Valerie West (Constance Bennett) wandered into the studio of John Neville (Joel McCrea) after breaking off her affair with Dick Carmedon (Lew Cody). It was a big deal back then because Valerie was giving Carmedon only what a wife should be giving her husband. In other words, she was now tainted goods.
Valerie began modeling nude for John and bada-bing bada-bang they fell in love. There was an issue though, John didn't know Valerie's past and everyone else did. Furthermore, John was from high society which made his involvement with Valerie doubly bad.
Throughout the movie people kept mentioning Dick Carmedon like he was a boogeyman. "Oh, don't you know she was with Dick Carmedon?" It was a roundabout way of saying she was under the sheets with a man who wasn't her husband.
When John became aware that Valerie used to be with Dick he got in his feelings and decided not to propose to his model turned sweetheart. To me it was another gimme-a-flippin'-break moment from early 20th century films. Too many times I've seen people fall in love while not knowing much about the other only to be surprised to hear that the person has skeletons in their closet. It's as if it's impossible for them to fall in love with anyone other than a pure, sinless soul. Like their heart is supposed to tell the difference between an angel and a fallible human being, so once they find out the object of their love is fallible they are crushed. It's very infuriating because the solution is so simple: before proposing, or accepting a proposal, REALLY GET TO KNOW THE PERSON. That means their family, their friends, and even their secrets. You don't have to know all their secrets, but at least the ones that may resurface one day.
John made the decision to cut Valerie out of his life once he found out about her past. She was rightfully upset because she never hid anything from him. If he had asked, she would've told him, but she genuinely thought he wasn't interested in her that way. All the same, John cut Valerie off clean.
Remember this is a romance though, so somehow they were going to have to reunite. Well, Valerie essentially crawled back into John's life as though she was the guilty party and the one needing to make amends. The petulant, moody John took her back. Their relationship would face one more obstacle set up by John's sister, Claire (Hedda Hopper), as she attempted to expose Valerie. Claire's devious plan didn't work and John and Valerie ran off to get hitched and, presumably, live happily ever after.
The whole thing was a joke. Somehow John was made to be the victim in all this when he was far from it. He fell in love with a woman he knew little about and he acted like an angry brat the rest of the movie once he did learn about her past. He was a child. A grown child, and that's why he was portrayed as the victim. He was an innocent child while Valerie was the worldly woman. How dare this worldly woman play with the emotions of a child? But that's not at all how I saw it. John was a naive, gullible, Mary Sue. He was a man-child who needed to grow up, and by all indications, that never happened and never was going to happen.
Valerie began modeling nude for John and bada-bing bada-bang they fell in love. There was an issue though, John didn't know Valerie's past and everyone else did. Furthermore, John was from high society which made his involvement with Valerie doubly bad.
Throughout the movie people kept mentioning Dick Carmedon like he was a boogeyman. "Oh, don't you know she was with Dick Carmedon?" It was a roundabout way of saying she was under the sheets with a man who wasn't her husband.
When John became aware that Valerie used to be with Dick he got in his feelings and decided not to propose to his model turned sweetheart. To me it was another gimme-a-flippin'-break moment from early 20th century films. Too many times I've seen people fall in love while not knowing much about the other only to be surprised to hear that the person has skeletons in their closet. It's as if it's impossible for them to fall in love with anyone other than a pure, sinless soul. Like their heart is supposed to tell the difference between an angel and a fallible human being, so once they find out the object of their love is fallible they are crushed. It's very infuriating because the solution is so simple: before proposing, or accepting a proposal, REALLY GET TO KNOW THE PERSON. That means their family, their friends, and even their secrets. You don't have to know all their secrets, but at least the ones that may resurface one day.
John made the decision to cut Valerie out of his life once he found out about her past. She was rightfully upset because she never hid anything from him. If he had asked, she would've told him, but she genuinely thought he wasn't interested in her that way. All the same, John cut Valerie off clean.
Remember this is a romance though, so somehow they were going to have to reunite. Well, Valerie essentially crawled back into John's life as though she was the guilty party and the one needing to make amends. The petulant, moody John took her back. Their relationship would face one more obstacle set up by John's sister, Claire (Hedda Hopper), as she attempted to expose Valerie. Claire's devious plan didn't work and John and Valerie ran off to get hitched and, presumably, live happily ever after.
The whole thing was a joke. Somehow John was made to be the victim in all this when he was far from it. He fell in love with a woman he knew little about and he acted like an angry brat the rest of the movie once he did learn about her past. He was a child. A grown child, and that's why he was portrayed as the victim. He was an innocent child while Valerie was the worldly woman. How dare this worldly woman play with the emotions of a child? But that's not at all how I saw it. John was a naive, gullible, Mary Sue. He was a man-child who needed to grow up, and by all indications, that never happened and never was going to happen.