Shopworn (1932)

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Shopworn was one of those films that was old fashioned immediately upon release. I doubt we'll see a remake of it. If it wasn't for Barbara Stanwyck no one would give it any notice.Stanwyck plays a poor but honest hash house waitress who attracts the attention of medical student Regis Toomey. Toomey is from proper society and he's tied rather neatly to mother Clara Blandick's apron strings. Blandick might well have been the inspiration for Jane Wyman's character in Falcon Crest, a troublesome meddler in people's lives who does it because she can. Nobody's cutting mom's apron strings on her darling boy.Really I'd have taken the money and run and had a clean conscience. I sure would have not wasted any more time on mama's boy Toomey. But Stanwyck doesn't and you have the rest of a soggy story.She was a great actress Barbara Stanwyck to make this drivel sound somewhat plausible. Zasu Pitts is strangely subdued as Stanwyck's best friend. Why the director kept her in check is a mystery, Pitts's eye fluttering antics might have added something desperately needed for this film.For Barbara Stanwyck fans only.

TCM recently featured Barbara Stanwyck as their star of the month, giving them an opportunity to show a good number of the numerous films she pumped out very early in her career with Warner Brothers and Columbia. It is fascinating to watch several movies with the same star immediately one after another, because this way you get to determine how good an actor really is: do they become tiresome, or do they have staying power?Barbara Stanwyck was the real thing. Thanks to her understated skills, I found myself appreciating her more and more, the more films of hers I watched. By herself she could pull even the weakest script into something worth watching. "Shopworn", a typical quicky, was one of the best from those early days. Her range of talent was immense, playing, within this one film, a poverty-stricken waif and a successful Broadway star, playing happy and sad, incensed and appreciative, kindly and outraged, always with a dignity and slight detachment that are wondrous to watch. Again, it is sometimes only by watching multiple films of hers in succession to these nuances start to really make themselves known.This is a strong film, with a very good cast. Regis Toomey is very likable as Stanwyck's love interest, and Clara Blandick and Oscar Apfel, as Toomey's mother and her consort, are deliciously manipulative and evil. Zasu Pitts adds a little mild comedy to the proceedings, providing a nice contrast.Look for some very brave and quite interesting camera angles and panning sequences; one particularly good shot was taken of Stanwyck reaching under her bed for a suitcase - the camera is at floor level, shooting the scene from under the bed! Very unique and perhaps a little experimental for the time.I highly recommend this fast-paced little film; and highly recommend seeking out early Barbara Stanwyck gems like this!

I'm surprised no one has reviewed this at all. Well, Barbara Stanwyck made a whole lot of movies, and this one is OK. It's got Zasu Pitts and the usual suspects. Barabara Stanwyck plays a flirty waitress in a college town who takes up with a young lad from an upper class family. Interesting to see how mores have changed. Lots of golly gee lines in this one, lots of upper class snobbery. Truly a different world. In this movie at least Barbara S. doesn't play a total trollop, like Mexicali Rose. In this one she becomes a successful actress, although on the riske side. It's not clear from the film if she went from burlesque to legit, but something along those lines. Interesting flick.

Stanwyck is angry, funny, and sweet in this movie. Also she's looks beautiful and doesn't wear much makeup. I never thought of her as a beauty before. The photography is great as well. The story is routine, but I saw it at a theater in San Franciso and the audience applauded enthusiastically afterwards. It was a surprise since all the reviews from the past said the movie was was below average. It had some great dialog, too. I don't think this movie is on TV video or DVD, but see it if you get a chance. Zasu Pitts acts like a human being and has a real role in this movie. At the end of the film, though, she becomes Stanwyck's assistant