By the humble standard of quickie director Richard Thorpe, this is an engrossing little melodrama – thanks to some unique plot twists and a number of very solid performances led by Marian Marsh (as Miss Notorious but Nice), Betty Compson (as heart-of-gold Millie), Don Dillaway (as Dick short-on-brains Hamilton, whom Miss Notorious is stuck on), John St. Polis (as Dick's ruthless guardian, an employer with a heart of ice), J. Carroll Naish (as the friendly gangster), and Dewey Robinson (in a sizable part for once as a number-one henchman who rats on his chief). Add Henry Kolker as the impassioned defense attorney, Robert Ellis as the prosecutor and Wilfred Lucas as the judge, and you have a first-rate little melodrama with great acting and sizable production values. Available on a very good Alpha DVD.
Review of Notorious But Nice
Notorious But Nice
(1933)
A really first-rate cast in this well-produced courtroom drama
4 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers