Fast And Loose (1930)

A wealthy heiress (Miriam Hopkins) and her alcoholic brother (Henry Wadsworth) are the spoiled children of a Long Island millionaire (Frank Morgan). When she breaks off her engaged to a British aristocrat (David Hutcheson) to marry a penniless mechanic (Charles Starrett) and her brother becomes engaged to a chorus girl (Carole Lombard), the father decides to intervene. Based on the play THE BEST PEOPLE by David Gray and Avery Hopwood and directed by Fred C. Newmeyer. This pre code screwball comedy is an early talkie and quite static. The acting is all over the place from natural (Carole Lombard) to stiff (Charles Starrett) and the acting (Lombard excepted) cries out stage acting playing to the balcony. Affectation can be an amusing tool in drawing room comedies but here, it just seems archaic. Starrett is quite good looking but his awkward acting and his character's pronounced male chauvinism renders him unappealing. The film does manage to get some laughs going toward the end when all the major characters bump into each other at a fancy restaurant. With Ilka Chase (quite amusing) and Herbert Yost.