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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Man Of The World (1931)

Starring William Powell, Carole Lombard, Wynne Gibson, Lawrence Gray, Guy Kibbee
Directed by Richard Wallace
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An American con man in Paris, who extorts money from tourists to keep their names out of the scandal sheet he publishes, reconsiders his life when he falls for a beautiful young woman.

This romantic drama starring Powell and Lombard was released the year they were married, per Wikipedia, and although their union was a short one, the two have nice chemistry on screen.  A sequence in which Powell's character, Michael Trevor, indirectly confesses his love for Lombard's, Mary Kendall, to her by describing it as a novel he's working on is charming and heartfelt.  Powell rolls his lines off his tongue with a glibness and confidence that shows why he was such a bankable star, and Lombard shows off her vivacious appeal well.  Although the two never have a romantic clinch, their dialogue and rapport with each other is what sells the film, and Trevor's fear of his criminal past spoiling their future together makes the film a very bittersweet tale with an ending you wouldn't expect out of classic Hollywood.  It's a quality film that definitely held my interest.

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