Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

dougdoepke Plot-- Clever con-man Orloff uses fashion model Picot to gain entrée into French high society. Once situated among the rich, his financial swindle proceeds. In return, he rewards Picot with her own fashion house, which soon prospers. But what will happen to their bonded relationship if Picot's con game is discovered. That opening of elegant models parading down the runway is a grabber. As one of the models, Picot (Francis) commands with regal stature and a compelling gaze. On the other hand, Orloff (Rains) commands with voice and smooth demeanor, despite his short stature. Together, they're an interesting, though hardly romantic, pair.It's really the two charismatic leads that carry the film. The con game thread is not emphasized, rather the odd relationship between the two amounts to the main thread. It's ultimately a bond of friendship and gratitude that endures, despite Picot's romance with the rather callow Wayne (Hunter). I'm not sure how convincing the relationship is since the narrative is more intent on using it rather than explaining its steadfastness. I wish that key part were more strongly written. And though talk dominates, the film's well-mounted, while Curtiz directs with a smooth tempo that never drags. Also, a rotund, aging Allison Skipworth as Picot's assistant adds a colorful touch of lemony spice. In passing-- Catch that biplane the twosome travels to France in. It may be the ugliest example of flight engineering I've seen. Note also presence of commanding Frank Conroy as a police inspector. His fearsomely dominating Maj. Tetley in the classic Ox- Bow Incident (1943) certainly deserved Oscar recognition. Here he gets a few moments of that.Overall, the movie's mainly a showcase for the two leads, without being anything special.

edwagreen A rather benign story of a model who meets up with a swindler and she comes under his orbit as the years pass and his involvement in selling fake bonds is exposed. He gets her to marry him for social status.You see little to no violence here with the exception of rioting by disenchanted buyers and the final killing scene.The film would have been a lot better if Francis, with those large eyes and had the writing cast her in not only a vulnerable situation, but placed her in grave danger as well.Claude Rains plays the rather erudite thief and even his downfall is rather droll to watch.

jjnxn-1 Better than average Kay Francis picture. Thanks to a stronger script than was usually handed to her as well as a superior co-star in Claude Rains this swindle drama moves along at a nice clip assisted by that master of any genre, Michael Curtiz. Of course this wouldn't be a Kay vehicle if they didn't slap one amazing outfit after another on her back and she wears them with the same effortless grace and elegance she always exhibited.The story isn't terribly inventive but Kay and Claude have a good chemistry which works to the advantage of making the film more involving than it would be. It's nice to see her matched with an artist of equal skill to hers instead of the usual bland leading men such as George Brent and Alan Dinehart she was often teamed with. This was one of the last good films she made as queen of the lot before her feud with the brothers Warner caused them to start sticking her in any piece of low rent junk to get her to walk on her contract.

ksf-2 That card at the beginning of the film stating that all characters, events, and names are entirely fictitious was pretty rare back in those days, so the director must have been a little concerned making this one! Then we learn that we are in Paris in 1931 at a fashion show. Nicole (Kay Francis) and Suzanne (Alison Skipworth) work for a fashionable dress shop. Stefan Orloff (Claude Rains, a couple years before Casablanca) comes along and has a proposition for her. She follows through on her end of the bargain, and he sets her up in a shop of her own. We get through that in the first 15 minutes, but Nicole isn't done with him yet... their lives stay intertwined, against the advice of her friend Suzanne. Then, all at once, about a half hour into the film, we bluntly find out exactly what Orloff and his cronies are up to, and by association, now Nicole is involved too. The timing is a little strange, but the script and direction are good. Francis certainly had a successful career, but it might have been even more successful if not for her problem pronouncing the letter "R"... Directed by Michael Curtiz, who would also direct Rains in Casablanca in 1942. Produced by Hal Wallis, who also produced all those silly Elvis movies. The story here is interesting to follow, and the outdoor scenery is beautiful, even if its not really Europe we're seeing.