Five and Ten

This is yet another Davies films with inexplicably high ratings. What I mean by this is that it appears as if a group of people have gone onto IMDb and deliberately over-inflated the scores on all of Marion Davies' films--giving 10s to EVERYTHING--even her worst films. No one is THAT good that they always deserve a 10--but here, 49% of those rating the film give it a 10. By comparison, "Gone With the Wind" and "Casablanca" have only 34 and 38% 10s!! Are these folks seriously trying to tell us that just about every film Marion Davies made are better than these classics?! So my advice with her films is to ignore the IMDb ratings and just see the films for yourself--some of her films were wonderful (such as "Show People"), some awful ("Cain and Mabel" comes to mind )and many were somewhere in between--just like it would be for most actresses.

John Rarick has created a hugely successful chain of five and ten cent stores--enabling his family to live in great luxury. However, this money does not make them happy. His wife runs around behind his back with other men, his son is slowly slipping into alcoholism and depression and, finally, his daughter (Davies) is trying too hard to fit in to society--and is laughed at by her new 'friends'. The main focus in this film is on the daughter--and her unhealthy relationship with a rich young architect (Leslie Howard).

Of all the characters in the film, Avery (Douglass Montgomery) is the most interesting. Unlike his sister, mother and father, he sees tragedy coming to his family. And, when he tries to tell his father, he can't even get this workaholic to listen to him. The film is a nice showcase for him and his story is quite touching--and, although it's a small role compared to Davies', he steals the show. Despite this, his career never really took off. Perhaps it was due to his good looks--he was amazingly pretty and not the conventional tough leading man type.

Overall, a very good film that is well worth your time. However, be aware that Davies' and Howard's portion of the film is probably the weakest. It isn't bad but its resolution seemed bizarre--and never would have occurred in a Post-Code film.