Bed of Roses (1933) User Reviews

Bed for Sale

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 7 May 2012]

Incorrigible and beautiful Constance Bennett (as Lorry Evans) and her gin-loving pal Pert Kelton (as Minnie Brown) are released from prison on the same day. Dressed to the nines, the pair set out to seduce and rob wealthy men on the way to New Orleans. Ostensibly a prostitute, Ms. Bennett nonetheless avoids sex by getting her victims too drunk to perform. An old trick. En route, Bennett meets and falls literally and figuratively for tall, dark and handsome Joel McCrea (as Dan). After robbing Mr. McCrea, Bennett installs herself as well-kept mistress to wealthy publisher John Halliday (as Stephen "Steve" Paige). As the film progresses, Bennett and the cast realize what you knew all along, but Bennett's past and present could prevent her future happiness with McCrea…

****** Bed of Roses (6/29/33) Gregory La Cava ~ Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, Pert Kelton, John Halliday

Qualified as a screen team

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 30 June 2013]

Bed Of Roses is the fourth and final film that Joel McCrea and Constance Bennett did which certainly should qualify them as a screen team. Paired by RKO Pictures the two worked well together.

The fact that both Bennett and Pert Kelton are a pair of prostitutes recently released from prison qualifies this film as a before the Code classic. The picture is quite frank about what they do.

In fact they're back doing it as soon as they're released shows they haven't repented. But both are looking for some comfortable permanent arrangements. For Kelton she manages to rope a traveling salesman, but in that same dodge Bennett jumps off a Mississipi riverboat fleeing from the captain after she's caught rolling another of the salesman for his dough.

Where she's picked up by Joel McCrea who runs and lives on a cotton barge. Thanks, but no thanks says Bennett, she's after bigger game and lands it in the person of New Orleans millionaire John Halliday.

I won't say any more, you know how this will end. And remember this is before the Code went in place. The lack of the Code made motion pictures a lot more free with details, but the American movie-going public expected stories to go a certain way.

What might have been nice is a bit more of Pert Kelton, her scenes have some real bite to them, but Bennett and McCrea acquit themselves well here.

precode - and a young Pert Kelton!

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 25 June 2021]

Constance Bennett stars with Joel McCrea, Pert Kelton, and John Halliday in "Bed of Roses" from 1933.

Bennett and Kelton are Lorrie and Minnie, two prostitutes who are released from prison and go looking for money - even if they have to steal it. On board ship, Lorrie is accused of stealing (which she has) and threatens to jump overboard. Then she does.

As luck would have it, she swims to a ship carrying cotton, the crew led by Dan (Joel McCrea). This could only happen to Constance Bennett. The two of them are attracted to one another; she steals money from him and takes off. Somehow she gets to shore.

Donning a new wardrobe, Lorrie talks her way into the office of a publisher (John Halliday) and pretty soon gets him drunk and makes him think he's compromised her. He sets her up in a gorgeous apartment, and she has all kinds of money and servants. But her heart is on the cotton barge.

This is a very enjoyable film with both Bennett and Kelton turning in wonderful performances. Pert talks like Mae West and is very funny; the usually sophisticated Bennett can sound tough when she needs to. Joel McCrea is adorable, with that dreamy naivete that made him so appealing.

All in all, recommended.

Another Little Gem from the early '30s

[fsilva · 26 September 2003]

This one's really a very good picture and upon watching it...I didn't feel like watching an old piece of a museum...no, no, on the very contrary, it's a lively, very well paced, cast & acted film, I'd even say it didn't seem dated to me. Surely Gregory LaCava (later responsible for Carole Lombard's 1936 "My Man Godfrey") did an excellent job with this picture.

I'd never seen before Pert Kelton, in her young days...and she's hot!, I found myself laughing loudly, after listening to her endless wisecracks, playing the heroine's (Constance Bennett) pal, world weary, self-assured, etc... her way of speaking reminded me of Mae West. Both Girls (Bennett & Kelton) impersonate a pair of streetwalkers or "easy women" who want to make it big & go places, after being released of prison.

Johnny Halliday is very good too, as the millionaire Bennett tries to "catch"... and Joel McCrea, is the usual good guy, ... but no so naive, honest man, for whom Connie Bennett falls . He plays very well opposite Bennett, 'cos they have lots of chemistry...well, that may be the reason why they were paired more times by RKO.

Look for Jane Darwell (uncredited) as the head of the women's prison from where Kelton & Bennett are released at the beginning of the movie and for Frankling Pangborn as a clerk... I'm even sure that I saw Louise Beavers (star of "Imitation of Life" (1934)), as one of the women that were released along with Bennett and Kelton.

You've got to watch this one, not only if you're fond of Pre-Code early talkies, but for plain fun.

Pretty risqué for '33....lot'sa fun !!

[tmpj · 7/10 · 28 October 2010]

Actually, not a bad film for an old antique. Bennett and Kelton are two prosties with no shame in their game. The films open with the girls having served their time---either for soliciting or theft--and getting booted out of the clink. Bennett rolls a drunk for his bankroll aboard a barge headed down the river. She gets busted by an adamant Matt McHugh, and jumps overboard rather than face the music and go back and do more time. She is fished out of the river by Joel Macrae, who skippers a cotton barge. Despite his kindness to her, she rolls him too--for the whole payroll...and skips. But this time, her conscience gets to her...and she discovers love. She pays him back...instead of blowing a fuse, he proposes to her. But she is busy milking another sucker, a sugar daddy she meets by way of deceit. He falls for her, and takes her in, giving her some stability. But...love will out...she's ready and willing to throw it all away because she loves the cotton barge skipper. But , she has a past that needs to be reconciled, and sugar daddy beats her over the head with it. So, with love in her heart, but with low self esteem and fear of rejection by the lover she has at long last found, she dis-appears, even gets a job ! Remarkable. Macrae finally finds her, and what happens is the stuff fairy tales are made of. The film is a worthwhile watch, though I am certain that audiences of the early '30s did not look upon it the same way they would some half a century later with the likes of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Pert Kelton gets special mention...she steals her share of scenes and was quite a siren of the screen during that period...she had sex-appeal that oozed and dripped from the screen. Maybe it did her more harm than good, but she is one of the sexiest women on the screen during this period. One line she utters that I really like is "...I'll take vanilla", one of the strident wisecracks of the screen during this time. Also, Mildred Washington appears, playing a maid. Mildred did not shuffle, and was a star in her own right on the Black circuit. Her unfortunate early death robbed us of a presence on film that was both intelligent and vivacious. See this film...despite its age, it deals with the subject matter realistically, for the most part, is well made, and very entertaining.

Watch it for Bennett and Kelton

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 4 September 2019]

Lots of pre-Code banter and sauciness from Constance Bennett and Pert Kelton are the highlight of this film, which is average for the period, but well-paced and entertaining nonetheless. The pair are fresh out of prison and looking to get their hooks into men with money who can get them to New Orleans, and it's clear what Kelton will be doing with a truck driver in exchange for a ride down to the docks, which is just the beginning for them. The theme of getting rich quickly was common during Depression era pre-Code films, and "bad women" are often depicted as shrewdly using their wiles to break down dimwitted, supposedly moral men as a way of going about that, and this film is certainly in that category. The motif is a mix of being a reflection of the times, titillation, and empowerment of female sexuality, one that may seem odd or contradictory (or simply off-putting) to some viewers, but which I find intriguing maybe because of all of those things.

The plot is pretty straightforward but the film takes an interesting turn when Bennett gets caught stealing money from a guy she's gotten drunk on a steamboat, and then jumps overboard to elude capture. She gets picked up by the captain of a humble cotton barge (Joel McCrea), who is a decent guy, but she steals from him too before fleeing in the night. We know that somehow they'll run into one another again, and of course they do. As Bennett is known more for character types that were upstanding, it was fun to see her in this role, and do things like sip ever so suggestively from a shot glass to seduce yet another guy. Kelton makes the most of her part and her scene exits too, exaggerating her walk in ways that brought comparisons to Mae West. Unfortunately the film isn't all that well developed, and McCrea is mostly wasted in a role that's too simple, though the moment after he kisses Bennett and she says breathlessly "What was that, a tidal wave? Try it again" is pretty steamy.

Enjoyable with some witty writing

[yerwan1 · 7/10 · 10 March 2021]

Entertaining romance with Bennett and McRae as believable romantic leads. What I enjoyed most, though, were the many very witty lines, particularly those written for and delivered deliciously by actress Pert Kelton. Many funny lines, performed with skill and perfect timing, some had me laughing out loud.

Constance Bennett proves she wasn't just a pretty face

[1930s_Time_Machine · 7/10 · 4 June 2023]

This is a superbly engrossing melodrama with a hard-hitting edge presented in an accessible, non-confrontational style.

Like a lot of early thirties pictures, the theme this deals with is the pitiful and frighteningly awful lack of opportunities young, poor women had back then. It's not as shocking as Loretta Young's SHE HAD TO SAY YES (actually an even better film) which left you with the jaw-dropping realisation of what times were really like but nevertheless it still destroys any false preconceptions that gold diggers or prostitutes did that out of choice.

In a challenging role, Constance makes her character difficult to like at the start. Her task is to try to get the get the audience on her side which she achieves effortlessly. She mainly played heiresses or glamorous romantic heroines so this was a bit of a departure for her but any worries that she'd not be able to convey a low-life, hard boiled amoral girl from the wrong side of the tracks were instantly dispelled. (She does a million times better at this than her sister did in the terrible ME AND MY GAL) I wonder if this character was a man would the audience be so easily swayed - but of course what made this person so unpleasant was specifically because she wasn't a man: she had had to survive in that brutal society in the only way she knew how.

Director Gregory la Cava never lets your attention slip for a minute, makes it lovely to look at and plays a lot with symbolism. It's interesting to compare how different Constance Bennett's character behaves depending on what sort of room she is in particularly in the prison cell or the ill-gotten opulent suite, her self-made prison cell.

Overall it's a fabulous insight into how life had to be lived in the early thirties. It's directed with energy and fun so although it's all serious stuff, it still feels funny. Constance Bennett is surprisingly brilliant, she gained her fame from her looks but this proves that she's wasn't just a pretty face. She carries this whole film herself so how good the rest of the cast are doesn't really matter - although you do get a little irritated by Pert Kelton's annoying Mae West impersonation.

Still pretty strong

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 28 May 2003]

Constance Bennett and pal Pat Kelton get out of prison and will do anything--ANYTHING--to get a man with cash. Bennett eventually falls in love with poor Joel McCrea--but will she be able to tell him about her past?

Nothing new story wise but some of the dialogue and situations are pretty frank for 1933. It's made quite clear that Bennett and Kelton have, and will, sleep with men for money. Also one woman is very obviously a kept woman. Very much a pre-Code film.

The dialogue is sharp, funny, fast and racy. All the acting is great--Bennett is just beautiful, McCrea is young, hunky and handsome and Kelton is hysterical doing a Mae West imitation.

Quick (67 minutes) and worth catching.

"Toodle-oo -- Thanks for trying!"

[evening1 · 6/10 · 5 May 2020]

Can a leopard change its spots? For love, yes, this odd little pre-code romance seems to tell us.

Just-sprung-from-prison prostitute Lorry (Constance Bennett) treats male-female interactions as strictly hunt-or-be-hunted. She runs away from consequences, so when she's chased around a steamboat for stealing $60, she jumps overboard, only to be pulled from the Mississippi by a guy the she doesn't immediately recognize as the man of her dreams -- rough-around-the-edges, principled barge Capt. Don.

Played attractively by Joel McRae, Don admires Lorry's spunk and gives her dry overalls. He also serves up a catfish dinner, offers a game of checkers, waxes poetic about the stars, and offers Lorry his bunk -- without trying to hop in. Lorry can't believe a guy like this exists. (O brave new world, that has such people in't!) Still, her transformation isn't immediate. She pickpockets Don before running back to businessman Stephen Paige (John Halliday), her sugar daddy. The theft doesn't bother Don -- he figures Lorry needed the money more than he did. Inspired and amazed, Lorry tries to build a little integrity by taking an honest job in a department store until Don tracks her down and proposes marriage. Will love conquer all? This movie would have us believe so. Like Cinderella's prince, Don asks no questions.

This movie has mistily atmospheric river scenes and a wonderful score based on deckhands singing spirituals. There's a little overacting, on the part of Ms. Bennett at times, and especially by Pert Kelton doing a Mae West imitation as Lorry's friend. Halliday's character is off-puttingly cartoonish. First he's bamboozled by Lorry. Then he tries to hold on by calling her damaged goods -- "A man imagines the woman he marries as something set apart -- clean." Yeech!

For a far better film on the subject of a prostitute going straight, I'd recommend "The Naked Kiss" (1964).

Joel McCrea as an eligible skipper...Constance Bennett as a walking man-trap

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 12 May 2009]

Constance Bennett and Pert Kelton are a comical hoot playing two small-time hustlers on the make for wealthy husbands; Joel McCrea is a riverboat skipper who falls for Constance, who gives the earthy captain nothing but heartache. Extremely brief early talkie directed by Gregory La Cava, who also worked on the screenplay. McCrea is attractive and likable (as usual), and there are several snappy dialogue exchanges, amusing interplay between the gals. Nice collection of character actors in the supporting cast, including Jane Darwell as a prison matron. Nothing extraordinary, but a fairly fun outing with a satisfying wrap-up. ** from ****

As Chic, Erotic, and Snazzy As Its Two Stars

[Handlinghandel · 8/10 · 14 March 2005]

A witty vehicle for the beautiful Constance Bennett, this has dialogue that seems to aspire to that of Noel Coward.

Bennett and the delightful Pert Kelton leave prison at the same time. (Later, Bennett refers to Kelton as her roommate from convent. One wonders if Patrick Dennis was inspired by this when he had Belle Poitrine describe her reform school friend Winnie as a friend from boarding school. This occurs in "Little Me," one of the most hilarious books ever written and surely, 40 years or more after its publication, a dead-on commentary on movie star autobiographies.) Bernnett finds herself a nice sugar daddy in John Halliday. He sets her up in some swank apartment, let me tell you! Alas, she meets Joel McCrea, here the owner of a fishing boat. He looks bony here -- but as gorgeous a man as ever graced the screen. His only equal was Gary Cooper around this time.

Bennett falls for him and is willing to dump her riches to take to the sea with him -- as who in his or her right mind would not have. These plans are thwarted by jealous Halliday. But after a Mardi Gras sequence that doesn't entirely work, all ends happily -- at least for our two beautiful stars.

silliness during the depression

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 24 August 2022]

Lorry and minnie are fresh out of jail for prostitution. And clearly they haven't been rehabilitated! Although to be fair, there probably weren't a lot of decent jobs to be had in the early 1930s! So they keep on the current career path, taking advantage of every man they meet. Stars constance bennett, joel macrae. Bennett had started in silents but is probably best known for topper and merrily we live. Macrae was known for sullivan's travels. It's a sign of the times, where people did whatever they could to survive. Small role for one of my favorite characters, frank pangborn. It's entertaining, not to be taken seriously. But it is a chance to see bennett, macrae, and pangborn.

Rolling (guys) on the river, and elsewhere

[SimonJack · 5/10 · 10 January 2020]

"Bed of Roses" is a film that some who get hung up on the early Hollywood rating code would be quick to call a "pre-code" film. While some such early sound films were quite risqué, the vast majority of them weren't, even by standards of the time. Many modern "R" rated films are far more explicit with sex, nudity, and more. The point is made here because this film has nothing like that. But what it does have is innuendo, suggestion and unspoken sex content. So, it's a good example of what the Hollywood writers would have to be doing in all such films within the next year, when the studios began enforcing their "Breen" code through the Hays office. Those are the names of the men who were the first to handle this task for the movie moguls.

Of course, what makes this a so-called "pre-code" film is its obvious reference to the two female leads as prostitutes from the very opening. Even such a reference would get tougher screening within a year. So, the two female leads are hookers whose livelihoods consist of trying to roll prospects before having to deliver the goods.

It's interesting for that aspect, where so few films were made before the mid-to-late 20th century about such characters. There were many films about gold-diggers and women (and some men) looking for wealthy prospects for spouses. But this is an early look at a couple of women who make their living by rolling dupes.

Obviously, the plot had to be more than that, and so one of the women decides to go straight after she falls for a hard-working river barge operator. The setting is around the Mississippi River and New Orleans. A number of early movies were set on paddle-wheelers (besides the musical, "Show Boat").

The screenplay is somewhat weak in spots, and the direction and editing seem sloppy at times. The cast are okay, but not exceptional. That goes for Constance Bennett as Lorry Evans and Joel McCrea as Dan. John Halliday's Stephen Paige seems a little overboard at times, and wooden at other times. The best performance in the film is by Pert Kelton as Minnie Brown, the girlfriend and fellow crook of Lorry.

The film is a comedy romance and drama. The comedy is mostly in some snappy dialog quips by Lorry or Minnie. The best line is by Minnie, when she says, "Mmm, you know, Mr. Paige, it's too back you wasn't born twins."

Sassy RKO Programmer

[dougdoepke · 17 March 2018]

Snappy comedy drama. With all the biting dialogue and crusty dames, I kept thinking '30's Warner Bros. but it's RKO on a Warner's trip. Bennet and Kelton are a couple of hookers on probation looking for a way to get by. So guess what, Bennet meets sugar daddy Halliday who sets her up in comfort after initial misgivings (she probably applied her professional know-how). So it's now a bed of roses except that she can't get over cotton barge captain McCrea. Trouble is he's a straight shooter who might reject her if he finds out about her past. So what's she to do-- stay with sugar daddy or follow her heart and risk rejection. And will Kelton's presence help since she's a constant reminder.

All in all, it's a little gem, with sassy Kelton providing spark. Some of the lines are knee-slappers, like the guy who tells the girl he's a boll-weevil exterminator to which she replies, "I ain't done nothin' ". Mc Crea may get top male billing, but it's really Halliday getting the screentime. Note too how the screenplay finesses prostitution even though 1933 is still pre-Code. And that's along with cracks about Prohibition, which was about to end its 13-dry years. Anyway, thanks to the writers including underrated director La Cava, it's a nifty programmer of the sort old movie fans love to stumble across. I know I did.

bed of roses

[mossgrymk · 6/10 · 25 January 2022]

I agree with my IMDB colleagues that the pre code repartee is amusing. Would that the writers had expended even a fourth the effort they spent on the dialogue into providing us with a story. And Pert Kelton's ripping off Ms. West is both irritating as well as un amusing. However, it's always nice to be reminded that Constance Bennet was in the same league as Blondell, Farrel, Harlow and Sothern and just a hair below Babs and a few hairs below Lombard. Give it a C plus.

problematic triangle

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 20 November 2023]

Lorry Evans (Constance Bennett) and Minnie Brown (Pert Kelton) are released from prison. They are hookers who sometimes roll their drunk clients. When Lorry is accused of stealing, she jumps off the steamboat and gets fished out by barge owner Dan (Joel McCrea). She falls for him, but he is not rich enough. She still steals from him before leaving. She next targets wealthy publisher Stephen Paige (John Halliday).

This is a pre-Code dramedy. The character Lorry is definitely pre-Code. She's also hard to root for. It could be fun to be a con, but she's not fun. She's bitter. When she tries to be a victim, it doesn't work. I'm not sure about Paige either. I get the physical attraction, but he can do better if he just wants a fling. Their start does not warrant his investment. The love triangle is problematic. Pert Kelton is doing the sassy wise-cracking best friend and she's probably the only hitting the right notes. This is a borderline case.

Passe

[view_and_review · 6/10 · 8 December 2023]

Your typical romances from Hollywood's inception until today start off one of two ways. Either the two hit it off right away or they disdain each other then begin to love each other. "Bed of Roses" is of the latter variety.

The girl in this case was Lorry Evans (Constance Bennett). She had just been released from prison and was already doing things that could land her right back in prison. She lived by her wits which usually involved separating men from their money.

The boy was Dan Walters (Joel McCrea). He was a cotton barge captain in Louisiana and didn't have much money to his name. But what he lacked in dough he made up for in character.

The two met when Lorry jumped off of a steamship to evade the law. Dan rescued her and they were adversarial right away. Lorry even stole his wad of cash that he foolishly left in his unattended jacket. He probably had some queer idea about pretty women that they don't steal and don't do anything wrong.

The money Lorry stole served as a lure to catch a bigger fish named Stephen Paige (John Halliday). Stephen was a publisher and had money. Lorry got him nice and drunk in order for her to trick him into believing they'd done something improper. It's a trick that was used in a more nefarious way in the movie "Party Girl" (1930). It's such a silly ploy that it was funny in "Bed of Roses" because they made it more comedic, but it was plain absurd in "Party Girl" where they tried to make it a serious matter.

Lorry was able to get a nice apartment, servants, money, clothes, and jewelry out of her scheme. It was the setup she desired, but she was falling in love with Dan the cotton carrier.

This is when the movie began to break down and become passe. It turned into your very typical would-he-love-her-if-he-knew romance. This plot had been done too many times already even by 1933. Usually it's the woman's history that's in question (I guess because men were expected to have a history and women were not). She wants to keep her history hidden because she's afraid the man will leave her only to find out that the man loved her so much that her history didn't matter.

I liked the first half of "Bed of Roses" because it was something flavorful and something different. By the second half it became bland and flavorless. I'm seeing that a lot lately. Writers and directors have awesome beginnings only to settle into the cliche and by-the-numbers finish.

Free on Odnoklassniki.

This enlightening film instructs viewers that . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 6/10 · 9 April 2021]

. . . there's nothing more that American businessmen desire than skilled strumpets--especially if the latter have spent a stretch in the state pen for women on hooking charges. Though Minnie settles for wedding the first traveling sales guy who happens her way, Laurie gets to play the option of being a rich dude's highly compensated mistress against her chance to become the spouse of a much younger, better-looking business owner. Since New Orleans sits in one of those Rebel states wherein most men are happy to wed their chunky first cousins, the more Progressive gents swarm the women's penitentiary on Parole Day eager to snap up any stray Jezebel who gives them a second glance. With their choice pretty much limited to harpies or harlots, most Southern "gentlemen" will select the Dirty Gertie every time as the best possible mother for their future tykes. As one "Colonel" puts it, "Who needs to learn about the Birds and the Bees at school, when my kids have a bordello graduate tucking them in every night?"

Scandalous and highly entertaining

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 10 April 2007]

This is a marvelous example of a "Pre-Code" Hollywood film; i.e., a film that appeared before the strict Production Code was imposed in the mid-1930s. As a result of the time in which it was made, it deals with very adult situations and sex in a much more frank manner than you would have seen just a couple years later. This may surprise some viewers, but many Pre-Code films were actually filled with adultery, nudity or crudeness most incorrectly think began only in the 1960s and 70s.

Constance Bennett and her snappy-talking friend, Pert Kelton, are both being released from prison as the film begins. Instead of being repentant, they are anxious to find and fleece some rich chumps though their brazen sex appeal and willingness to put out if needed! This certainly is NOT the type of film you thought your grandparents would have watched, is it?! Constance's plans are quickly changed when she is nearly re-arrested for swindling some men, so she quickly jumps overboard and makes her way to a lowly barge. On board, she meets nice-guy Joel McCrea, but she soon leaves to look for a rich sucker--not some poor working stiff like him. Through some lying and deceit, she gets a sugar daddy and lives the life of Riley. A bit later, you find that Pert has also hooked a man, though she actually married him instead of becoming his mistress (like Bennett and her beau).

Eventually, though, Bennett tires of her slutty ways and longs to see McCrea and a little romance blossoms. However, since she really does like him down deep, she realizes she's all wrong for him and so she decides to give up her evil ways and get a real job--so she can finally gain some self-respect. Eventually, smitten McCrea catches up to her and they manage to work things out and the film ends on a happy note.

As I mentioned above, this is a very scandalous movie compared to later Hollywood films of the 30s and 40s due to its frankness about sex, snappy double-entendres and because the entire plot revolves around the notion of sleeping your way to success!! In this light alone, it's a very entertaining and amazing film to watch. However, underneath all this sleaze, it's a very good film and is well worth your time. A good example of the genre and a good film regardless.

Bennett seduction technique on display

[hotangen · 5/10 · 28 January 2015]

In order to seduce a rich publisher, Bennett, posing as a newspaper interviewer, wears spectacles. In spite of beauty disguised, Halliday tumbles into her trap. The morning after a boozed-filled night, and although he's wise to her game, what does Halliday do? He tells his valet he'll be apartment hunting that day. Within 12 hours Bennett lands herself in a Bed of Roses.

Soon after, Bennett, having grown accustomed to maid service and her super-deluxe apartment, tires of luxury. The pampered and bored Bennett yearns for love - in the handsome face and figure of Joel McCrea. She decides she will find her happiness on his cotton barge sailing up and down the Mississippi. Halliday tells her she'll tire of river boating and cooking and cleaning and looking after McCrea after the honeymoon euphoria wears off- and I agree.

The film's message is that a girl won't find lasting happiness in feathers and furs - true - but in self-respect - true - and romance - false. Except for the first 15 minutes of tawdry sordidness where I wondered why Bennett agreed to make this film, I enjoyed watching the Bad Girl turn herself into a Good Girl.

The dirtiest 15 minutes you'll ever see from the 1930's!

[audiemurph · 8/10 · 28 January 2013]

I have watched many movies of the 1930's and I think I can make the following statement in clear conscience: the first 15 minutes of 1933's "Bed of Roses" is the dirtiest sequence of main stream film to grace the screen for the next 25 years! Wow, it is awesome. The great Constance Bennett, and her hooker partner Minnie, both just out of jail, need a ride to New Orleans. Minnie cozies up to a truck driver, asks for a ride, he says "what's your offer?" Then, a minute later, Bennett sidles up, and Minnie asks her, "can you drive?"! Implied yet relatively explicit is the suggestion that Minnie will be "paying off" the driver in the back of the truck! Wow! Then, once on the riverboat, the two girls are short of cash, so Minnie quite obviously whispers a rude offer into the steward's ear. He rejects the offer, but she doesn't mind - "nothing personal" she declaims. Judy Garland never behaved this way with Mickey Rooney over at MGM!

Folks, I am ever-grateful that the "Code" forced Hollywood to keep its movies very clean for 2 or 3 decades: the art of that period will never be surpassed again. But taking this path makes all those slightly naughty movies of the early 30's that much more fascinating and wonderful to see, like they got away with something, and we are the beneficiaries of that daring.

Another interesting decision the director makes is to take about 15 minutes worth of early action, which takes place on the Mississippi River, and have it all occur in a quite heavy fog. The hazy sheen in which the actors perform is noteworthy for how long this goes on for. Again, daring and interesting.

Constance Bennett is fantastically seductive, cynical, world-weary and manipulative. Joel McCrea is great being himself. And Samuel Hinds, one of my favorite minor character actors, with his perpetually silvery hair, is his usual fatherly best.

A great one from the early days, not to be missed, even if not one of the characters has a Louisiana accent.

Mardi Gras

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 30 August 2005]

Gregory LaCava, shows he is a very inspired director with "Bed of Roses" a film that dealt frankly with things that were to be forgotten when the Hays Code was finally enforced in 1934. This was a different Hollywood, one that took chances in presenting things the way they were, and without being hypocritical about them.

This was obvious a vehicle for Constance Bennett, the beautiful actress. She plays Lorry Evans, who has just been released from jail. Together with her partner, Minnie Brown, they hit New Orleans in search for a meal ticket, preferably a rich man to keep them in style.

Lorry finds such a man in Steve Paige, who is more than generous, but he demands something that the beautiful Lorrie doesn't feel for him, love! She meets hunky Dan Walters, and it's love at first sight, or so it seems. The only problem is that Dan is a poor man who can't give Lorrie what she has been used to.

As far as the melodrama goes, it's pretty conventional. What made an impression on this viewer was the frankness in which the subject matter is presented. Constance Bennett and Joel McCrea are perfect together. Both of them were attractive and young, in contrast with "sugar daddy" John Halliday, who keeps reminding Lorrie about her new acquired tastes. Pert Kelton, is seen as Minnie in a fantastic performance.

This was a film produced in Hollywood before the Code and it shows.

Let me direct your attention to ...

[laursene · 9/10 · 15 July 2006]

... the scene in the second half of the film in which most of the principals attend a costume ball. Connie Bennett and Pert Kelton both appear in fancy dress, in masks, with cordial smiles on their faces and the main chance in their hearts. It's a delicious moment that sums up the whole movie: the way life is about role-playing, the way it delights us and defeats us. Playing the game is the point, according to our preceptor LaCava, and here everyone plays it most engagingly.

Cheers also for the scene where Bennett visits McCrea one morning on his scow, and watches him shave. No doe-eyed innocents here: he knows the score, so does she, and we, of course, can read between the lines.

Entertaining Pre-Coder About Two Snappy Sirens

[LeonLouisRicci · 8/10 · 10 November 2014]

Very Good Little Slice of the Street Life from RKO that is Racy, Yet Playful and Full of Peppery Slang and a Peek at Gold Digger Prostitutes Fresh From the Slammer who Show No Reform and are Back to Their Roots just Outside the Prison Gate.

This is Definitive Pre-Code Stuff that would become Forcibly Absent in Hollywood for Decades. The Two Dames, Played by Constance Bennett and Pert Kelton are surely an Eyeful with Skin Tight Dresses and Swagger to Burn. Especially Kelton who is Channeling Mae West and completely Holds Her Own with Star Bennet and then some.

Joel McCrea doesn't do much here but is, as Always, a Likable Hunk. There are some Tasty Period Settings including a Sugar Daddy Funded Apartment and a Mardi Gra Party. It's a Hoot of a Movie with some Serious Social Concerns at Play but is Never Preachy and Delivered in a Semi-Comedic Tone.

Definitely Worth a Watch for the Pre-Code Daringness and Attractive Actors. It's another Short Movie from the Era and this is the Kind that one Wishes More Screen Time for All involved.