Union Depot (1932)

Set in a railroad station in an unnamed major city where in addition to passengers catching trains, you'll find pickpockets, hookers, sailors and sexual perverts among a variety of denizens. A vagrant (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) just released from jail steals a man's jacket and discovers a wad of money in the pocket. After enjoying a big meal, he mistakes a chorus girl (Joan Blondell) down on her luck for a prostitute. Based on a 1929 play by Gene Fowler, Douglas Durkin and Joe Laurie Jr. and directed by Alfred E. Green (THE JOLSON STORY). Every once in awhile, you come across a little gem of a relatively unknown movie and this pre code drama is one of them. While the two major characters are our focus of interest, there are a couple of subplots that are important to the narrative. The relationship between Fairbanks Jr.'s vagrant masquerading as a big shot and Blondell's chorus girl is sweet and touching but the expected romance and happy ending never happens and when the film ends, we don't know if they'll ever see each other again. Worth seeking out. With Alan Hale, Guy Kibbee, Frank McHugh, Ethel Griffies and Lilian Bond.