Post by rmichaelpyle on May 18, 2009 13:01:41 GMT -6
Watched "The Virtuous Sin" (1930) with Walter Huston and Kay Francis. This is certainly pre-code; and even if it weren't, they don't make 'em like this anymore. It's a very fine film, too. Woman marries a man. Man, played by Kenneth MacKenna (Humphrey Bogart's best friend in these early days) - is a research medical scientist in Russia just before WWI. WWI occurs. Man gets taken into the army. Calls the general down. Gets courtmarshalled. Is to be shot at some time in the future. Wife - Kay Francis, of course - goes to general - Walter Huston, of course - and asks a reprieve. Well, I won't give away the plot except to say that she really does indeed fall in love with the general in the end. When the end comes - rather abruptly - the resolution is not at all what you might envision. I'll leave it at that. But, believe me, the ending would have been totally different four years later!! Nevertheless, it's a very fine film. Never heard of it before, although I thought I'd seen it. Interestingly enough, Kay Francis made a film in 1934 with Leslie Howard called "British Agent" which has many similarities, although the plot is not the same. Still, it had enough similarity that I wondered if this film had influenced the other or Francis' desire to make the other. Anyway, a good film I would recommend. But - beware of the surprise ending. It could offend some sensibilities even today!