November 18 movie: The Locked Door. Barbara Stanwyck's first talkie! The movie starts with a bang, as Stanwyck visits a "rum boat" (apparently this was a small cruise ship loaded with alcohol with went out into international waters for the evening, thus evading Prohibition) with a nefarious character who tries to rape her. Fast forward a year, Stanwyck is married and respectable and her sweet young sister in law is dating ... dun dun! The evil guy! The evil guy tries to ruin the sister, he gets killed, everyone takes the rap to try and protect everyone else, and it's all very exciting up to the ridiculous ending that ties everything up in a neat little package.
I can't recommend this unless you're really into Barbara Stanwyck or Zasu Pitts who has a small, funny role. The acting is terrible; if this had been the first Stanwyck movie I ever saw, I don't think I would have bothered with another. If you're mildly curious about Stanwyck's early, sleazy pre-code movies, watch Baby Face or Night Nurse.
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