Disgraced (1933) User Reviews

Unusual ending makes this film a cut above most

[kidboots · 8/10 · 19 August 2009]

Helen Twelvetrees must have been just as fed up as everyone else with the type of parts she was continually being given. She was Queen of the "sin picture" but unlike Mae West or Jean Harlow, sin was no fun for Helen. If studios needed a young bride whose husband, unbeknownst to her, was a bootlegger, and was also lusted after by a psychotic gangster (Ricardo Cortez) they got Helen (in "Bad Company" (1931)) and if they needed a young girl, whose brother (Robert Young) kills her slimy fiancée and can only be saved from death if she goes on the stand and destroys her reputation, that's Helen (in "Unashamed" (1932)). But Helen Twelvetrees acting reputation is now becoming quite respected and her films are always enjoyable.

The opening credits introduce the stars in a novel way. Gay Holloway (Helen Twelvetrees), a department store model, is over at Julia's (the shimmering Adrienne Ames) flat to show her some evening gowns (Wow!!!! she looks so beautiful - even putting luscious Adrienne Ames in the shade, if that is possible). While there she meets sleazy playboy, Kirk Underwood Jnr. (Bruce Cabot) - even though he is engaged to Julia, that doesn't stop him romancing Gay, who doesn't know he is engaged!!!

Gay's father (William Harrigan), a policeman, gets a promotion to Captain and expresses his concern about her job and the perils that working girls can find themselves in. Naive Gay thinks she can take care of herself (hasn't Helen learned anything from her movies!!!) but she so obviously can't as she allows herself to be compromised by Kirk (by this time she knows of his engagement). Of course, he tells her the "engagement" is all a mistake and the beautiful beach house has been decorated only for her. It has - but not for the reason she thinks - it is a "love nest" designed to keep Gay out of the way while he can still have a "respectable" life with Julia!!! When she is asked to model a wedding dress for - Julia!! she realises that she has been played for a fool and goes to the beach house for the "big showdown"!!!

Things get ugly and by the end of the night there is a murder and two confessions!!! How they come to the truth and the unusual ending make this an excellent film. Ken Murray plays Jim McGuire, Gay's pal. Bruce Cabot and Adrienne Ames met on the set and were shortly married - however it was not long lasting - only until 1937.

Highly Recommended.

Good solid pre-coder

[RickeyMooney · 7/10 · 21 August 2021]

Unlikely to make anyone's top ten list, but a fine example of fast-paced pre-coder with adult content and unexpected twists.

It's a tale of two couples. Helen Twelvetrees and Ken Murray play working-class types who've been friends since childhood. He wants to marry her, she's lukewarm. Adrianne Ames and Bruce Cabot are two spoiled rich kids without responsibilities and not much in the way of morals. They're engaged but don't take it too seriously. Twelvetrees is a model and Cabot is smitten when he sees her modeling outfits for Ames.

He claims he's serious, but is he? A big question in many such films. To complicate things her father is a fiercely protective cop.

As in any good story, the characters are not one-dimensional. Their actions are unpredictable and there motives unclear. For instance, is Twelvetrees a naive innocent or a gold digger? Is her father protective of women in general, or only his daughter? And of course, who, if anyone, will end up with whom?

The film is very pre-code in its attitude that there's one set of rules for the very rich and another for everyone else.

Well, that's enough without spoiling it. A definite watch for pre-code fans that, like many of its genre, makes you reflect on things afterwards.

Rather Pre-Code in its sensibilities.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 12 January 2020]

Gay (Helen Twelvetrees) is a model. When showing off some clothing, Kirk Underwood (Bruce Cabot) sees her and is instantly smitten. While he is supposedly in love with another woman, he begins dating Gay and convinces her he's only interested in her. However, he's a dog and has only one thing on his mind...and it's not marriage! Eventually, she realizes what he's been doing to her...and she's intent on killing him for stealing her virtue. But someone else beats her to it. What exactly occurs? See it for yourself.

A lot is implied in this movie and in this sense, it's very clearly a Pre-Code film. What also is Pre-Code in sensibilities is that his murder in the end isn't clearly punished...something the newer Production Code would definitely require. Rather interesting and with a highly unusual ending. It's worth seeing.

Unusual Ending...

[orlabrown · 7/10 · 29 November 2002]

Bruce Cabot actually came across better than he has in some films...he's not a great actor, overall, IMO. In this one, he was believable enought that the crisis situation seemed...appropriate, somehow.

Helen Twelvetrees made a nice lead. A little gullible, perhaps, but then, it would have been a whole different movie if she'd been jaded.

The end was interesting, and I'm not sure I liked it very well. Didn't seem to come to an ending, exactly, but more of a "you, the jury, decide"--with the viewer as the jury. Me, I couldn't have convicted anyone, and can't swear I wouldn't have done the deed myself in equal circumstances, and the stresses of the moment.

If you like old movies, this one isn't bad. OTOH, it isn't great either, but better, IMO, than average.

Solid Pre-Code With Some Effective Camerawork

[boblipton · 6/10 · 7 January 2020]

Helen Twelvetwees is a fashion model. Her father, William Harrigan, has just been promoted to police captain. She's modeling some clothes for Afrienne Ames, when Ames' friend, Bruce Cabot, shows up. He takes a liking to Miss Twelvetrees, and sets her up in a nice house -- although she comes home -- promising to marry her. Cabot's engagement to Miss Ames is announced. He says he's going to marry Miss Twelvetrees. Then the announcement is made that Cabot and Miss Ames will be announced the next day.

There's nothing shown that could offend the censors, but the plot and characters' behaviors make it pretty raw. Erle Kenton does a pretty good job of directing, but cinematographer Karl Strauss pulls out the stops with a gracefully moving camera that does its job without calling attention to itself. The result is a solid, sordid movie that keeps the audience's attention all the way through to the end.

Delightful.

[DoorsofDylan · 7/10 · 16 January 2023]

Getting ready to meet family on New Year's Day,I decided to choose a film we could watch. With this title having sat in the "Must watch" pile for some time, it felt like the perfect moment, for a disgraced viewing.

View on the film:

Gliding up Gay's legs as she shows off the latest fashion, director Erle C. Kenton & Journey Into Fear (1943-also reviewed) cinematographer Karl Struss dress the tale in an immaculate, ultra-stylized fashion of long, gliding dolly shots which contrast the high-end clothes Gay models with her humble surroundings, crane shots displaying the bustling city life, and rapid-fire crash zooms landing on the shaky relationship between Gay and her police officer dad Holloway.

Just one of 32 credits she made, Helen Twelvetrees (who was sadly just 49 when she died from suicide in 1958) gives a sparkling performance as Gay, thanks to Twelvetrees twirling saucy Pre-Code one-liners, with a Melodrama agony, while William Harrigan brings out a fitting gruffness as Holloway tries to help his daughter out of a deadly situation.

Lacing the tale with risque punch-lines, the screenplay by Francis Martin & Alice D. G. Miller sprinkle comedic asides in a playful mix of Melodrama and Crime Pre-Code frolics, as the writers spiral out Gay's light romantic exchanges into a deadly, abrupt outburst of violence, which results in Holloway revealing his tough, fatherly manner, as he tries to save his daughter from disgrace.

Something Different

[view_and_review · 6/10 · 7 December 2023]

Finally, a society romance movie with some Umph! Too many of these society love trysts end with the right two people being together and the third wheel properly bowing out. I thought this was going to be about your typical society playboy stepping out on his wife or fiance and having the well-kept mistress on the side who is fine being a mistress so long as she was loved OR well taken care of (ala Irene Dunne in "Back Street Girl" and so many others). That's not what happened.

Gay Holloway (Helen Twelvetrees) was a beautiful young mannequin for a clothing store. While she was modeling clothes for Julia Thorndyke (Adrienne Ames) she caught the eye of Julia's fiance, Kirk Underwood, Jr. (Bruce Cabot). Kirk began making moves on Gay right away. She verbally rejected his advances, yet found herself on date after date with him. This was typical of on-screen women at that time. Their mouths would say "no" while their bodies said "yes."

If you're rolling your eyes in disgust, I'm with you. If you're rolling your eyes because you think I'm exaggerating, then you're delusional.

Gay and Kirk's romance was shaping up to go one of two predictable ways:

1.) She'd forever be his mistress.

2.) He'd leave Julia and marry her.

Kirk told Gay he wanted to marry her as soon as he got Julia out of the way. He bought her a home where they surreptitiously played house daily. Kirk had to keep it secret from Julia, and Gay had to keep it secret from her father Captain Pat Holloway (William Harrigan).

Instead of Kirk telling Julia that their wedding was off, he told her he wanted to get married posthaste. When Gay found out, the exciting happened. She didn't take it like a society girl would have: properly and with little fanfare. She tried to kill Kirk.

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

I'm not a fan of murder, but I'm a fan of passion, real hurt, and real anger. Most of all I'm a fan of variety. Mix it up. I'm tired of society folks who handle being cheated on so properly and tame. Give me some real drama.

It only got more dramatic when Gay's father was sent to the home to remove a woman Kirk couldn't handle. Unbeknownst to him he was going to remove his own daughter.

"Disgraced" gets kudos for being different. Sure, it was only the last twenty-five minutes that were the most exciting, but at least there was some excitement.

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