disinterested_spectator In the opening scene of this movie, the title character is crying because she is pregnant. Her rich boyfriend promises to marry her, but he quickly deserts her by leaving town. The plot summary for this movie identifies this boyfriend as Jimmy, but that is a mistake. We never see the rich boyfriend again.Jimmy, on the other hand, is a clean-cut medical student who is not rich at all, which is why he has to work as a bellhop. Jimmy loves Molly, but she rejects him. She is attracted to a gangster, and goes off with him instead, getting involved in a few of his crimes, and handing her daughter over to an orphanage. When she runs into Jimmy a few years later, he still loves her and wants to marry her and be a father to her daughter. At first she agrees to marry him, but she actually desires Scotty, a hardboiled reporter who promises only that he will show her a good time for a while and then dump her. She likes the idea. In fact, this makes her realize why her own mother abandoned her when she was a child, because when a woman really wants a man, nothing else matters, not even her own child. Jimmy walks in while they are kissing, and she tells him she has decided to run off with Scotty instead.In the last reel, Scotty has a change of heart, promises to help her fight the charges against her for her involvement with the gangster, and then marry her. That a movie should feature a fallen woman who would reject the love of a good man like Jimmy (twice) and knowingly choose men who are scoundrels instead is amazing enough. That she should end up living happily ever after by doing so is a story that could exist only in the pre-Code universe. Or in real life.Trivia: this may be the first movie in which the person shooting a gun and the person being hit with the bullet are in the same frame.

blanche-2 Warner Brothers used to put out gritty crime films that were unmistakable, and this one is no exception. And happily, it's pre-code, which is even better.Ann Dvorak is Molly Louvain, who is hoping to marry a wealthy young man since she's carrying his baby. He promises to tell his mother about them, but he must have run into some problems -- such as disinheritance. He and mom have gone to Europe by the time Molly gets to the house to celebrate his birthday.Miserable, Molly takes up with Nick Gant (Leslie Fenton, Dvorak's future husband), a crook, and can raise her daughter comfortably since he's good at robbery. However, Molly is the wheel man when Nick has a shootout with the cops, and she goes on the lam after leaving her child with someone she trusts.Molly dyes her hair blond and takes an apartment in a false name.Alas, there's a reporter across the hall (Lee Tracy) who wants to find Molly so he can have a career-making story. She gets a job as a dance hall hostess and runs into a bellhop she knew, who was crazy about her (Richard Cromwell). She and Jimmie have to go on the run after Nick shows up again and gets them into more trouble. Then guess who she runs into who's hot on her trail.Fast-moving, fast-talking film with a lively performance by Lee Tracy, who has great chemistry with Dvorak. The striking Dvorak was a perfect '30s film actress, acting in a style that went well with those films. Today it would be considered overdone. She hated being at Warners because they gave her below average movies and next to no money -- she found out she was making the same salary as the little boy in Three on a Match, and she wasn't happy. She eventually moved to England, did some films, and devoted herself to war service. She never liked Hollywood and ultimately retired.Richard Cromwell was a matinée idol for a short time but doesn't register much, though he was cute. Gay, he was Angela Lansbury's first husband for a few months, and before film stardom and after it, he enjoyed a very successful career as an artist.All in all, a watchable film with a crackerjack performance by Lee Tracy and it's always good to see Ann Dvorak.

utgard14 Molly Louvain (Ann Dvorak) is knocked up and abandoned by a rich guy. So she takes up with a dirty crook (Leslie Fenton), then a naive bellhop (Richard Cromwell), and finally a cynical reporter (Lee Tracy). She's the Goldilocks of love. Fun Pre-Coder from WB is a nice showcase for lovely Dvorak, one of classic Hollywood's most under-appreciated talents. She dyes her hair blonde in this. Gotta say she looked better as a brunette. This is also the movie she met her first husband Leslie Fenton. The two married not long after this was released. Lee Tracy doesn't show up until a half hour or so into the picture but things pick up once he does. His scenes with Dvorak are filled with snappy banter and excellent chemistry. The movie really takes off when these two are together.

Ron Oliver THE STRANGE LOVE OF MOLLY LOUVAIN pushes her to look for love with all the wrong men, leading inevitably to unwed pregnancy, betrayal & murder...This obscure little crime film highlights the kind of fast-moving, tough-talking picture which Warner Bros. did so well in the early 1930's. Good production values help tremendously, but the biggest asset is the piston-powered performance of Lee Tracy as a cynical, amoral reporter. Although his character doesn't appear until 30 minutes into the story, once on screen he dominates his scenes, as he typically did during his heyday. This picture was made shortly before Tracy moved to MGM for his 5 memorable appearances there in 1933. His spectacular fall from grace would spin him out to the minor studios, but here he's in his prime, or nearly so.The other two sides to the film's romantic triangle are made up of Ann Dvorak, very good in the title role, and Richard Cromwell, impressive as the innocent college kid infatuated with her. A sprinkling of character actors - Guy Kibbee, Leslie Fenton, Frank McHugh & Charles Middleton - add to the film's success.Movie mavens will recognize J. Farrell MacDonald as a murdered cop, silent movie comic 'Snub' Pollard as a bill collector & Louise Beavers as a washroom attendant, all uncredited.The film's rather gamey plot proclaims its pre-Production Code status.