Five restored, classic pre-code films in one collection for under $27 on Blu-ray is fantastic! I highly recommend this Blu-ray set and for anyone who is passionate about classic Hollywood cinema.
© 2019 Lobster Films. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: RKO Classic Romances
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: Millie (1931), Kept Husbands (1931), The Lady Refuses (1931), The Woman Between (1931), Sin Takes a Holiday (1930)
DURATION: Millie (85 Minutes), Kept Husbands (76 Minutes), The Lady Refuses (72 Minutes), The Woman Between (73 Minutes), Sin Takes a Holiday
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: Black and White, 2.0 Stereo, English SDH Subtitles
COMPANY: Kino Classics
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2019
Millie:
Directed by John Francis Dillon
Based on the Novel by Donald Henderson Clarke
Adaptation by Charles Kenyon
Dialogue by Charles Kenyon, Ralphy Murray
Kept Husbands
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Written by Louis Sarecky
Adaptation by Forrest Halsey and Alfred Jackson
The Lady Refuses
Patton Oswalt as Jimmy Morris
Rob Zabrecky as Chester Holloway
Patrick Cooper as Gerry
“Sex Madness”
Directed by George Archainbaud
Written by Robert Milton and Guy Bolton
Screenplay by Wallace Smith
The Woman Between
Directed by Victor Schertzinger
Written by Irving Kaye Davis
Adaptation by Howard Estabrook
Kept Husbands
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Written by Louis Sarecky
Adaptation by Forrest Halsey and Alfred Jackson
Sin Takes a Holiday
Directed by Paul L. Stein
Screenplay by Horace Jackson
Story by Robert Milton and Dorothy Cairns
Featuring the following cast members:
Millie
Hellen Twelvetrees as Millie Blake Maitland
Lilyan Tashman as Helen Riley
Robert Ames as Tommy Rock
Joan Blondell as Angie Wicker
Anite Louise as Connie Maitland
Kept Husbands
Dorothy Mackaill as Dorothea “Dot” Parker Brunton
Joel McCrea as Richard “Dick” Brunton
Ned Sparks as Hugh Handready
Mary Carr as Mrs. Brunton
Clara Kimball Young as Mrs. Henrietta Post
The Lady Refuses
Betty Compson as June
John Darrow as Russell Courtney
Gilbert Emery as Sir Gerald Courtney
Margaret Livingston as Berthrine Waller
Ivan Lebedeff as Nikolai Rabinoff
The Woman Between
Lili Damita as Julie Whitcomb
Lester Vail as Victor Whitcomb
O.P. Heggie as John Whitcomb
Miriam Seegar as Doris Whitcomb
Anita Louise as Helen Weston
Ruth Weston as Mrs. Black
Lincoln Stedman as Buddy
Sin Takes a Holiday
Constance Bennett as Sylvia Brenner
Kenneth MacKenna as Gaylord Stanton
Basil Rathbone as Reggie Durant
Rita La Roy as Grace Lawrence
Louis John Bartels as Richards
John Roche as Sheridan
Kino Classics and Lobster Films are proud to present five Pre-Code love stories from RKO Radio Pictures in the RKO CLASSIC ROMANCES collection. Preserved by the Library of Congress and restored by Lobster Films, these are tearjerkers that will tug every last heartstring. Millie is a grand melodrama about a divorce e (Helen Twelvetrees) who climbs the ranks at a luxe hotel, and whose tattered romantic relationships drive her to a life of independence. Kept Husbands circles around a bet made by a steel magnate s impish daughter, played by Dorothy Mackaill. She guarantees that she will get a plant manager (Joel McCrea) to marry her within four weeks. She wins her bet, but gets all the class issues that come with it. The Lady Refuses is a frank Pre-Code melodrama about a poor woman on the verge of becoming a prostitute (Betty Compson), who is hired by an aristocrat to woo his son away from a gold-digger. The Woman Between is a risque romance in which Lili Damita unknowingly enters into an affair with her estranged stepson (Lester Vail). In Sin Takes a Holiday Constance Bennett plays a poor secretary in love with her boss a womanizing divorce attorney. He proposes a sham marriage to Bennett to keep his lovers at bay, giving her what she wants in exactly the wrong way.
Back in 1928, RKO Pictures, an American film production and distribution company was founded.
Known for creating musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and featured talent such as Katharine Hepburn, Robert Mitchup, Cary Grant and also the work of early low-budget horror films by Val Lewton.
While known for producing two famous films “King Kong” and “Citizen Kane” and co-productions such as “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Notorious”, RKO Pictures was a company which produced costly musicals which incorporated Technicolor sequences, but at the same time, that decision to create many Hollywood musicals, underperforming films, as well as acquiring theaters which left the company in financial bind.
But in 1930 and 1931, the film produced numerous pre-code films and now “RKO Classic Romances” was released by Kino Classics and features the restoration by Lobster Films (known for the restoration of many classic films).
The Blu-ray collection features the 1931 films “Millie”, “Kept Husbands”, “The Lady Refuses”, “The Woman Between” and the 1930 film, “She Takes a Holiday”.
VIDEO:
Each film presented in “RKO Classic Romances” has been restored and is presented in 1080p High Definition. For the most part, picture quality is very good in HD! Lobster Films did a magnificent job on the restoration of these films. Black levels are nice and deep, white and gray levels are also good. No sign of any major damage. The films look great in HD!
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“RKO Classic Romances” is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the most part, dialogue is clear through the front channels and no major problematic issues can be heard while listening to each film’s soundtrack.
Subtitles are in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“RKO Classic Romances” does not come with any special features.
As a fan of pre-code Hollywood films, I was quite surprised but also thrilled that Kino Lorber was releasing “RKO Classic Romances” featuring five classic pre-code films from RKO, but also thrilled when I heard French company Lobster Films was responsible for the restoration.
Lobster Films has not disappointed me one bit and each restoration work undertaken, I’ve been quite supportive of their work and also, knowing that all five films will be on Blu-ray, know that a few of these films were released individually by Lobster Films in France. So, classic Hollywood cinema fans should be happy!
The first film presented is “Millie” (1931) directed by John Francis Dillon and based on a novel by Donald Henderson Clarke.
The film stars Helen Twelvetrees as Millie Blake Maitland, a naive woman looking for love and marries Jack Maitland (portrayed by James Hall). But she lives in an unhappy marriage and when she discovers that her husband has an affair, she divorces him and she doesn’t even want any alimony, because of her pride. But because she wants her daughter to be taken care of, she has Jack and his mother retain custody of her daughter Connie.
Millie works hard on her career working at a hotel and eventually works hard to become head of operations, and despite many trying to hit on her, and while hesitant on being with another man, she ends up dating reporter Tommy Rock. But like the first time, she finds out that Tommy has cheated on her and she becomes bitter.
Her friends Helen (portrayed by Lilyan Tashman) and Angie (portrayed by Joan Blondell) try to help her, but she becomes a woman that floats from man to man. But what happens when she finds out that wealthy banker Jimmy Damier (portrayed by John Halliday) that tried to hit on her, is now trying to hit on her teenage daughter, Connie (portrayed by Anita Louise)?
The second film “Kept Husbands” is possibly my favorite film in the set. The film is directed by Lloyd Bacon and is written by Louis Sarecky and stars Dorothy Mackaill as Dorothea “Dot” Parker Brunton, Joel McCrea as Richard “Dick” Brunton and Robert McWade as the wealthy steel magnate Arthur Parker.
The film begins with Arthur Parker inviting Richard Brunton to the family home for saving the lives of two of his fellow co-workers and when offered a cash reward of several thousand of dollars (a lot for 1930), turned it down, because saving his co-workers were the right thing to do.
As the family meet Richard, Richard is a down-to-earth man who works hard and also is a family loving man. While Richard comes to dinner, Dot is surprised of how good of a man he is. And when Dot tells her father that she can get him to marry her within four weeks, her father takes the bet, not thinking it’s possible.
But Dot ends up winning Richard’s heart, the two get married. Sends them on an expensive honeymoon in Europe, buys them an expensive house but for Richard, when she meets Dot’s friends and how the upperclass are not his type of people, he just wants to get back to work but when he finds out that he will not be working and finds himself drowning in Dot’s lifestyle, he realizes he is a “kept husband”.
Arthur knows that Richard is a good employee, a trustworthy man and as they try to acquire new business, he knows that Richard is his man. But when he plans to go to St. Louis for business, Dot is not happy and the two get in an argument as Richard tells her that he does not want to be a “Kept Husband”.
Will Arthur and Dot get a divorce? Or will their love keep them together?
For the third film “The Lady Refuses”, the film is directed by George Archainbaud and is written by Robert Milton and Guy Bolton and a screenplay by Wallace Smith.
The film stars Betty Compson as June, John Darrow as Russell Courtney, Gilbert Emery as Sir Gerald Courtney, Margaret Livingson as Berthine Waller and Ivan Lebedeff as Nikolai Rabinoff.
The film revolves around Sir Gerald Courtney (portrayed by Gilbert Emery) as an aristrocrat and his son Russell (portrayed by John Darrow) loves to party with beautiful women than take on a career in architecture.
One day, Russell leaves to meet a married gold-digging woman named Berthine Waller (portrayed by Margaret Livingston) and not spending time with his father.
Meanwhile, a young woman named June (portrayed by Betty Compson) is considering of becoming a prostitute out of desperation and the London police is after her. Sir Gerald who saw is son with Berthine Waller, observes June being cornered by police. As she desperately knocks into a home for help, Sir Gerald takes her in and welcomes her as his niece and tells the police that she is a respectable citizen.
After learning about June’s plight and not wanting her to become a prostitute, she hires June for 1000 Pounds if he can prevent his son from falling for Berthine.
And while Berthine does her job, what happens when she starts fall for Sir Gerald?
For the film “The Woman Between”, the film is directed by Victor Scherzinger and is written by Irving Kaye Davis. The film stars Lili Damita as Julie Whitcomb, Lester Vail as Victor Whitcomb, O.P. Heggie as John Whitcomb, Miriam Seeger as Doris Whitcomb and Anita Louise as Helen Weston.
The film revolves around Victor Whitcomb (portrayed by Lester Vail) returning to Europe to visit his estranged family after getting an argument with his father for remarrying another woman after his mother’s death.
For Victor, if there is one thing he is happy about, it’s the relationship he had with a woman, that he met on the ship while going home to Europe.
While his sisters are thrilled to see Victor return back home, when Victor is ready to accept his new mother-in-law, to his shock, his stepmother Julie is the woman he had a romance on the ship on his way back home.
And the final film on the Blu-ray is “Sin Takes a Holiday”, my second favorite film on the Blu-ray.
Directed by Paul L. Stein and a screenplay by Horace Jackson and story by Robert Milton and Dorothy Cairns, the film stars Constance Bennett as Sylvia Brenner, Kenneth MaKenna as Gaylord Stanton, Basil Rathbone as Reggie Durant, Rita La Roy as Grace Lawrence.
The film was originally produced by Pathe Exchange and was part of the RKO Pictures acquisition of Pathe in 1930.
The film revolves around a secretary named Sylvia Brenner (portrayed by Constance Bennett) and share an apartment with her friends, which include Annie (portrayed by Zasu Pitts).
She works for a womanizing divorce attorney named Gaylord Stanton (portrayed by Kenneth MacKenna) who prefers to date married women and has no intention getting married, as he sees married women as safe as they already have husbands.
Sylvia tends to like her boss and is secretly in love with him but when Grace Lawrence (portrayed by Rita La Roy) wants to divorce her husband as she wants to marry Gaylord, he panics.
He offers a deal to his secretary Sylvia, he will provide her with money if she will marry him in name only. No love involved, just name only. So, he can get Grace off his back. And he plans to send Sylvia off to Paris, so he can continue to have his sexual conquests with married women.
Needless to say Sylvia, who was not wanting to do it, but her friend convinces her, because she would be financially set. And so she does. She goes to Paris, has a major makeover and next thing you know, she becomes the “married woman” which men desire, including the wealthy Reggie Durant (portrayed by Basil Rathbone), an old friend of Gaylord.
Reggie introduces Sylvia to the European lifestyle and he starts to fall in love with her. Meanwhile, for Gaylord, reading the news about his wife and how beautiful she has become and sees his old friend close to her, makes him jealous.
Who will Sylvia choose in the end?
Overall, each of these five films were entertaining to watch. It’s always enjoyable for me to watch pre-code films and see how much Hollywood was able to get away with, men having casual sexual encounters and affairs, women doing the same. Women or men being spurned, women choosing a life of prostitution and it was not the wholesome lifestyle which Hollywood wanted to promote a few years later.
Of course, for us living today, these films wouldn’t phase anyone, but for those who respect classic cinema, one can only imagine the notoriety these films may have gotten from a conservative groups back in the early ’30s, until the Motion Picture Production Code (Hay’s Code) went into effect in mid-1934.
But you have five good films, for silent film and pre-code film fans who follow the work of actress Dorothy McKail, know that you get the entertaining “Kept Husbands” film in this set. And also a pre-code Constance Bennett film with “Sin Takes a Holiday” which also stars popular Sherlock Holmes actor, Basil Rathbone.
But to get five restored, classic pre-code films in one collection for under $27 on Blu-ray is fantastic! I highly recommend the “RKO Classic Romances” Blu-ray set and for anyone who is passionate about classic Hollywood cinema.