This film begins with a man named "Hagon Derk" (Charles Bickford) being tried in a court-of-law for the crime of murder. Although he maintains he is innocent, the judge finds him guilty and sentences him to death by hanging. The scene then shifts to an office where several men are telling an attractive young socialite by the name of "Cynthia Crothers" (Kay Johnson) that in order to inherit her late grandfather's vast sum of money she must first be married by her 23rd birthday. Not only that, but to prevent any legal shenanigans, she must also be living with her husband for at least one week as well. That being said, while finding a good man to marry wouldn't normally be an issue for a fun-loving woman like her, the problem is that she is in love with a married man named "Roger Towne" (Conrad Nagel). Likewise, Roger is also in love with her. And strangely enough, his wife, "Marcia Towne" (Julia Faye) knows all about the love affair between her husband and Cynthia and is more than willing to divorce Roger--for a price, that is. So, after a brief conversation, which is also followed by a friendly wager, the two women come to an amicable arraignment with Cynthia agreeing to pay her $100,000 in exchange for Marcia agreeing to divorce Roger. With that in mind, oblivious to the complete terms of the will, Cynthia comes up with a plan to marry an unknown stranger on death row so that she can collect her grandfather's fortune and--once this man is executed--she will be able to pay Marcia for the divorce and then marry Roger. What she doesn't count on, however, is her new husband, Hagon Derk, being exonerated at the last minute and set free. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this movie had all of the necessary ingredients for a great comedy. Unfortunately, although there were some scenes which contained humor, the story kept taking dark turns immediately afterward and as a result it never really achieved its full potential. At least, not as a comedy. Conversely, I didn't quite care for the dramatic aspects either as the overall performance by Charles Bickford simply wasn't sufficient for the part. He was too loud and brusque throughout the course of the film and this essentially ruined some of the scenes that could have benefited from a much gentler tone. On that note, I should probably point out that this movie was produced during a turning-point in the motion picture industry and that many of the leading actors of the day struggled with the transition from silent films to those incorporating sound. But, having said that, it should also be noted that even accomplished critics during this time lamented the lack of consistency from one scene to the next. Be that as it may, while I certainly believe some allowances should be made for a film produced during this specific time, I don't consider this to be a great film by any stretch of the imagination and I have rated it accordingly. Average.
