Ladies Of Leisure (1930)

The wealthy son (Ralph Graves) of a railroad baron wants to be an artist rather than follow in his father's footsteps. When a party girl (Barbara Stanwyck) agrees to pose for him, an attraction develops but his father will have none of it. Based on the play LADIES OF THE EVENING by Milton Herbert Gropper and directed by Frank Capra (BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN). While I'm not a fan of Capra's work from 1935 on, I like his movies from the early 1930s before he got all corny and sentimental. While this film gets a bit sentimental toward the end (but not too much), it's an entertaining pre-code romantic drama. At an hour and 40 minutes, it's a bit too long for its slight premise and drags at times. But it's Barbara Stanwyck that keeps the movie on track and holds our attention. Although she had done three movies previously it's this film that is generally considered Stanwyck's breakthrough. It made her a star and she remained one the rest of her career. With Lowell Sherman and Marie Prevost, who comes close to stealing the movie.