Ladies They Talk About (1933)

One of my all time favorites.

Better Late Then Never

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Blistering performances.

Part of a bank robber gang, a woman is sent to prison, while carrying on a tepid romance with an evangelist.Stanwyck (Nan) is nearly the whole show in this early crime drama from street-wise Warner Bros. She's one tough cookie, and when she struts cocksure into a room full of other tough prison cookies, we believe it. No wonder she had one of Hollywood's most durable A-picture careers. But watch out for that dimpled cutie Lillian Roth (Linda) who almost steals the film with a big helping of winsome charm. The prison tour she makes with a silent Stanwyck is clearly intended to showcase that dimpled appeal. Too bad she had such a problem with booze; in my book, she could have been a big star, especially in musicals.The movie itself is just okay. Unfortunately, the supposed romance between Stanwyck and a simpering Preston Foster undercuts much of the movie's stab at realism. But then I guess someone had to set Nan on the straight and narrow. Clearly, the best scenes are in prison. There we see an unusual line-up of characters, thanks to the pre-Code period. These include such exotic types as the one-and-only Maude Eburne (Aunt Maggie) as a wacko grandmother from heck, a cigar-smoking butch matron (Dickson) whose daring type would disappear from the screen for decades, and even an "uppity" black woman (uncredited) who takes no lip from anyone, black or white. Still, it's Stanwyck's movie, and there's enough of her trademark grit to please her many fans, myself included.

This Warner Brothers picture sure is a strange one! While you'd think that this company making a movie about women in prison during the Pre-Code era would be a lot racier and more exciting, it really wasn't. I was pretty much expecting a Bogart or Raft style film with women but the prison looked more like a day spa and the plot was a lot of hooey--making this a rare flop for Barbara Stanwyck.Barbara is the "inside man" during a bank robbery and everyone but her escapes. While in police custody, a bizarre reformer talks to Barbara--telling her that he recognized her as a childhood friend. He wanted to help her and since it wasn't conclusive that she was involved in the holdup, he was arranging with the district attorney to release her to his care. At this point, she confesses that she WAS a part of the gang and he has no choice but to tell the D.A. and she is sent to prison. Now this really didn't make any sense. Why would he stick his neck out for someone he barely knew and why would street-wise Stanwyck confess when she about to be released? When she arrives in prison for a 2-5 year stretch, I was amazed, as the place seemed nicer than most Motel 6's! The cell was decorated by June Cleaver, some of the women sat around while the Black prisoners did their bidding and there was no violence or swearing or much of anything. Perhaps calling it "like a day spa" was overstating it a bit, but not by much because inside they also had hair salons! In fact, considering how bad the Depression was, if they HAD run women's prisons that way, millions of ladies would have committed crimes just to be locked up in this nice abode! Well, apparently this palace of women is next door to the men's prison at San Quentin and Barbara agrees to help some men in their escape attempt. When the attempt backfires and the guys are killed, she blames the reformer from earlier in the story!? This really made no sense at all, but what happened next made it look like the writers either were chimps or perhaps they'd just been drinking. After she served her full sentence, she got out and went to murder the reformer. But after shooting him in the arm, he covers for her and they get married and live happily ever after! I am not kidding and I am not under the influence of drugs--this REALLY is the plot. Sure, there was a bit more to it but the outline and description of life in prison is what was in the film! While this was shown as part of the "homosexuals in Hollywood" theme for Turner Classic Movies in June, the image of a cigar-smoking lesbian inmate was barely noticeable and she was not a major character in the film. Apart from a vague crack made about her and a pretty younger blonde sharing her cell, there wasn't a lot to this aspect of the film. Of course, had the film been made a couple years later (after the strict Production Code was enforced), this innocent enough character would have been eliminated altogether.A dull, silly and utterly frivolous little picture that Ms. Stanwyck couldn't have felt proud having made. It's definitely very skip-able, but also quite watchable...if you like seeing train wrecks!

Nan Taylor (Barbara Stanwyck) is caught trying to help three men rob a bank. She sweet talks an innocent, powerful man David Slade (Preston Foster) into defending her, but confesses at the last minute. She's sent to prison and plots her revenge. The prison has a lesbian (shown once), a black prisoner who actually has lines (very surprising for the 1930s), a bird that terrorizes the inmates (don't ask), catfights and some pretty elaborate cells for the women. It makes prison seem like a great place to be!A definite one of a kind with some pretty risque (for 1933) lines and situations. Barbara Stanwyck is just great in the title role. She tears into it and gives it her all--especially at the end. Lillian Roth also is very good as a fellow prisoner. As for Foster--he's tall and handsome...that's about it, but he fulfills his role.Tough, fun, very quick (69 minutes) pre-Code movie. Definetely worth a look.

Early Barbara Stanwyck who is about as bad as they get. She participates in a bank robbery, manipulates men, lies, and gets sent up to the big house. Plot is somewhat far fetched with little character development other than for Barbara. Story revolves around whether Barbara will again allow Preston Foster to try to save her after trusting him once and having him fail to live up to her expectations. Stanwyck is patterned after the real life experiences and play by Dorothy Mackaye who repeats the formula in Lady Gangster (1942). This movie is worth watching to see the early Stanwyck or the depiction of woman's prison life. Apparently women inmates were allowed to fix up their rooms real nice and change from prison clothes into street clothes during visiting hours -- or so Hollywood would tell us. Sure would have made it easier to escape!