No More Ladies

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Sherry Warren (Robert Montgomery) has never been one for marriage or dating only one woman. His reputation is well known, but his charm brings women flocking to him. One such woman is Marcia Townsend (Joan Crawford), a beautiful socialite who keeps company with Sherry knowing full-well the kind of man he is. But she can't help but love him. Finally, their relationship culminates into marriage, and the two prepare to live happily ever after. That is, until Sherry steals his best friend's girl (Gail Patrick), a showgirl in the city. When Marcia finds out, she is disappointed and heartbroken, but her retaliation isn't divorce. Instead, she throws a party for Sherry with some of the ladies of his past and their scorned husbands (Franchot Tone). Filled with witty dialog and talented stars, No More Ladies is a purely entertaining film. It perfectly represents the class and mischief that blended so well during the 1930s. This film managed to get past the censors with topics like adultery and scenes like that of Crawford in her underwear. However, the wealthy characters exude sophistication, so their naughtiness is easily forgiven. After all, "Since when has a lady in bed been an object of repugnance?"

I'm not a big fan of most of Joan Crawford's movie from the '30s. Most of them revolve around dislikable characters, usually involved in stupid love triangles. Here's another winner. Joan's in love with Robert Montgomery, an incorrigible womanizer and liar. We're supposed to find his antics funny I guess. Anyway, Joan marries him knowing he's a louse. Then when he cheats she acts surprised and comes up with a stupid plan to get him back. Franchot Tone figures into this and he's no more likable than in any of his other movies with Joan. The comedy relief comes mostly from Edna May Oliver and Charlie Ruggles. Oliver was the best thing about the movie, though that seems overstated somewhat by other reviews I've read. She wasn't THAT good. It's not like she saved this sinking ship. For those of us who have seen Oliver in other, better movies, we know she has had better roles than this. But still, weighed against the rest of the cast, she is the best here. Ruggles is awful. He always was a mixed bag. Sometimes I could enjoy him but others he was just annoying. This is the latter, with Ruggles doing a terrible drunk act that got old in the first scene. Just a poor movie. I hated the main characters and didn't care what happened to them. Avoid it unless you're a die-hard fan of the stars and easily forgive their clunkers. Joan Fontaine makes her film debut under the name Joan Burfield.

No More Ladies (1935) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Joan Crawford plays a jealous woman who knows that her womanizing boyfriend (Robert Montgomery) is never up to anything good. Even though that's the case, the two get married but this doesn't stop him from seeing women so Joan decides to throw a party of her own to make him jealous. NO MORE LADIES is pretty much a "B" story with an "A" cast and the end result isn't a classic but fans of the cast should at least want to watch it once. I think the best thing the film has going for it are the performances with Crawford leading the way. She's certainly very believable as the woman whose heart is breaking because the man she loves keeps stepping out on her. She's also believable in her scenes with Franchot Tone, the man who wants to marry her. The two of them share some nice chemistry and this makes for some good scenes. Charles Ruggles is also very good in his supporting role as a drunk and we also get Edna May Oliver, Reginald Denny, Joan Fontaine and Gail Patrick in small roles. I think the biggest problem with this film is that it really doesn't have the guts to stand out or try to be anything special. Crawford basically gets walked on the entire movie and once her revenge starts to happen the film just goes extremely soft. I'm not going to ruin what happens but it's quite predictable and leads up to a rather silly and embarrassing ending. Still, fans of the stars will want to check this out for them but just don't expect a classic.

While this genre of film is not my viewing of choice, I watched it for an entirely different reason, and was I surprised! Although a bit slow in parts, its star, Joan Crawford, seems to drag it down just a bit, by playing it too seriously. Every other character fits their part perfectly and more! Robert Montgomery is an absolute cad, Franchot Tone as suave as he can be, and all the others playing the part as though they're all a bit drunk or tipsy, make it worthwhile. Charlie Ruggles, as opposed to his later suave, smooth roles, plays a happy drunk, who lightens up the story with his goofy aphorisms, and Edna May Oliver, parodies her "dowdiness" with an endless stream of "bon mots" and one- liners for every scene, but it's Arthur Treacher, as the happy drunk, who steals the show. It's almost as though he's parodying his "Englishness" for the role, he's absolutely hilarious! I've never seen Treacher as anything but the stuffy butler, it's him who makes it worth watching and laughing! Yes, a real keeper! If you enjoy light comedy, watch this one. it's just plain FUNNY!

Since I like both Robert Montgomery and Franchot Tone, and I also like Joan Crawford better when she's younger, it was an easy guess that I'd like the romantic comedy No More Ladies. As it turned out, the film was far more of a drama than I thought, but the biting quips kept flying often enough to qualify it as a dark comedy. Joan starts the film hopelessly in love with Robert Montgomery. He's handsome and enormously charming and can talk his way out of any mistake, whether it's tardiness or infidelity. Joan knows exactly what type of cad he is and yet she wants to marry him anyway. After they're married, she expects him to keep his roving eye in check, but he doesn't. Depending on whether or not you like Robert Montgomery will probably be the deciding factor for you as to whether or not you like the overall film. If you think he's a terrible cad who has no excuse of losing his will-power whenever a skirt walks past, you'll want Joan to go to Reno and get over him. If you think he has appallingly low self-control but really does love his wife and just needs to be watched like a puppy, you won't want her to drive to Reno. You might want her to team up with her supportive grandmother, Edna May Oliver, and throw a party akin to A Little Night Music or Smart Woman. You might want her to use her handsome friend Franchot Tone to make her husband jealous. It's a little eerie to watch Joan and Franchot's scenes together since this movie was made before they were married and most of Franchot's dialogue consists of bitter complaints about his ex-wife. However, they're both young and pretty, and it's nice to see them during happier times. It's also nice to see Joan's beautiful dresses, designed by the very talented Adrian.

Although the story and title didn't have me completely jumping out of my chair, Joan Crawford was always reason enough to want to see any of her films. She did have quite a number of misfires and not all her performances are particularly good, but at her best she was absolutely brilliant and a number of her films are must sees. Edna May Oliver is/was always a delight to watch and Robert Montgomery's role on paper sounded like it would suit him. Along with my love for films made in Hollywood's Golden Age, there were definitely reasons to see this film. 'No More Ladies' sadly to me was a disappointment and overall didn't work. Certainly not terrible, there are worse films of this type around, and has its moments, but everybody involved did far superior work in other films before and since. That is including, and actually come to think of it especially, Crawford. 'No More Ladies' overall fails on the romantic front, with nothing really to invest in, and effective comedy only appears in flashes. There are good things in 'No More Ladies'. It does look great, which is one of two main virtues. A lot of time and effort clearly went into the production values here, with the glossy but never overblown photography and Crawford's beautiful clothes standing out. The music doesn't overbear or feel overused, with effective use of "All I Do is Dream of You". Oliver is the other main redeeming value, would actually go as far to say that she is the best thing about the film. She is a sheer delight and brightens up the screen every time she appears, when she's there 'No More Ladies' really comes alive energy-wise and she relishes all the film's best lines. The script has moments where it does sparkle, almost all of it being with Oliver. Crawford however plays her rather indecisively written character too broadly, not quite histrionic level but the part should have a light on the feet touch and Crawford plays it like she thought it was a drama. Montgomery brings next to no charm, nuance or sense of being at ease in his caddish role, looking like he was going through the motions. Franchot Tone fares better because he is in a role that suits him and he excels at playing suave, the problem with him is that he has too little to do. Found Charles Ruggles (at his most annoying) to be the worst, his overacting really grates and his drunk act borders on embarrassing. The direction is not just leaden but it also seemed indifferent. A big problem for me watching 'No More Ladies' was how impossible it was to like, let alone root for, the characters. Especially Montgomery's, was at a loss throughout as to what people saw in him. Instead they are little more than dull or annoying or both ciphers that constantly make sudden and senseless decisions that suspend disbelief. Also felt that the chemistry between the leads was disconnected, which is a big reason as to why the romantic angle fails. Apart from with Oliver, the script is very leaden and thin, the moments meant to be funny lacked the necessary wit and sophistication and felt over-worked. The story, familiar ground with nothing new done with it, never really comes to life, while getting a little better around the halfway mark the first portions are dully paced and pretty stagy and even when picking up a little pace wise and being more eventful the second half felt muddled and silly. Concluding, disappointingly lacklustre. 4/10

With Joan Crawford as satin-gowned, glamorous Marcia of the shades of white/art deco bedroom, Robert Montgomery as the well-dressed ladies man/playboy/heel who marries Marcia but can't stop chasing the ladies, sexy Franchot Tone as Jim, whose wife was stolen by our ladies man, Edna May Oliver as highball drinking, one-liner talking Grandma Fanny, and Charles Ruggles as the drunkard, plus a slick MGM look and feel - you would think this film would be smart, funny, terrific, all it should be - it's not. The problem here is the lousy script - the characters do things that make little sense or just seems dumb, and more importantly, the film is just BORING. I was pretty much thinking "when is this going to end" - that's not a good thing. I did *not* find the two main characters sympathetic, so could really care less what happened to them. I mean, the Robert Montgomery character is just a complete cad, he should have been thrown out by her right near the beginning. Joan Crawford's character just comes across as a brat to me - so who cares what happens with her anyway. Even my handsome Franchot Tone is given so little to do here, he's just wasted. The acting here is fine, but with the story as it is, this film is just dull. Edna May Oliver is the only saving grace here, she *is* pretty funny.