproving brother-in-law (Clark Gable in an early role), frowns on her unorthodox behavior as a kept woman (Adolphe Menjou is the rich sugar daddy).Enjoyable only as a relic. Bennett does a passable job, no more, her false eyelashes and peroxide blonde hair making her look a little harsh under those kleig lights. But the most natural performance, as well as the most charisma, is clearly Clark Gable's. He comes across as a handsome newcomer who steals a scene by his mere presence. He has the final Christmas scene with Bennett, and it's a touching one.He would later become the big romantic male star that Robert Montgomery failed to develop into.

Wonderful story ruined by Hays Office has fabulous Constance Bennett escaping her New York slum upbringing by becoming a model and mistress to Adolphe Menjou. All is well until she runs into reporter Robert Montgomery in Colorado Springs (the Wild West in 1931). He's off to South America and asks Bennett to be good and wait for him. Well that lasts about a month. She runs out of money and goes back to Menjou. Better than it sounds until the hack ending. Solid performances by the stars, especially Bennett, and ably supported by Anita Page, Marjorie Rambeau, Clark Gable (his first MGM film), J. Farrell MacDonald, Clara Blandick, Jack Hanlon (as the sullen brother), and Hedda Hopper. The opening tenement scene is just wonderful. Gable is dynamic is his first big part. Rambeau is always terrific. Page is quite good in a supporting role. Menjou is slimy, but Constance Bennett is front and center and mesmerizing. She was a major star of her time--too bad she's mostly forgotten now.