S. N. Behrman was a major 20th century playwright with many delightful hits that were also made into delightful movies (don't miss "Biography of a Bachelor Girl"). This one, though, has a story that could have been written on the back of an envelope. Rich, social-register scion Gene Raymond loves working-class cabaret singer Carole Lombard (she's dubbed), but his family's dead set against any union: The nerve of that woman. They marry anyway, and her frequent exhortations that he apply himself to something besides alcohol and gambling fall on deaf ears. He takes a job with his wealthy father's firm but soon tires of it, and fills his workdays with trips to the racetrack. They separate, the family defames her as a fortune hunter, and suddenly he grows a pair. He rebels against the clan, learns to do an honest day's work, and they're reunited. That's about it; there's also the pal who's hopelessly in love with Lombard (Arthur Hohl, who played many such parts) and the opportunistic friend who leads Raymond down the path of hedonism and excess (Monroe Owsley, who also played many such parts). David Burton's direction is, let's say, efficient, and Lombard, not quite at her career peak yet, is earnest and convincing and, of course, gorgeous. The modestly budgeted Columbia production doesn't altogether revel in the lavish lifestyles of the moneyed class, and it's over in a little over an hour. It's adequate entertainment, but it could have used a little more humor and dash. And plot.
Review of Brief Moment
