Mannequin (1937)

Fed up with tenement life and living with her shiftless father (Oscar O'Shea) and brother (Leo Gorcey), a working class girl (Joan Crawford) marries a con artist (Alan Curtis) only to regret it. Produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (ALL ABOUT EVE) and directed by Frank Borzage (HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT). In spite of talent in front of the camera (Spencer Tracy co-stars) and behind it, don't be fooled into thinking this might be anything special. The film starts off promisingly and the first ten minutes or so have a feel for tenement life but after that it’s just another mawkish Crawford shopgirl romance and she’s a doormat to a loser (Curtis is superbly slimy) of a freeloading husband. Individually, Crawford and Tracy are pretty good and hold the screen as befits their star presences despite the tired clichés of the script but they have zero chemistry together. 1930s audience lapped up this stuff and the film was a hit. With Elisabeth Risdon (who has one beautifully played scene) as Crawford’s mother, Mary Philips and Ralph Morgan.