A Notorious Affair (1930)

A British socialite (Billie Dove) marries a penniless musician (Basil Rathbone) which angers her father (Montagu Love) so he disinherits her. When the musician becomes an internationally famous violinist, fame gets under his skin and he becomes difficult to live with. Based on the play FAME by Audrey and Waverly Carter and directed by Lloyd Bacon (MARKED WOMAN). Oy! Does this soap opera creak! It's stage bound and the acting with one exception is weak. Even the normally reliable Basil Rathbone seems adrift. The top billed Billie Dove was a very popular actress in silent films but she didn't transition to the sound era well and would retire two years after this film. The film is stolen by the below the title third billed Kay Francis as a scheming Baroness, who collects and discards lovers like Kleenex. Francis would soon become one of the biggest stars of the 1930s. The film's ending is an unbelievable whopper suitable for masochists only. With Kenneth Thomson and Malcolm Waite.