Sadie McKee (1934)

A cook's daughter (Joan Crawford) runs off to New York City with her boyfriend (Gene Raymond) after he's fired under suspicious circumstances. After he abandons her, she's left to make her own way and when an alcoholic millionaire (Edward Arnold) proposes marriage, she snaps at the chance even though she's still in love with the ne'er-do-well. The female audiences of the 1930s lapped up this poor girl rags to riches stuff and it's easy to see why. It's more entertaining than it has any right to be. Crawford is enormously appealing here and her moxie drives this double bonbon potboiler pleasingly forward until the last 15 minutes or so go all sappy on us. Her unrequited love for Raymond is a bit hard to swallow, not just because he's not worthy of her but ... well, who'd pine away for Gene Raymond? Directed by the undervalued Clarence Brown (NATIONAL VELVET). With Franchot Tone (who Crawford would marry the following year), Akim Tamiroff, Leo G. Carroll, Esther Ralston and Jean Dixon as Crawford's brassy wise cracking chum.