In one of the early talkies, Connie (Dolores Costello, who will be the real life wife to John Barrymore) meets Neil (Warren William) at a dinner party. William was "The Lone Wolf" for years, and was able to play the good guy or the bad guy with equal skill. It takes until ten minutes in, to find a storyline for this film. We can see why its rated 5.9, but to be fair, that's based on only 95 votes so far. Keep an eye for HB Warner, who played "Chang" in Lost Horizon. you MUST see it, if you haven't already. Versatile actor. Polly Walters is in here, and seems to be a cross between Mae West and Jean Harlow. That screechy little voice! Next Connie meets "Arthur" (Anthony Bushell), but that may or may not work out. From First National/Warner Brothers, it's a film about relationships, chance meetings, and the pre-code morals and standards in the 1930s. This was one of the last films directed by Henley. He had been around for YEARS, acting and directing silents. This one isn't any Shakespeare play, but probably interesting historically, for the actors in it.
11 Reviews
Poor Little Rich Girl, Why should we feel sorry for you?
mark.waltz31 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Playing a combination of Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke, young socialite Dolores Costello is an independent party girl whose ensemble of young admirers has her not interested in walking down the aisle. She's more interested in the party scene, perhaps to avoid a broken heart, but mostly because she's simply bored, and as she describes her life, she has so much money that she is unaware of how to spend it all. After a relationship with a seemingly good man (Warren William), she begins an affair with a wealthy young man (Anthony Bushell) whose father (H.B. Warner) considers Costello to be unsuitable in spite of her large dowry and makes his distaste for Costello open. Costello shows up at a part, unaware that it is at Warner's home, creating one more confrontation, a mysterious death, and perhaps her greatest wake-up call.
Throughout this, there are interruptions of any private moment Costello tries to have from the rich but annoying Mae Madison whose gossipy nature is delivered with a helium voice. That provides the comedy. Confrontations between Costello and Warner, along with the romantic moments with Costello and/or William and Bushell, provide the drama. It's an entertaining pre-code comedy that shows how money cannot buy happiness or honor, that one must be very particular in choosing whom they socialize with (Madison gets an amusing exit) and that one's reputation is first and foremost key to happiness, particularly a single young woman. At just an hour, this early Warner Brothers talkie is satisfying fluff with the youthful Costello a delight. She had the personality for talking pictures, but would be gone for a long hiatus before returning in supporting parts.
Throughout this, there are interruptions of any private moment Costello tries to have from the rich but annoying Mae Madison whose gossipy nature is delivered with a helium voice. That provides the comedy. Confrontations between Costello and Warner, along with the romantic moments with Costello and/or William and Bushell, provide the drama. It's an entertaining pre-code comedy that shows how money cannot buy happiness or honor, that one must be very particular in choosing whom they socialize with (Madison gets an amusing exit) and that one's reputation is first and foremost key to happiness, particularly a single young woman. At just an hour, this early Warner Brothers talkie is satisfying fluff with the youthful Costello a delight. She had the personality for talking pictures, but would be gone for a long hiatus before returning in supporting parts.
Dolores Costello
SnoopyStyle8 July 2023
Rich bored socialite Connie Newton (Dolores Costello) falls for Neil Hartley. Bobby Brandon is her drunken party friend. She next falls for the married Arthur Raymond. Arthur tries to get a divorce but fails.
Apparently, Costello was a silent film star who faded after the transition into sound for various reasons. Her voice is fine and her acting should be good for the talkies. She supposedly retired as wife of John Barrymore until that marriage ended. She's the grandmother of Drew Barrymore. She has some of that screen presence although not quite as bright. I just don't like the character. It's not that appealing and her romantic journey is not compelling. I'm not rooting for anybody.
Apparently, Costello was a silent film star who faded after the transition into sound for various reasons. Her voice is fine and her acting should be good for the talkies. She supposedly retired as wife of John Barrymore until that marriage ended. She's the grandmother of Drew Barrymore. She has some of that screen presence although not quite as bright. I just don't like the character. It's not that appealing and her romantic journey is not compelling. I'm not rooting for anybody.
Pre-Code Movie that is worth a look!
robluvthebeach8 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Dolores Costello stars as a society woman who is wealthy and doesn't need to work, but misses having any challenges or goals to achieve. Her best friend, the talkative Moly (Polly Walters) is the most annoying but has some of the most 'pre-code lines', such as, the waiter was fired for being a pansy. Dolores meets Warren William and they spend quite a bit of time together, but when she meets married Anthony Bushnell she lives quite openly with him and is the talk of the town. When she meets his father (HB Warner), he tells he she is NOT CLEAN, and no one in her family marries or associates anyone who is NOT CLEAN. Throw in a murder, lies, sexual hypocrisy and a surprise ending and this is a pre-code film that has been forgotten but should be watched. This film can be seen online.
Yes, it's Pre-Code...but it's not especially good Pre-Code.
planktonrules4 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
In the early 1930s, plots were far racier than most would today suspect. While nudity was relatively uncommon (but not unheard of), topics like adultery, fornication and even abortion were relatively common! And, in the early 30s, women DID enjoy sex....A LOT! "Expensive Women" is clearly a Pre-Code movie in style. Its leading lady, Delores Costello (Mrs. John Barrymore), is a woman who has an active sex life--though she is single and her boyfriend is already married. Her ditsy friend, Molly, is married and seems to be sleeping with practically EVERYONE! And, the film seems to take a rather morally neutral view of both of them--though Molly is so overplayed and one-dimensional that she's easy to hate.
Delores wants her VERY wimpy lover to divorce his wife and marry her. However, her perspective father-in-law (H.B. Warner) thinks she's a tramp and won't allow his son to do this--and the wimp just goes along with it. What's to happen next? Well, I don't want to ruin the film but you should know that NONE of it makes any sense and someone in the film does get away with murder--again, something you'll see in the Pre-Code era! The bottom line is that the plot seldom makes much sense and the writing is bad. In addition, the characters seldom seem real or likable. As I mentioned above, Molly is truly hateful and the character Costello plays is selfish and nasty--and her boyfriend is worse. The only one who is semi-likable is played by Warren William but the character is so under-written that he seems more like a plot device than a real person. All in all, a salacious but dumb film...period.
Delores wants her VERY wimpy lover to divorce his wife and marry her. However, her perspective father-in-law (H.B. Warner) thinks she's a tramp and won't allow his son to do this--and the wimp just goes along with it. What's to happen next? Well, I don't want to ruin the film but you should know that NONE of it makes any sense and someone in the film does get away with murder--again, something you'll see in the Pre-Code era! The bottom line is that the plot seldom makes much sense and the writing is bad. In addition, the characters seldom seem real or likable. As I mentioned above, Molly is truly hateful and the character Costello plays is selfish and nasty--and her boyfriend is worse. The only one who is semi-likable is played by Warren William but the character is so under-written that he seems more like a plot device than a real person. All in all, a salacious but dumb film...period.
Is there a pre-code with Warren Williams not worth watching?
ScenicRoute9 March 2012
I don't need to repeat the other favorable reviews - I agree with most everything favorable, including the assertion that the movie is not a "hack job." I think the plot does make sense and it kept me relishing just how much "free love" was in the air among young people of the late 20s/early 30s. But old man Raymond is the voice of fascism and his success in the movie is a grim foreboding of the repression that would soon sweep northern European societies (of which I include the US) in the early 30s, where the Democrats ascent to power in the US was accompanied by the "sexual fascism" of the production code. So I think this movie holds up well and is loaded with both wistfulness and chills.
This is the first movie I have seen of Dolores Costello and her facial expressions are delicious even if her verbal delivery is a little wooden. I agree with the favorable assessments of Polly Walters (what a fabulous Betty Boop voice!) and Warren Williams, but disagree with the generally negative takes on Jack Donohue, playing Bobby Brandon, which I read as successfully and self-consciously "rich Irish," right down to the Brooklyn way Jack says "paehty." And yes Anthony Bushell is despicable as the young lover, but somehow I found his performance right, like the repressed bisexual son of a powerful father, doing everything Dad says as a result of his own confused sexuality. Of course, that read puts pressure on his love affair with Dolores, and that's not very convincing, though it won't be the first time I've seen a woman throw herself at a sexually confused young man, attracted to his vulnerability and refreshed by his lack of machismo, so ultimately I was convinced of their love, and the scene where he sleeps on her breast is truly touching, and a beautiful symbol of his weakness.
The Raymond father/son relationship is one of the best illustrations I have seen of how "conventional Protestant morality" was foundering among the Anglosphere "elite" of the late 20s/early 30s. Here's a fellow, ol' man Raymond, who insists he is the soul probity and yet finds himself committing ghastly deeds, and getting away with them. A fine portrait of the corruption of power and the impending death within a generation of conventional Anglosphere morality.
Maybe the Warner Brothers didn't know how radical they were being, but they knew what it took to tell a good story, and they succeeded here, even if you can feel the furies descending on this celebration of "pre-code mores," where murder goes unpunished, the clown gets to laugh at New Year's Eve debauchery (don't miss that image - truly powerful), and promiscuity is rewarded.
So it's a 7 because it is too short at 1 hour and too many characters are left hanging, especially the Raymond father/son/daughter-in-law triangle, which really needs a 5-minute wrap-up scene where their eternal misery is nailed. But watch it and see if you too don't find yourself satisfied with the meatiness of the story.
This is the first movie I have seen of Dolores Costello and her facial expressions are delicious even if her verbal delivery is a little wooden. I agree with the favorable assessments of Polly Walters (what a fabulous Betty Boop voice!) and Warren Williams, but disagree with the generally negative takes on Jack Donohue, playing Bobby Brandon, which I read as successfully and self-consciously "rich Irish," right down to the Brooklyn way Jack says "paehty." And yes Anthony Bushell is despicable as the young lover, but somehow I found his performance right, like the repressed bisexual son of a powerful father, doing everything Dad says as a result of his own confused sexuality. Of course, that read puts pressure on his love affair with Dolores, and that's not very convincing, though it won't be the first time I've seen a woman throw herself at a sexually confused young man, attracted to his vulnerability and refreshed by his lack of machismo, so ultimately I was convinced of their love, and the scene where he sleeps on her breast is truly touching, and a beautiful symbol of his weakness.
The Raymond father/son relationship is one of the best illustrations I have seen of how "conventional Protestant morality" was foundering among the Anglosphere "elite" of the late 20s/early 30s. Here's a fellow, ol' man Raymond, who insists he is the soul probity and yet finds himself committing ghastly deeds, and getting away with them. A fine portrait of the corruption of power and the impending death within a generation of conventional Anglosphere morality.
Maybe the Warner Brothers didn't know how radical they were being, but they knew what it took to tell a good story, and they succeeded here, even if you can feel the furies descending on this celebration of "pre-code mores," where murder goes unpunished, the clown gets to laugh at New Year's Eve debauchery (don't miss that image - truly powerful), and promiscuity is rewarded.
So it's a 7 because it is too short at 1 hour and too many characters are left hanging, especially the Raymond father/son/daughter-in-law triangle, which really needs a 5-minute wrap-up scene where their eternal misery is nailed. But watch it and see if you too don't find yourself satisfied with the meatiness of the story.
Third-rate
gridoon202424 July 2018
A wet blanket of a romance between Dolores Costello (who lacks screen magnetism) and Anthony Bushell (who is unbelievably bland and wooden). The most interesting person / actor in the film, Warren William, appears only in the first 20 minutes and then in the very last scene! Hard to recommend this movie to anyone, despite some nice outdoor scenes. *1/2 out of 4.
Dolores Costello Leaves On A Perfunctory Note
boblipton9 April 2020
Warren William isn't getting anywhere with his painting, so Dolores Costello goes out into the world to see what she can make of it. She soon makes Anthony Bushell and vice versa. His father, H.B. Warner doesn't approve, so she agrees to give him up. However, Joe Donohue, who wants her, catches her saying goodbye.
It's a surprisingly stiffly acted bit of drama; perhaps it's simply because the situation arose so much in dramas this period, that no one could think of anything fresh. Certainly H.B. Warner is surprisingly stiff, and everyone is stagebound in their overwritten lines.
This was Miss Costello's last movie under her Warner Brothers contract. She was retiring to raise her children from her marriage to John Barrymore. She would not return to the screen for another five years.
It's a surprisingly stiffly acted bit of drama; perhaps it's simply because the situation arose so much in dramas this period, that no one could think of anything fresh. Certainly H.B. Warner is surprisingly stiff, and everyone is stagebound in their overwritten lines.
This was Miss Costello's last movie under her Warner Brothers contract. She was retiring to raise her children from her marriage to John Barrymore. She would not return to the screen for another five years.
Ma Hat Ma Kane Jeeves
howdymax4 December 2011
These depression era romantic romps served a real purpose. They took the audience out of their depressing existence into a world most of them would never know. They are frequently naughty and sexual innuendo and double entendres are everywhere - especially in pre-code entries like this one. In most of them, the male principals pretend to have some kind of vague position such as broker, banker, or sometimes they are just "in business", whatever that means. In this one, they don't even make the attempt. Nobody works. In fact, you rarely see the men in anything but tuxedos. They all live in swanky apartments, have country homes, use white telephones, and live on cocktails and snacks. Just like my well to do brother. Well, it's a short movie and ignoring all that annoying background saves a lot of time.
Still, it's a fascinating movie in it's own way. Pre-code allows the female lead, played by Dolores Costello to bounce from lover to lover without having to apologize for it. It also allows the irrepressible, outrageous, Polly Walters to get away with some of the snappiest, naughtiest dialog one could imagine. When she tells Warren Williams the taxi is waiting, he tells her to compensate him. She says: "I already compensated him - now he wants to be paid." Scrumptious. Another line worth noting. She tells him Bobby Brandon was evicted from a speakeasy for calling the doorman "a pansy". Pre-code also allowed Dolores Costello, by anybodies definition, a loose woman, to find happiness in the end - without paying a penalty.
As I watched this, I thought about how much talent went into this dialog. Compared to a lot of the visual filth we are subjected to today, it is amazing that anybody could have objected to the wit and humor that this movie and others like it gave us. Watch it with relish.
Still, it's a fascinating movie in it's own way. Pre-code allows the female lead, played by Dolores Costello to bounce from lover to lover without having to apologize for it. It also allows the irrepressible, outrageous, Polly Walters to get away with some of the snappiest, naughtiest dialog one could imagine. When she tells Warren Williams the taxi is waiting, he tells her to compensate him. She says: "I already compensated him - now he wants to be paid." Scrumptious. Another line worth noting. She tells him Bobby Brandon was evicted from a speakeasy for calling the doorman "a pansy". Pre-code also allowed Dolores Costello, by anybodies definition, a loose woman, to find happiness in the end - without paying a penalty.
As I watched this, I thought about how much talent went into this dialog. Compared to a lot of the visual filth we are subjected to today, it is amazing that anybody could have objected to the wit and humor that this movie and others like it gave us. Watch it with relish.
Pre-Code and Early Warner Bros Talkie
ccarrolladams9 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Let me be frank: I am a huge fan of Pre-Production Code films, especially those made by Warner Brothers. Add that I am a fan of William Rees as a cinematographer, plus writer/producers Raymond Griffith and Harvey Thew, means I went out of my way to see all of them in action behind the scenes on "Expensive Women." Rees photographed the 1931 first talkie of "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Kennel Club Murder Case" Following "Expensive Women" Griffith produced "Three on a Match", "Gold Diggers of 1933" and "Baby Face" which is often considered the movie which forced enforcement of the Production Code. Thew had written "Public Enemy" for WB, then wrote "Flying Down to Rio" for RKO, the film that started Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
So it is a fallacy to think "Expensive Women" was some sort of WB hack job.
In this film the lovely Dolores Costello plays "trust fund baby" "Connie Newton" who had grown weary of drunken lout "Bobby Brandon" (over-played by Joe Donahue). Trying to escape Bobby at a party, Connie hides in the same bathroom as wealthy composer "Neil Hartley" (played as a decent rich guy by Warren William, best known for playing evil men).
Neil takes Connie to his home, where they spend the night. A few days later Connie goes with Neil to his country estate for a weekend party. There Neil introduces Connie to his student "Arthur Raymond" (played by Anthony Bushnell) son of wealthy and powerful "Judge Melville Raymond" (played with mustache-twirling melodramatic flair by H.B. Warner).
Despite Connie's wealth, Melville disapproves of Arthur being intimate with Connie simply because he had arranged a marriage of his son to "Betty" (played by an uncredited mystery actress). Shrinks could have a field day with the motives for Melville's devotion to the super dull Betty, a character with all the charm and grace of "Betty Draper" on "Mad Men"! Whenever "Expensive Women" needs a comic bit, Connie's even less inhibited pal "Molly Lane" (played by the pint-size blonde Polly Walters) is brought into the scene to deliver naughty zingers. That was a common practice in those days. All I can say is that Polly Walters is a lot less annoying than comics such as Hugh Herbert or Robert Benchley.
Connie does agree to give up Arthur, because she is a decent person.
Unknown to Connie, the drunken lout Bobby drags her to a New Years Eve party at the Manhattan mansion of Melville. When Connie sees Arthur with Betty and is confronted by Melville, Connie gathers her things to leave. Arthur tries to dissuade her. Bobby bursts into the room, threatening to blackmail Connie and Arthur, who had a pistol with him because he was contemplating suicide. During a struggle, Arthur shoots Bobby dead. Although apparently nobody at the party heard the shot, Melville walks in. Connie confesses and Melville is willing to let her take the blame.
That is when Connie says that on the stand she will admit her affair with Arthur. That convinces Melville to place the pistol in Bobby's dead hand. Then he manages to persuade the coroner's jury to rule Bobby's death a suicide. Because this was 3 years before enforcement of the Production Code, Connie, Melville and Arthur get away with many felonies.
Before the fade out, Connie returns to Neil.
Personally I totally enjoy "Expensive Women" for what it is. Of course I also enjoy "Baby Face", "Employees' Entrance" and many other Pre-Code movies.
So it is a fallacy to think "Expensive Women" was some sort of WB hack job.
In this film the lovely Dolores Costello plays "trust fund baby" "Connie Newton" who had grown weary of drunken lout "Bobby Brandon" (over-played by Joe Donahue). Trying to escape Bobby at a party, Connie hides in the same bathroom as wealthy composer "Neil Hartley" (played as a decent rich guy by Warren William, best known for playing evil men).
Neil takes Connie to his home, where they spend the night. A few days later Connie goes with Neil to his country estate for a weekend party. There Neil introduces Connie to his student "Arthur Raymond" (played by Anthony Bushnell) son of wealthy and powerful "Judge Melville Raymond" (played with mustache-twirling melodramatic flair by H.B. Warner).
Despite Connie's wealth, Melville disapproves of Arthur being intimate with Connie simply because he had arranged a marriage of his son to "Betty" (played by an uncredited mystery actress). Shrinks could have a field day with the motives for Melville's devotion to the super dull Betty, a character with all the charm and grace of "Betty Draper" on "Mad Men"! Whenever "Expensive Women" needs a comic bit, Connie's even less inhibited pal "Molly Lane" (played by the pint-size blonde Polly Walters) is brought into the scene to deliver naughty zingers. That was a common practice in those days. All I can say is that Polly Walters is a lot less annoying than comics such as Hugh Herbert or Robert Benchley.
Connie does agree to give up Arthur, because she is a decent person.
Unknown to Connie, the drunken lout Bobby drags her to a New Years Eve party at the Manhattan mansion of Melville. When Connie sees Arthur with Betty and is confronted by Melville, Connie gathers her things to leave. Arthur tries to dissuade her. Bobby bursts into the room, threatening to blackmail Connie and Arthur, who had a pistol with him because he was contemplating suicide. During a struggle, Arthur shoots Bobby dead. Although apparently nobody at the party heard the shot, Melville walks in. Connie confesses and Melville is willing to let her take the blame.
That is when Connie says that on the stand she will admit her affair with Arthur. That convinces Melville to place the pistol in Bobby's dead hand. Then he manages to persuade the coroner's jury to rule Bobby's death a suicide. Because this was 3 years before enforcement of the Production Code, Connie, Melville and Arthur get away with many felonies.
Before the fade out, Connie returns to Neil.
Personally I totally enjoy "Expensive Women" for what it is. Of course I also enjoy "Baby Face", "Employees' Entrance" and many other Pre-Code movies.
Far from a Classic But the Silliness Makes it Worth Watching
Michael_Elliott9 December 2011
Expensive Women (1931)
** (out of 4)
Decent pre-code from Warner has Dolores Costello playing Connie Newton, a rich woman who falls in love with Arthur Raymond (Anthony Bushell) not knowing he's already married. The two plan on being together but his controlling father (H.B. Warner) puts a stop to that but soon murder and a trial follows. EXPENSIVE WOMEN isn't a very good movie but there are enough decent moments to make fans of pre-codes watch it. Now, it's very important to remember that studios were pretty much ran like a factory back in the day and I'm going to guess that this film was rushed through production just so the studio could have another "naughty" film out there for crowds to flock to and see. The biggest problem with this movie is certainly the screenplay, which in all honesty is a complete joke. At just 62-minutes the film flies by but the problem is that none of the characters really go through any sort of development and to say they'd one-sided would be the understatement of the decade. The lead character is someone we're supposed to feel sorry for yet the screenplay pretty much forgets to write in any details about her. We learn that she's rich. We learn that she's not a virgin. We learn through all the tough edges that she really wants love. The story here is so poorly put together that these various stages just come and go without too much thought. The first fifteen minutes we see Connie and her easy friend (Polly Walters). The next fifteen minutes has Connie falling in love. The next fifteen minutes features Connie getting her heart broken. Finally, we get an incredibly stupid murder sequence with an even quicker and dumber trial. I won't spoil anything but the final ten minutes of this movie is so stupid that you can't help but laugh at it. The film's rushed production is even more obvious in a sequence around the thirty-minute mark where Connie and her love are kissing in her hallway and a piece of her costume slides off her back and onto the floor. Neither actor notices it and they just go their separate ways living the piece on the floor. Ed Wood would have been proud. The performances for the most part are pretty good with Mrs. John Barrymore doing a nice job in the lead. Walters is pretty funny as the easy girl with non-stop men around her and Warren William steals the film in his small part. Warner is also very good as the father but Bushell really gets lost in the cause. The screenplay writes his character as such a wimp that you can't help but hate everything about him and I must say that this is perhaps the most annoying character I've seen from any movie of this era.
** (out of 4)
Decent pre-code from Warner has Dolores Costello playing Connie Newton, a rich woman who falls in love with Arthur Raymond (Anthony Bushell) not knowing he's already married. The two plan on being together but his controlling father (H.B. Warner) puts a stop to that but soon murder and a trial follows. EXPENSIVE WOMEN isn't a very good movie but there are enough decent moments to make fans of pre-codes watch it. Now, it's very important to remember that studios were pretty much ran like a factory back in the day and I'm going to guess that this film was rushed through production just so the studio could have another "naughty" film out there for crowds to flock to and see. The biggest problem with this movie is certainly the screenplay, which in all honesty is a complete joke. At just 62-minutes the film flies by but the problem is that none of the characters really go through any sort of development and to say they'd one-sided would be the understatement of the decade. The lead character is someone we're supposed to feel sorry for yet the screenplay pretty much forgets to write in any details about her. We learn that she's rich. We learn that she's not a virgin. We learn through all the tough edges that she really wants love. The story here is so poorly put together that these various stages just come and go without too much thought. The first fifteen minutes we see Connie and her easy friend (Polly Walters). The next fifteen minutes has Connie falling in love. The next fifteen minutes features Connie getting her heart broken. Finally, we get an incredibly stupid murder sequence with an even quicker and dumber trial. I won't spoil anything but the final ten minutes of this movie is so stupid that you can't help but laugh at it. The film's rushed production is even more obvious in a sequence around the thirty-minute mark where Connie and her love are kissing in her hallway and a piece of her costume slides off her back and onto the floor. Neither actor notices it and they just go their separate ways living the piece on the floor. Ed Wood would have been proud. The performances for the most part are pretty good with Mrs. John Barrymore doing a nice job in the lead. Walters is pretty funny as the easy girl with non-stop men around her and Warren William steals the film in his small part. Warner is also very good as the father but Bushell really gets lost in the cause. The screenplay writes his character as such a wimp that you can't help but hate everything about him and I must say that this is perhaps the most annoying character I've seen from any movie of this era.
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