THE LADY LIES (1929)

(Some re-release prints titled WHY NOT?)  Very early Paramount Talkie, made at New York’s Astoria Studios which usually meant ‘canned theater,’ as it does here.  But this time, not in a bad way.  It’s all about class & public perception as Walter Huston, widowed upper-crust lawyer, feels mounting pressure from stuffy relatives, his entitled prep-school kids and a ‘respectable’ prospect to drop the perfectly lovely, socially unsuitable dress-shop attendant he’s taken out of the workplace and supported as his mistress for the past two years.  And since the lady is played by Claudette Colbert (her third film, but her true sound debut), it’s nearly impossible to understand what possible objections anyone could have.  Director Hobart Henley can’t transcend Early Talkie filming limitations (Lubitsch he ain’t), but he keeps a move on and gets some remarkably modern turns from his cast.  Colbert utterly ‘there’ as soon as she opens her mouth (in English & French), Huston not far behind.  A bit less Charles Ruggles as Huston’s tipsy BFF would help, but he comes thru winningly toward the end.  That's little known Betty Garde, a real treat as his honest, gold-digging spitfire gal pal.  And nice work from Tom Brown as Huston’s disapproving teenage snob of a son, learning a hard, eye-opening (if pat) lesson in relationships.*

DOUBLE-BILL: While Pre-Code/Pre-Crash LADY sails thru censurable problems, Colbert’s ZAZA/’38, a fascinating near-miss from George Cukor, would have to suffer for similar sins.  Huston also got a second shot at his character on stage & screen in DODSWORTH/’36 under William Wyler.  OR: *Tom Brown probably had his best role as TOM BROWN OF CULVER/’32, Wyler’s lean, heart-tugging military school meller with an early appearance by a shockingly young & handsome Tyrone Power Jr.