I included this in my ongoing Josef von Sternberg retrospective because he served as Assistant Director on it (biding his time after a number of projects he was attached to were passed on to other film-makers); actually, the IMDb allots him uncredited co-director status here and, for the record, this and Sternberg's official release from 1927, UNDERWORLD, ranked as Paramount's top-grossing films for that year! This romantic comedy is famous for its title – the inspiration for which came from a book by "Madame" Elinor Glyn, who was also persuaded to appear before the cameras as herself in order to explain it {sic}! Lead actress Clara Bow, then, would forever be associated with this role and, in fact, would be dubbed "The 'It' Girl"!
The plot is slight and, by now, overly familiar: a female department store clerk secretly loves her upper-class boss (bland Antonio Moreno), who not only completely ignores her but is obviously engaged to marry a snobbish woman from his own strata of society. When a buffoonish friend of his takes her out, she contrives to select the same night-spot frequented by the man of her dreams and, of course, now he takes notice and positively becomes intrigued (neglecting his own fiancée into the bargain)!
When the boss gets fresh, however, she spurns him – and complications mount after the girl stands up for her sickly room-mate, when social workers arrive to take away her baby, by saying that the child is hers! This scene features a nice pre-stardom bit by Gary Cooper as a scoop-seeking reporter (he and Bow would also appear together in the Oscar-winning WINGS later in the year)! Her boyfriend tells Moreno about the kid, and he determines to drop the girl definitively and concentrate on his marriage instead.
To this end, he goes on a cruise but, when he invites his pal, the latter brings Bow along and the stage is set for a re-union and the dissolution of Moreno's high-society wedding plans. This occurs by having the buffoon take control of the boat, only to have it collide with a smaller vessel and the two women both fall overboard – when Moreno goes to save Bow (initially resisting him but gradually relenting), the other lady realizes the truth but all is not lost for the jilted lovers as they seem to find comfort in one another!
In the end, the film is mildly enjoyable but hardly inspired – much less a classic; suffice to say that the lesser-known HANDS UP! (1926), a semi-Western effort I watched over Christmas by the same director and featuring forgotten comic Raymond Griffith, is superior (thus worthier of attention)...
The plot is slight and, by now, overly familiar: a female department store clerk secretly loves her upper-class boss (bland Antonio Moreno), who not only completely ignores her but is obviously engaged to marry a snobbish woman from his own strata of society. When a buffoonish friend of his takes her out, she contrives to select the same night-spot frequented by the man of her dreams and, of course, now he takes notice and positively becomes intrigued (neglecting his own fiancée into the bargain)!
When the boss gets fresh, however, she spurns him – and complications mount after the girl stands up for her sickly room-mate, when social workers arrive to take away her baby, by saying that the child is hers! This scene features a nice pre-stardom bit by Gary Cooper as a scoop-seeking reporter (he and Bow would also appear together in the Oscar-winning WINGS later in the year)! Her boyfriend tells Moreno about the kid, and he determines to drop the girl definitively and concentrate on his marriage instead.
To this end, he goes on a cruise but, when he invites his pal, the latter brings Bow along and the stage is set for a re-union and the dissolution of Moreno's high-society wedding plans. This occurs by having the buffoon take control of the boat, only to have it collide with a smaller vessel and the two women both fall overboard – when Moreno goes to save Bow (initially resisting him but gradually relenting), the other lady realizes the truth but all is not lost for the jilted lovers as they seem to find comfort in one another!
In the end, the film is mildly enjoyable but hardly inspired – much less a classic; suffice to say that the lesser-known HANDS UP! (1926), a semi-Western effort I watched over Christmas by the same director and featuring forgotten comic Raymond Griffith, is superior (thus worthier of attention)...