Lilly Turner (1933)

A hard luck dame (Ruth Chatterton) has a terrible habit of falling for the wrong men. After her abusive bigamist husband (Gordon Westcott) abandons her when she's pregnant, she marries an alcoholic carnival barker (Frank McHugh). But when a psychotic muscle man (Robert Barrat) develops an obsession with her and a genuine, gentle man (George Brent) enters her life she attempts to control her own destiny. Based on the play by Philip Dunning and George Abbott and directed by William A. Wellman (THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY). An odd pre code racy melodrama. I like Ruth Chatterton but she seems rather matronly (she was 41 at the time) to have so many men hot for her. I couldn't help but think how Barbara Stanwyck (26 at the time the movie was made) or Joan Crawford (29 at the time) would have been better cast. That aside, Wellman gives the film an appropriate sordid atmosphere that gives it some authenticity. At a brief running time of one hour and five minutes, it's quite watchable. Three years later when the production code administration was in effect, Warners attempted to reissue the film but the PCA denied them a certificate. With Marjorie Gateson and Ruth Donnelly.