Lady with a Past (1932)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Absolutely the worst movie.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

In order to find this film believable, you have to buy the premise that Constance Bennett, one of the most beautiful and glamorous Hollywood stars ever, is unattractive to men. Does her character, Venice Muir (her parents honeymooned in Venice) wear glasses, frumpy clothes, have dull hair? Uh, no, she looks like Constance Bennett, it's just that she's playing an intelligent woman who likes to read. Meanwhile, the woman who may have poisoned her husband gets all the attention at parties.One night, while roaring drunk, a man with whom Venice is in love, Donnie Wainwright (David Manners), proposes and wants her to sail with him to France to be married. The next day, he's sober. So Venice travels alone.In Paris, she meets a man Buy (Ben Lyons) whom she hires as a gigolo to bring her to parties and get her into the right circles so that she can meet someone. He has the idea that if he creates a "past" for her, she will be more exciting to men.This is a nice film, but I didn't believe it for a second. Venice has intelligence, money, glamor, beauty, and guys want to date a woman who might have killed her husband? If it had been another actress, someone like Anna Lee, Sylvia Sidney, good-looking but perhaps not a knockout, it would have been more realistic.For Constance Bennett fans. She is always a joy, and the performances are good, particularly from Ben Lyons.

Constance Bennett is miserable. Despite having money and being a pretty lady, she is hardly noticed by men. Yet, at the same time, 'bad' women attract men like flies. For instance, one woman was acquitted for shooting her husband--and now men won't leave her alone! So, out of desperation, she hires a guy down on his luck to pose as her lover and create the impression she's a loose woman! He seems a bit worldly and indicates he knows how to make her attractive by making her mysterious and a bit trampy. The plan works pretty well--but, of course, by the end of the film several complications have occurred.The plot is pretty clever and is carried off pretty well due to good acting from Bennett and Ben Lyon. Not a great film, but nice entertainment and worth your time.

Okay, the plot is sort of silly -- you have to accept that gorgeous society girl Constance Bennett, in a succession of clinging gowns, has difficulty attracting men. So much so that on a whirlwind trip to Paris, she hires penniless American Ben Lyon as a gigolo, if only to prove that she isn't a complete dud.Bennett exudes her trademark seductive charm. But it's Lyon, as her romantic mentor, who bring the "Lady with a Past" to life. He gives a brash, breezy, effortless performance reminiscent of Melvyn Douglas at his best in the days of "Ninotchka" and "Theodora Goes Wild." Not many of Lyon's films, with the exception of "Hells Angels," have been seen in recent years. And I always had the idea that he was a stick-figure straight man.It was entertaining to be proved wrong.

In a recent biography of the Bennetts, the author implied that Constance Bennett was in movies only for the money with which to lead a luxurious lifestyle. However, her work in this film would make one believe that she really could act.In this film, the usually glamorous Bennett convinces you that she is a wallflower, despite looking just as attractive as ever. Perhaps it's the way she carries her body, or the inflection in her voice.The film may have been fresh in its day, but now seems trite and contrived. Nevertheless, if you're a Constance Bennett fan, you'll enjoy this film.