(1933, b/w) Before the Motion Picture Production Code (also known as the Hays Code, named after its creator, Will H. Hays) went into full censorious effect and enforcement in 1934 (e.g., "No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin"), Hollywood released films of a more daring character, such as director Alfred E. Green's tale (screenplay by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola from a story by Mark Canfield) of a woman taking advantage of the male's weakness for her sex.

Working in her father's speakeasy in Erie, PA, Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck), as a very cute blonde, is known as "the sweetheart of the nightshift." An older, learned customer, Adolf Cragg (Alphonse Ethier), recommends Nietzsche's Will to Power, urging Lily to get away from the rough, mangy crowd before it's too late.

When her father allows Ed Sipple (Arthur Hohl), a local politician, to be alone with her, she conks him with a bottle: "No more protection for you!" In an outburst, Lily yells back at her father: "I'm a tramp, and who's to blame?" After the still explodes and burns, Lily, accompanied by her friend Chico (Theresa Harris), a colored girl helping in the speakeasy, takes Cragg's advice "to use men, not let them use you," hopping a freight train for New York City.

Applying her wiles and smiles, letting loose her charms into men's arms, Lily arouses the appetites of her supervisors in the filing, mortgages, and accounting departments - rising from one floor of the Gotham Trust Company to the next, all the way up to President Courtland Trenholm (George Brent).

Beginning with Jimmy McCoy Jr (John Wayne), who calls her "Baby Face" and commends her as "head and shoulders above anybody else" for a promotion, along the way Lily breaks the hearts and sometimes careers of one man after another. "She certainly works fast," remarks a female colleague. As she moves up the corporate elevator, her wardrobe and hairstyles become more fashionable.

Cragg sends her another of Nietzsche's books, Thoughts Out of Season: "Crush out all sentiment." Murder and suicide - "Double Tragedy in Love Nest" screams a newspaper's headline - provide her ("I was a victim of circumstance") with further financial opportunities from the bank's board of directors, fearful of scandal undermining the institution's credibility; but Trenholm (previously known only as a playboy) surprises everyone, including Lily, with a counteroffer of sending her to the Paris branch.

There she astonishes Courtland and wins his affection. What should be a tragedy usurps a comedy's denouement. The film has two endings, the prerelease version and the theatrical conclusion, both (unfortunately) redeeming Lily's reputation.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .