Genevieve Tobin - The Beautiful Monster

The Woman in Red (1935)

Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Raymond, Genevieve Tobin, and John Eldridge
Director: Robert Florey
Studio: Warner Bros./Vitaphone/First National
Release Date: February 1935

"I like my blue ribbons."

Tobin is back in villain mode for The Woman in Red, a rather silly drama about the lower class and upper class mixing with rather unremarkable results. Despite the usually-fiery presence of the great Barbara Stanwyck, the plot is rote and emotions barely delve beneath surface level.

Niko (Tobin) is a wealthy widow whose habits include collecting ponies and polo players. One player in particular is Johnny (Raymond), who has a roving eye. He catches sight of Niko's winning horse wrangler Shelby (Stanwyck) and gives chase. Shelby likes Niko doesn't mind being pushed around so long as she gets to spend times with the horses, but the gleeful pursuit of Shelby by Johnny unravels everything.

Shelby and Johnny run off to elope, putting both in Niko's bad graces. Before they make it back to Johnny's old money relatives on Long Island, Niko's already sent them the news and the whole family unites against Shelby.

Shelby's more enterprising than that and suggests taking Johnny's old derelict stables and refurbishing them to start a business. They lack the funds, though, and Shelby must ask old friend and new money man Gene (Eldridge) to front the money. Things grow complicated as Niko spreads rumors that Shelby and Gene are an item. Then a fateful cruise sees Shelby tied up in a (ludicrous) murder trial.

I'm probably going to get some flack for this, but Tobin is easily the film's best part. Though shaky at first, the finale, where she's slowly turning the screws into Shelby's psychological morass, is a malicious delight. It's the only part of the movie that captures the emotional turmoil Shelby is constantly subjected to with any sort of texture.

Tobin herself plays her nastiness with a a curled lip and an almost permanent sinister smile. She doesn't portray Niko as dumb, but as charming and generous, making her villainous intentions towards our heroine even more domineering. Tobin is even the subject of one of Stanwyck's trademark fiery speeches as Shelby warns Niko against spreading rumors. Letting it slide off, Tobin smiles and makes it out alive.

The only thing besides Tobin worth noting is the costume design. Besides the unfortunate doily Tobin wears in the picture above, both she and Stanwyck are treated to a number of fabulous gowns and outfits. Tobin's fox hunt outfit on display at the end of the picture (and at the top of the review) is especially sexy, giving her a masculine edge over Shelby as she relentlessly hounds her.

The movie is pretty bunk, though, and blends all too readily in with a lot of other cheap dramas of the time. The courtroom finale is about as cheap and unbelievable as you'll get for a movie of this time, with Johnny's character having seemingly read the script and resigned himself to it. Stanwyck is fine (is Stanwyck ever not?), and Gene Raymond is alright for what he is. There's just not enough at work here to make it very memorable.

Reviews

Rated for mature audiences in the National Board of Review.

Film Bulletin really hammers on the film, calling it "pretty dull stuff." Its capsule review summed it up as "stupid and uninteresting."

The Educational Screen rates it as, "Hardly wholesome."

Movie Classic dissents from the rest, praising Gene Raymond and calling the film, "a good piece of entertainment."

Screenshot Gallery

Availability

The Woman in Red is available on Warner Archive DVD. You can purchase it from Amazon here.

"Not that I'm apologizing, you understand." "Oh, I understand."

The Goose and the Gander (1935)

Starring: Kay Francis, George Brent, Genevieve Tobin, Ralph Forbes,
Director: Alfred E. Green
Studio: Warner Bros./Vitaphone/First National
Release Date: September 1935

"I'm going to have my fling and get away with it, just for the satisfaction of doing it."

A perfectly droll little comedy, The Goose and the Gander concerns several couples who get stuck together in a mountain mansion for a night. Their relations are hilariously overwrought and an attempt later in the film to unravel all of them proves futile and actually lands several characters in jail.

Tobin plays Betty Summers, married to the pompous and hideously jealous Ralph (Forbes). Betty decides to run off and spend a night of passion with Ralph's best friend, Bob McNear (Brent), while her husband is occupied. However, she'd previously stolen Ralph away from Georgiana (Francis) who overhears her plans and decides to teach Betty a lesson by entrapping Bob and Betty at her lodge in the hills. The plan goes awry, however, when a pair of jewel thieves also get mixed into the plot and when Bob and Georgiana fall inevitably in love.

Another refinement of Tobin's man eater persona, having stolen a man from his wife before the movie even begins. The rest of the film is a morality play for her character, for as she starts off confident and smug as she undertakes her affair, she's quickly laid low when her masterful plan unravels quickly.

Betty's also shown to be a gregarious opportunist, jumping at her chance to escape capture by her husband despite the danger she leaves Georgiana and Bob in from the crooks. However, and surprisingly for a film made post-Code enforcement, she gets away with her attempted daliance at the end of the movie by instead haranguing Ralph for his attempts to chase Georgiana, proving that the couple is indeed perfect for one another while Bob and Georgiana kiss nearby.

Tobin's performance makes good use out of her range. An early scene where she finds herself trapped while Georgiana goads her while pretending not to know who she is nicely underscored by Tobin nervously playing with the bow affixed to her dress. She's also stellar in the film's finale where she's called upon to stand up to her husband and quickly (and humorously) routs any possibility of him shunning her for her own actions.

The movie does belong to Francis and a lesser extent Brent, and both have fine comedic timing and charm. The plot, while unoriginal, is a hoot, nicely ramped up to possibly be noted as a minor screwball entry. Tobin's absent for the film's highlight where Francis desperately tries to explain just what happened to concerned police officers only to have the clever crooks implicate her instead with quiet bemusement.

The Goose and the Gander is well worth a watch, a nice, nutty film that certainly speaks to the glossy charm that many 1930s films are remembered and celebrated for.

Reviews

Picture Play magazine called it "the most complicated story of the month"adding "if you rise to let some one pass while you are watching the picture, one of the plot mosaics is apt to slip out of place while your attention is diverted. Then it is the devil's own job to catch up with the story." They try to do their best to relay the plot and recommend it with the caveat that the picture is entertaining so long "you have your wits about you."

The Film Daily called The Goose and the Gander 'dandy', and lists Brent and Tobin as being the highlights of the film.

Screenland complains that the film "goes to pieces" when the explanations start at the end of the film, but adds that it's a "[v]ery nicely acted play."

Mystery*File (which readily admits this movie isn't a mystery) notes, "[T]he result is very funny, as I may have mentioned before. I laughed out loud several times, and I almost never do that, especially when I am watching a movie alone, as happened to me this time."