Beauty for Sale

I just finished watching a surprising pre-code romantic comedy drama, BEAUTY FOR SALE (1933). It's the story of 3 women working at a NY beauty salon and their various entanglements. There's some nice photography by James Wong Howe, and some pretty sharp dialogue. One character in particular stands out: Alice Brady as Mrs. Sherwood, a rich narcissistic ninny who is a customer at the salon. Her few scenes are marked by high speed monologues as she remains oblivious to everyone around her. Some situations are cliches, and the ending is too convenient, but there was much to recommend this MGM delight. It aired on TCM, where old movies wait for us to find them.

Madge evans, una merkel, may robson. Even hedda hopper, when she was still a film star. Ed nugent, as bill, the wisecracking boyfriend. A girl gets a job at the fancy schmancy beauty parlor, which leads to sexy adventures, sometimes with married men. Kind of an early version of "the women". The girls at the salon even talk about how lovely the red is, similar to jungle red, which they kept referring to, in the women! It's a fluff piece, kind of a reflection of the times, where all the proper women just wanted to get married. A pre-film code, right in the heart of the depression, when no-one could find a job. Good things happen, bad things happen. A snapshot of the 1930s, i guess. Life goes on, for good or bad. Directed by rich boleslawski. Died young at 47, bad heart. Based on the book by faith baldwin; she had TONS of stories and novels made into film.

It gets points for trying something that Robert Altman would popularize many decades later: several conversations at a crowded place (this time, a beauty parlor) going on all at once, the audience only hearing snippets of each. But overall the script is too scattershot, if directed with some flair by Richard Boleslawski. Madge Evans is attractive, Una Merkel is cute (the most surprising scene in the movie is a short mouth-to-mouth kiss between them!), but Otto Kruger lacks magnetism as the romantic lead. **1/2 out of 4.

BEAUTY FOR SALE spends so much time in a beauty salon for snobbish, gossipy women that you have to wonder whether it was Claire Booth Luce's inspiration for THE WOMEN. However, it has none of the distinctive, biting dialog that Luce brought to her play and film version. Although there are plenty of talented players in the cast, most of it is terribly overacted in early '30s fashion. MADGE EVANS makes a beautiful blonde heroine with a sweet personality--and lesser roles are played in standard fashion by OTTO KRUGER, ALICE BRADY, UNA MERKEL, PHILLIPS HOLMES, HEDDA HOPPER and ISABEL JEWELL. The romance between Kruger and Evans is painfully corny and contrived, while his scenes with Alice Brady are simply overacted to the nth degree for comedy effect. If the manners, mores and fashions of superficial women in the '30s is your cup of tea, sit back and enjoy. Obviously, women were the target audience for this kind of film penned by Faith Baldwin. Forgettable programmer and easy to skip.

It was very surprising to see Otto Kruger (Mr. Sherwood),"Hitler's Children",'43, looking handsome and finding himself falling deeply in love with a woman and still being married. Otto Kruger play many hateful roles as cruel Nazi's SS officers during the WW II years and was a crook in every picture he appeared in during the 1930's and 40's. The women and men in this picture all seem to fall in love with married couples and we even witness a young gal who is pregnant and decides to kill herself by jumping out a window. Madge Evans (Letty) decided to get married to a man who laughed at his own jokes and then got COLD FEET ! Carol sure made a good choice in running away and finding her prince charming along with a fantastic colonial mansion ! Very Classic and enjoyable film to view, it seems like it was produced in 2003!

It's probably been more than thirty years since I saw this movie on television. "Beauty for Sale" typifies the films of the thirties, which I prefer to the current crop. The wit of the script and the polish of the acting and directing are beyond anything Hollywood could produce nowadays. There were other films in the thirties that starred mostly character actors, who absolutely had what it took to carry the show. Why are there so many great thirties films that are not available on video? I'm sure there is a market for classic films, besides the most well-known ones.

Another delectable sweet-and-sour pre-Code entry of the early 1930s, nimbly skirting the edges of that era's morality with prodding grown-up material, satirizing the comedic and dramatic possibilities therein. Story concerns three gals who work in a New York City beauty parlor: one is dating a married man, another is pregnant by a no-goodnik, and the third spends her nights with a rich sugar daddy. Society cattiness at its most cynical; colorful performances by Madge Evans, Una Merkel and Alice Brady adds to the fun. Director Richard Boleslawski allows the bracing narrative to degenerate once or twice into slapstick, but if you can overlook that there's a great deal of sharp, salty wit here. Fine supporting turns by Otto Kruger, Hedda Hopper and May Robson. **1/2 from ****