The Keyhole (1933)

That was an excellent one.

As Good As It Gets

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Married to a much older man, former dancer Kay Francis finds herself being blackmailed by her amorous former partner and heads off to Havana for a little R&R. She finds herself spending time with the handsome George Brent whom she is unaware is a private detective hired by her husband! The nights of champagne, caviar and dancing make her giddy, but it's obvious that the revelation won't fall well with Francis when she finds out!Amusing pre-code melodrama is more about the clothes, sets and dialog than the plot of which there is very little. Francis and Brent are a perfect pair, and providing comic relief are Allen Jenkins as a detective posing as Brent's valet and Glenda Farrell as an obvious gold digger. Henry Kolker's foolish older tycoon husband is up there with Edward Arnold and Otto Kruger as late middle aged men who got younger women to marry them, remaining pretty much sexless. This is fun for the glitz, but really has little else to offer other than the four leads and the fantasy that only pre-code Hollywood could give.

There are so many elements of the storyline for THE KEYHOLE that were obviously re-worked years later for 1948's "Romance on the High Seas," Doris Day's first starring vehicle directed by Michael Curtiz, who is the director here.This one too is about a suspicious husband who hires a private detective to follow his wife when she sails off to Cuba. Only big difference is that she's escaping the clutches of a former lover who wants to blackmail her. Naturally, it's the perfect set-up for KAY FRANCIS to wear fancy gowns and to carry on an affair with GEORGE BRENT, who is the man her husband hires to keep an eye on her.It's predictable stuff, very formula and with the usual weak comedy support from GLENDA FARRELL and ALLEN JENKINS in an attempt to put some much needed life into the script. It doesn't work.There are very few Curtiz touches in the direction but the photography is fluid and the sets are fairly interesting. Still, it's a minor item when you view it as a typical Kay Francis vehicle in the early '30s.

I happened to see this and three other Kay Francis films recently when they were shown on TCM. And, surprisingly, all four films were about adultery and three of them had Kay playing a horrid skank! So, when I saw her appear on the screen, I just KNEW the film was about adultery and you knew the characters would be rich folks!!! Now there at least was a twist to the whole adultery aspect of the film that makes this film a little different. While she is suspected of being an adultress, she is in fact an innocent woman! This sort of type-casting with so many similar plots must have been what killed Ms. Francis' career--that and the more restrictive and less sleazy style of films that were mandated by the new Production Code in 1934.As mentioned above, Kay is THOUGHT to be having an affair, so her rich husband hires a suave private investigator (George Brent) to try to prove her unfaithfulness. Brent is a bit sleazy because he is apparently willing, if all else fails, to create an incriminating situation even if it is untrue--just so the husband will have something he can use against his wife in court. Brent, as always, is great in this film--very believable and suave. Unfortunately, he is inexplicably saddled with a pointless and distracting sidekick (Allan Jenkins). While I usually like Jenkins in films, he was just inappropriate here, as the film was a romance and his stupid act just detracted from the plot. In a lighter film (such as those of Cagney), he would have been fine.Aside from Jenkins, the rest of the film was excellent up until the end. It was just wonderful seeing Brent trying to win Francis' heart--the scenes were just magical. Unfortunately, the final resolution of this dilemma just came out of nowhere and made absolutely no sense. It's a shame, because with a better ending and no Jenkins, the film would have merited an 8.

Kay Francis plays a woman being blackmailed by a former partner (Monroe Owsley). She discovers that he never got the divorce he promised and her new marriage is illegal. Hatching a scheme with her sister-in-law (Helen Ware), she flees to Havana, hoping the cad will follow. He does but so does the detective (George Brent) her husband hires to spy on her. Wild storyline becomes more believable as the film goes on because of the chemistry between Francis and Brent. Good support from Glenda Farrell, Allen Jenkins, and Clarence Wilson. This ranks as one of Kay Francis' best women's pictures of the early 30s--with One Way Passage and Confession.