"Other Men's Women" is included as part of the "Forbidden Hollywood" film collection, but compared to other pre-code films, there's not much of interest in this one.
The most shocking thing about it is probably the way it ends. Mary Astor plays a woman married to Regis Toomey, but secretly in love with Grant Withers, who plays Toomey's best friend. Without giving too much away about what leads up to the ending, let's just say that the film allows Astor and Withers to be together while maintaining a rather cold attitude toward the fate of Toomey. This would not have been allowed in later years, or if it was, we would be sure to know that the film wanted us to think of these two as bad and immoral people, but this movie makes no such judgements.
That aside, this is a really plodding, boring movie. I know early sound films moved at a different pace than films of today, but that's no excuse. There were plenty of films made at the same time as this one and made by the same director even (William A. Wellman) that managed to be dynamic and cinematic. This one, with the exception of a scene in which Toomey stumbles blindly through a rail yard in the rain and another set in a night club, shows no trace of the Wellman who gave us one of the best pre-code movies, "The Public Enemy." "Other Men's Women" only comes alive when James Cagney or Joan Blondell, in two bit roles, appear on the screen. Astor is an excellent actress, but the material doesn't give her much chance to shine.
These pre-code films have an interesting effect on me, and given the cult that has arisen around them, I'm guessing they do on others as well. There's something distinctly unsettling about them, even when nothing especially unsettling is happening on screen. Maybe it's the gritty, realistic look of them, but I think it's more due to the fact that the desperation and hopelessness felt by so many during that time period infuses the films that were made for them in ways that are hard to identify. This one is no exception.
Grade: C-
The most shocking thing about it is probably the way it ends. Mary Astor plays a woman married to Regis Toomey, but secretly in love with Grant Withers, who plays Toomey's best friend. Without giving too much away about what leads up to the ending, let's just say that the film allows Astor and Withers to be together while maintaining a rather cold attitude toward the fate of Toomey. This would not have been allowed in later years, or if it was, we would be sure to know that the film wanted us to think of these two as bad and immoral people, but this movie makes no such judgements.
That aside, this is a really plodding, boring movie. I know early sound films moved at a different pace than films of today, but that's no excuse. There were plenty of films made at the same time as this one and made by the same director even (William A. Wellman) that managed to be dynamic and cinematic. This one, with the exception of a scene in which Toomey stumbles blindly through a rail yard in the rain and another set in a night club, shows no trace of the Wellman who gave us one of the best pre-code movies, "The Public Enemy." "Other Men's Women" only comes alive when James Cagney or Joan Blondell, in two bit roles, appear on the screen. Astor is an excellent actress, but the material doesn't give her much chance to shine.
These pre-code films have an interesting effect on me, and given the cult that has arisen around them, I'm guessing they do on others as well. There's something distinctly unsettling about them, even when nothing especially unsettling is happening on screen. Maybe it's the gritty, realistic look of them, but I think it's more due to the fact that the desperation and hopelessness felt by so many during that time period infuses the films that were made for them in ways that are hard to identify. This one is no exception.
Grade: C-