Ladies They Talk About

It's a little surprising for those of us who grew up on a double dose of the aging Stanwyck playing an almost hysterical, often villainous matriarch in low-budget theatrical releases or on TV, to see how pale, slender, and vulnerable she was in the early 30s.

Here she's the daughter of a small-town deacon who has suffered through one lecture too many and gone wrong, sent to San Quention for involvement in a bank robbery. (I think -- come to think about it, I'm not sure WHY she was sent up. No evidence links her to complicity in the robbery. All that stands against her is an informal confession to a guy she likes, not made under oath, and easily recanted. Well -- no matter.) Preston Foster is the righteous DA she falls for. He grew up in the same small town, the son of the town drunk, but he straightened up and flew right. Too right, for some tastes. By the way, the small town they grew up in, in which everyone knew everyone else's name, is Benicia, now absorbed into the greater San Francisco Bay Area and it has a population of more than 25,000.

The plot, which comes from a play, carries a lot of familiar real-life baggage and is less interesting than the characters we meet in the course of a kind of tribal study of the ladies' section of San Quentin. There are, first of all, quite a few African-Americans among the inmates, a bit surprising considering the audience the film was aimed at. They're treated mostly humorously but not moreso than the white inmates, and the humor isn't stereotypical. Ruth Donnelly, a familiar face in old movies if there ever was one, is the not entirely unsympathetic warden or whatever her title is. She sometimes carries around a gigantic cockatoo or something on her shoulder which seems to serve no purpose except to scare defiant inmates when it flexes its wings and squawks. Lillian Roth has a prominent supporting part. She's quite pretty, and she sings old songs with more zest than Susan Hayward did in the weeper, "I'll Cry Tomorrow." (Great title, there, Hollywood.) There is the elderly Madam, happily ensconced in her chair, making wisecracks about how all the inmates are now "my girls." Nobody in the movie is thoroughly rotten. If there is a villain, it is the woman who has been born again while in prison and is spiteful, jealous and judgmental. Saints preserve us from zealots. Stanwyck is a surprise in her performance too. She's as good as she's ever been, slouching around in her prison dress, hands in pockets, giving as good as she gets. A grim cigar-smoking dyke is held up for fun without being ridiculed or turned into a monster.

The movie is a curiosity. It's easy to watch, kind of fun, and not badly done. Snippy dialogue, a quick pace, an unpretentious plot, all make it worth a watch.

Barbara Stanwyck as a beautiful gun moll who helps her gang commit an armed bank robbery, then gets herself arrested. A young reformer who speaks in front of an "old-fashioned revival" believes in her innocence and tries to help her as they both are from the same hometown and, well, she's not past using her looks to get what she wants. But when, for some reason that I couldn't quite figure out, she actually admits to him she was part of the hold-up, he then assists in sending her to San Quentin. Soon our gal is the "new fish" in prison, and this is a women's prison like no other - if it weren't for the appearance of some older women prisoners in the mix, this would almost look a private girl's school rather than the state Penn! Lounge rocking chairs, newspapers, card games, a "greenhouse" area, a hair stylist, manicures, the "ladies bird club", phonograph record players, and outside - "the sun yard", a regular garden spot. These women can wear their own slinky negligees at night and play records in their room - and one older inmate actually is allowed to keep her own little "lap dog" - h'm.

This film is pretty good - the portrayal of the prison so far-fetched it's actually kind of a hoot to watch. I notice the male prisoners (on the other side of the prison) don't seem to have the same conditions as the women as they are shown in regular jail cells with bars. Anyway, Barbara Stanwyck, one of my favorite actresses from that era, gives her usual star performance and acts up a storm - just great as she plays the world-wise gal who'll play hard ball to get what she wants. A really fun film.

Nan Taylor (Barbara Stanwyck) is caught trying to help three men rob a bank. She sweet talks an innocent, powerful man David Slade (Preston Foster) into defending her, but confesses at the last minute. She's sent to prison and plots her revenge. The prison has a lesbian (shown once), a black prisoner who actually has lines (very surprising for the 1930s), a bird that terrorizes the inmates (don't ask), catfights and some pretty elaborate cells for the women. It makes prison seem like a great place to be!

A definite one of a kind with some pretty risque (for 1933) lines and situations. Barbara Stanwyck is just great in the title role. She tears into it and gives it her all--especially at the end. Lillian Roth also is very good as a fellow prisoner. As for Foster--he's tall and handsome...that's about it, but he fulfills his role.

Tough, fun, very quick (69 minutes) pre-Code movie. Definetely worth a look.

Am a fan of films from the 1930s and have for a while loved Barbara Stanwyck and many of her performances (regardless of what the rest of the film is like). Have always liked any film crime-related, with mystery, thriller and crime being my preferred genres (adore animation too but there is debate as to whether to class that as a genre) and there are a lot of good melodramas and good films that mix the two. Am somewhat less keen on Preston Foster though.

'Ladies They Talk About' is a very uneven film and not a particularly great one. If anything it is more a slightly above mixed feelings kind of film for me. There is a lot to recommend and it was interesting to see a depiction of life in a women prison, even if it won't ring true for a lot of people (best judging it on its own terms). Despite the improbable story and the even more improbable ending, Stanwyck, most of the supporting performances and the script elevate.

There are plenty of good things with 'Ladies They Talk About'. It is well made, with a good deal of style and atmosphere. It is good that 'Ladies They Talk About' doesn't go on for too long and it never felt dull to me. It is an entertaining film with some nice acid comedy and the melodrama generally doesn't go over the top, despite going off the boil towards the end. The crime element is intriguing and doesn't play second fiddle too much, and the look at life in a women prison is sincere enough.

Stanwyck gives a cool lead performance that leaves one riveted, while not being as intense compared to usual. She gets great supporting turns from Ruth Donnelly, Lyle Talbot and particularly Lillian Roth, their chemistry being the most interesting and having the most growth.

Was far less convinced by Foster, who makes absolutely no impact in a preposterous role that is the sketchiest in 'Ladies They Talk About'. He has no real chemistry with Stanwyck and their subplot is very developed.

Moreover, the story is highly unlikely and sometimes silly and while well-intentioned the portrayal of prison life is almost too idealised. And there were films in the 30s and throughout the decades pre-70s that did have an ahead of the time grim, uncompromising and realistic portrayal of prison life, such as 'The Big House'. Worst of all is the improble and cop-out ending, which is far too out of the blue (a sudden change of decision and opinion just like that), too hasty in pace and it makes no sense compared to what happens throughout the rest of the film. This was studio-interference-like and almost insulting.

In a nutshell, worth a one time look but not great. 6/10

Don't expect much in the way of pre-Code titillation with this simple film adapted from a play. What you do get is a starring vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck, who plays the moll of a gang who robs banks.

After being apprehended, she is sent to San Quentin, where she learns to live with prison rules and the social structure there. She's a tough cookie, always looking to assert herself, even on her first day of captivity.

Except for the presence of guards, life as depicted in the women's prison is much like "Stage Door", with a leisurely, genial attitude. Comic touches abound in this film, like the scene where one inmate sings to a headshot of Joe E. Brown, of all people.

While Stanwyck is strong in her role and Preston Foster is solid in his briefer portrayal of the revivalist who never gives up on her, "Ladies They Talk About" has a story too simple to challenge the viewer or, for that matter, the actors themselves. And the drama is minimal.

But it's fun to see Stanwyck in one of her earlier films.