Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 9, 2009 4:55:59 GMT -6
Watched "Torch Singer" (1933) with Claudette Colbert last night. I've seen this a few times before, but not for some time. I watched it from the new release of it in the set "Universal Pre-Codes", a set interesting for the fact that NONE of them are Universal! Universal simply owns the lot now. "Torch Singer" was made at Paramount. Anyway, this one really shows how a budget that gets used up fast causes a ridiculously quick ending that nearly doesn't make sense! It's a pre-code in the real sense of the word: Colbert becomes pregnant, has a baby, the father is in China and doesn't know about the baby, neither is married, of course, etc. She moves in with another lady (Lyda Roberti) who has just had a baby similarly, and she stays there until Roberti loses her job and is forced to move out. Colbert now must give up the baby and make some kind of living. She becomes a torch singer, a famous one at that, and begins a romance with Ricardo Cortez. This goes on and on until David Manners shows up late in the film. He's the father of Colbert's baby. Now - - miracle of miracles - - he's also adopted HIS own baby in the interim. Of course, there's more to the story, with a radio program that helps Colbert find her baby and Manners and so forth - but, in the end all this happens and the film ends abruptly. What happened to Cortez?
Why was Lyda Roberti only in the film for two scenes? Why was David Manners not introduced until nearly the end? A botched job of editing, if you ask me. A botched job of supporting the finances obviously. This could have been a much, much better show than what finally ends up in the sprockets. It's certainly not bad. Nothing with Claudette Colbert is ever bad. She's wonderful. But - this show should have been much better.
Why was Lyda Roberti only in the film for two scenes? Why was David Manners not introduced until nearly the end? A botched job of editing, if you ask me. A botched job of supporting the finances obviously. This could have been a much, much better show than what finally ends up in the sprockets. It's certainly not bad. Nothing with Claudette Colbert is ever bad. She's wonderful. But - this show should have been much better. 
