Bachelor Apartment (1931) User Reviews

a pleasant surprise

[mukava991 · 7/10 · 7 December 2007]

I watched this on TCM for one reason: curiosity about Mae Murray. I had never seen her in a talkie, heard she was exceptionally bad and was expecting her to have a high-pitched or grating voice with a common accent. What a surprise to hear something more like a cross between Billie Burke and Myrna Loy but deeper. She still had "it" in the Thirties, with a fine figure, and I am not alone in wondering why she fizzled out so quickly. Over the top? Yes. Even obnoxious (particularly when she bursts into kooky peals of laughter) - but entertaining. When she's on screen you don't look at anyone else.

The second surprise was the direction by Lowell Sherman and the story by John Howard Lawson. There is a naturalness to the dialogue and a lifelike quality to the characters' frequent and casual banter that brings you inside the world of young ladies struggling in New York City during the early Depression years. Some exteriors are actual location shots of New York City streets and the interiors are depicted in detail, particularly clutter on tables (the aftermath of a wild party in the titular penthouse and breakfast paraphernalia in the humble flat inhabited by Dunne and her sister). Surely the leftwing Lawson was responsible for the haves-vs-have-nots element of the story. It's a witty and somewhat farcical tale about a Park Avenue business executive consumed with the pursuit and avoidance of an army of attractive young women until he meets Miss Right (Irene Dunne - no one ever righter). The supporting cast is mostly excellent, particularly Noel Francis as one of Sherman's pickups. She registered very strongly in a very brief scene as the prostitute in I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG.

At first sight one cannot accept the puffy and dissipated Sherman as a desirable ladies' man. Only in his mid-40s when he directed and starred in this film, he looks 10 years older and occasionally slurs his speech but nevertheless manages to be charming and totally in control in the kind of role Robert Montgomery was born to play. I see from IMDb that Sherman was a director of some note and consider it a sad loss for cinema that he died so young, though seeing him here and in WHAT PRICE Hollywood it's obvious he was far from robust. I intend to look for other films he directed based on my happy experience with BACHELOR APARTMENT.

Better Than You Might Think

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 10 November 2005]

I didn't expect much from this film when I first saw it, not knowing who Lowell Sherman was and figuring it would be extremely dated.

I found out the film provided some good laughs, some clever sarcastic dialog, realistic characters and a certain charm at the same time.

Sherman might have been a bit too old to be playing the role of playboy but he carried it off, being enjoyable to watch. It was fun seeing such a young Irene Dunne, too, complete with the early '30s short hairstyle. Unlike most of the women pictured in this film, Dunne played her typical high-principled character, reflecting the classy lady she was off screen, too.

Definite Shows Its Age But Still Racy

[Handlinghandel · 6/10 · 24 August 2005]

Another of the movies I would not think of watching but for Irene Dunne, playing anything but swank comedy here. It consists of basically two types of characters. One is ladies in lingerie or revealing gowns. (Dunne wears neither but at one point we see her in her boss's bathrobe.) The other is gentlemen who appear to prefer other gentlemen.

One of these is its director and star, Lowell Sherman. He had a solid hand as a director and is likable as a performer. But he's a little hard to buy as a ladies' man. And in one scene, he goes to a friend's apartment, demanding to see who's in the bedroom. Instead of the woman he's looking for, two men are there. They're fully clothed and maybe the audience at the time thought they were sleeping off hangovers. Maybe that's what the script meant, for all I know. But it's not the way they come across in the context of the movie.

The print I saw was fuzzy but it's chic and entertaining -- dated but also risqué.

Re-Discover Lowell Sherman!

[drednm · 25 August 2005]

Lowell Sherman was a star and director of silent films and talkies until his death in 1934. His best-remembered films are probably Way Down East (1920) and What Price Hollywood? (1932). In Bachelor Apartment he stars as a rich New York playboy who seems to have an endless parade of women going through his apartment. At one point he tells is butler (Charles Coleman) that he is "going hunting" and returns with a silly woman (Noel Francis) with whom he dallies until prim Irene Dunne comes hunting for her sister. Funny and risqué, this film deals rather openly about sexuality, teasing, infidelity, and "getting what you want." Sherman and Dunne are terrific as the sparring boss and steno, but Mae Murray bizarrely steals the several scenes she is in. Murray, a silent-film queen of the teens and 20s, made only 3 talkies. At age 40, she's still trying to be the sex goddess and comes off as being unlikely and unlikable. Murray affects a baby lisp and vamps and saunters about. She looks pretty good but she seems very otherworldly.

Claudia Dell is annoying as the dumb sister, Ivan Lebedeff plays a dancer, Norman Kerry (also a silent star) plays a producer, Bess Flowers is the woman who lost her necklace, Lee Phelps is the cop, and Arline Judge is one of the secretaries.

Dunne was always good, and Sherman has a terrific comic roue act that always borders on being quite gay. But watch him closely in this film (which he also directed) and study his comic timing and the pacing of his comebacks. The dialog is snappy and suggestive. Coleman and Francis are also very good indeed.

Lowell Sherman, who also directed Katharine Hepburn in Morning Glory) is long forgotten but certainly deserves to be remembered as a wonderful actor and fine director.

MAE TALKS! - Pleasant Light Comedy

[stephen6387 · 6/10 · 16 July 2003]

Mae Murray proves, unlike so many silent superstars, that she can speak on screen in her first of two sound pictures. A pleasant light comedy co-starring Lowell Sherman as a sophisticated roue and a very young Irene Dunne stealing the film from the titular star.

It's been Dunne better elsewhere; this 'Apartment' is a flat.

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 6/10 · 29 March 2008]

Lowell Sherman had some success as an actor and some success as a director without ever becoming a major name in either speciality: the most interesting thing (but one) about 'Bachelor Apartment' is that he both directed and starred in it. As a screen personality, Sherman was probably the nearest thing to George Sanders before Sanders came along: Sherman typically played a wealthy cad who seduced women solely for his own pleasure, with no concern for their welfare. In at least one movie, 'You Never Know Women', Sanders's character is perfectly willing to commit rape.

As I've noted in a previous IMDb review, I find Sherman implausible in such roles. I know almost nothing about his offscreen life (and I don't much want to know), but on the screen he tends to come across (to me, at least) as if he is gay ... in that word's modern sense. Sherman nearly always played skirt-chasers, yet I invariably find him unbelievable as a playboy. He was a talented actor, yet seemed much more believable when playing characters who were epicene (he was brilliant in 'What Price Hollywood?') or men whose sexuality was irrelevant to the plot (as in 'Mammy'). In 'Bachelor Apartment', Sherman portrays Wayne Carter, a millionaire businessman who's also a playboy ... so credibility flies out the window.

Carter's only roommate is his live-in butler, very well-played by Charles Coleman ... but we understand that a vast series of women have spent their nights (not all at the same go, mind you) alongside Carter in his bed.

I'd mentioned the most interesting thing but one about this movie. Here's the MOST interesting thing about it: the plot line of 'Bachelor Apartment' seems to anticipate two much better works, namely 'My Sister Eileen' and 'Neptune's Daughter' (the latter an MGM musical that had a much neater plot than usual for MGM musicals). Along to New York City come two small-town sisters: the older one level-headed, the younger one much prettier and flirty with it. (Did anybody mention Ruth McKinney and her sister Eileen?) The younger one (well-played by the obscure Claudia Dell) meets the millionaire's butler and mistakenly believes (for contrived reasons) that the butler is the millionaire himself. When protective older sister Irene Dunne learns that her younger sister is involved with millionaire Carter (actually the butler), she stomps into Carter's executive suite to straighten him out. For once genuinely innocent of womanising, Carter doesn't know anything about it ... yet he finds himself attracted to Dunne, and he gets ready to award her the next notch on his bedpost.

VERY OBVIOUS SPOILER. It's simultaneously bang obvious and wildly implausible what's going to happen, yet it happens anyway. Carter, planning to seduce Dunne, ends up sincerely falling in love with her ... and (get this, please) he actually gives up his tom-catting to marry her and settle down! Oh, pull the other one.

I had more trouble believing this movie than I did with several other Lowell Sherman vehicles. Irene Done has never dunne (I mean Irene Dunne has never done) a thing for me; I've never found her especially attractive nor especially sexy, and I simply couldn't believe that this millionaire playboy would chuck his sybaritic life for this particular woman. In this movie, Irene Dunne wears a hairstyle that renders her even more unattractive than usual. Further, I had the same credibility issue here that I do with most other movies in which a working-class heroine lands a wealthy husband: we're meant to believe that she sincerely loves him, yet she's fully aware that the huge bulge in his trousers is his bank balance. Since the husband is a playboy who has habitually exploited women, it's hard to believe that he never wonders if perhaps he is being exploited in turn by a gold-digger.

On the positive side, 'Bachelor Apartment' has one of those great old-movie casts with several interesting performers in supporting roles. Claudia Dell and Charles Coleman, both obscure, are excellent here. Perennial dress extra Bess Flowers has a larger role than usual here. Less favourably, Arthur Housman, in the role of a drunk (what a stretch!), does absolutely nothing here that he didn't do better and funnier while cast as a drunk in fifty other movies. Norman Kerry, cast in a supporting role in this early talkie, proves why his stardom ended in silent movies.

'Bachelor Apartment' is well-made; Lowell Sherman was an under-rated director, and might conceivably have gone on to greater success behind the camera after he became too old to carry on in skirt-chaser roles. (He died suddenly of pneumonia, aged only 49.) Any film with a Max Steiner score and production by William LeBaron is worthy of attention. When the clichés settle, my rating for this movie is just 6 out of 10.

The Early Days of a "Hollywood Tenth"

[EdgarST · 6/10 · 29 October 2016]

Besides the open way sex and social climbing are treated (among heterosexual characters) and the explicit references to marijuana and cocaine in the previous years to the Hays Code enforcement in American cinema, «Bachelor Apartment» is interesting for it was written by open leftist playwright John Howard Lawson, a Jewish- American who would become a member of the US Communist Party, president of the west wing of the Writers Guilds of America and one of the "Hollywood Ten" who were imprisoned and black-listed during the anti-communist pursuits of Republican U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s. However there is not much here to consider as progressive, daring or a menace to the status quo, apart from the female leading role, a working class woman whose dignity and self-respect (especially as played by Irene Dunne) set her apart from the other women in the movie. Lawson later stated that there was no adaptation of his script and it was shot as he had written it, so in the end the movie follows the formula of the romantic comedy, and reinforces the traditional gender and social roles of both men and women. So it is no wonder that Lawson decided to go South and learn a bit about social classes in 1934, after being accused by his fellow party members that he had "a lack of ideological and political commitment" and wrote "adolescent works that lacked moral fiber or clear ideas". But for its historical value, fast rhythm and a couple of enjoyable characterizations (by Mae Murray, a gentler version of Mae West, and Charles Coleman as the butler, with a curious scene full of innuendo in his exchange with a messenger) «Bachelor Apartment» is worth a look.

Bachelor, Yes, But Private Elevator, No.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 15 November 2012]

The studios must have been grinding these quickies out like Papa John's pizza pies during the 20s, 30s, and 40s, and why not? What else was there? Radio, but no television, and the movies themselves didn't cost a fortune and didn't run red with blood.

This confusing and essentially uninteresting story has Lowell Sherman, who also directed, as a wealthy playboy businessman whose apartment overflows with women, many of them showing up at the wrong time, and the occasional murderously jealous husband.

The most interesting shot is the opening scene, the aftermath of the previous evening's debauch. Rollins, the bald and stuffy butler, begins to clean up the mess -- cocktail glasses, overturned bottles, ash trays -- and when he get to one ash tray he picks up a butt, sniffs it, and shrugs. (It's weed; this was pre-code and during prohibition too, but you could still get away with stuff like that.) There is a quick shot of a lady's open compact with powder spilled on the chair seat and Rollins' eyes open in shock. Yes, that too.

Sherman finally appears in what I suppose passed for comfortable morning attire, a buttoned-up collar and tie, and a silk dressing gown. Maybe bachelors feel comfortable and casual in a tie because they're different from the rest of us. Sherman's playboy has a lot of quick patter with the butler over such subjects as scrambled eggs for breakfast. Cary Grant might have pulled off something like this a few years later but Sherman has a thin mustache and nervous hands and he's chunky. It's hard to imagine what draws women to him.

Irene Dunne and her sister are the only two women of principle. Dunne gives an adequate if unexciting performance as the humble secretary who ends the movie in a clinch with the pawky Sherman. Several nice shots of blonds running around in their skivvies, though, for what it's worth. Pre-code can be fun.

Witty and abruptly moving dramatic comedy.

[rsoonsa · 8/10 · 7 August 2001]

John Howard Lawson, later one of the blacklisted Hollywood Ten, composed this screenplay which is ostensibly quite the reverse from his normal proletarian bent, but is actually deeply altered by wordsmith J. Walter Ruben to a suave and somewhat risqué (pre-Code) comedy. Fortunately, some sense of Lawson's customary concerns remains, and is dealt with nicely by Irene Dunne, co-starring with the elegant Lowell Sherman, who also directs with his usual flare in this tale of a Park Avenue man about town struggling with a raft of nubile and aggressive young creatures. An early sound film, it forms the first arrangement of what has become a basic cinema plot device, as we know it, that of the carefree unmarried man being chastened from his rollicking ways by exposure to feelings of romantic love. Cinematography by the brilliant Lee Tover is of particular value here and one should advert to the art direction of Max Ree, who garnered an Academy Award for his characteristic talent during this same year (1931) as a result of his work with CIMARRON. Although Mae Murray's flamboyance is transcendental, the acting is generally quite good, with a particularly strong and stage-accented performance from the lovely Dunne as an older sister attempting to shepherd a wayward sibling while standing her own ground against a playboy's blandishments. One of the final pieces of Sherman's tragically shortened directorial career, the film offers many admirable passages, none less so than the opening scene, with that eternal butler Charles Coleman patiently dealing with an importunate telephone and doorbell, setting the pace in a picture that never pushes too hard or tries too strenuously for its effects.

Mediocre comedy

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 7 January 2018]

"Bachelor Apartmet" suffers from some rough edits, however those may be the fault of the DVD print I saw (a Spanish copy), so I won't judge Lowell Sherman's direction on that front. But as an actor, he is miscast as a ladies' man; in the silent era perhaps yes, but in 1931 he was 46 years old, his looks were average, and the character he plays has a smarmy demeanor (just because William Powell could pull it off well into his fifties, does not mean that everyone else could). Irene Dunne, with the exception of a single scene, has a dull straight role; Charles Coleman (the butler) and Mae Murray (she has a hearty laugh) fare better. The film is predictable, and any pre-code quotient will NOT get your heart pumping, ** out of 4.

"Bachelor Apartment" was far ahead of its time

[chuck-reilly · 8/10 · 18 August 2008]

Ground-breaking director/actor Lowell Sherman was the main creative force behind 1931's "Bachelor Apartment," but the real star of the film is the up-and-coming Irene Dunne. This was one of her earliest roles in Hollywood and it's readily apparent watching her here that she was destined for greatness. Her easy-going charm and light comedic touch are evident throughout and although the film is quite dated, her performance holds up very well. As a matter of fact, Sherman's bachelor role (Wayne Carter) is perfectly suited for his acting talents and he's certainly Ms. Dunne's equal. The plot is somewhat "racy" for the times; a rotating bevy of available women stroll in an out of Sherman's apartment to his utter bemusement. He's too busy sipping cocktails and counting his assets to take any of them seriously---until a Miss Andrews (Dunne) arrives on the scene. The chemistry between the two is unmistakable and their repartee is well-written and delivered with just the right amount of understated sexual tension. It's the kind of dialogue one doesn't get to hear very often in the usual 1930's movie.

Sherman, unfortunately, didn't live long enough to become a household name. He died in 1934 at the age of 49. His last directing assignment was for the Technicolor "Becky Sharp", but he was gone before major production got underway. Irene Dunne, of course, became one of Hollywood's greatest actresses and outlived nearly all of her contemporaries. For fans of the films of the 1930's, "Bachelor Apartment" is worth the viewing time if it ever pops up on TCM or if one wants to rediscover Lowell Sherman. He was a great talent who never really got his due. Like so many from the early bygone days of movie-making, he's largely forgotten now. It's not fair, but that's Hollywood.

Stay a bachelor

[AAdaSC · 4/10 · 16 July 2019]

Playboy Lowell Sherman (Wayne) loves to party and sleep with different babes. Who doesn't? However, he is fortunate that he is so wealthy otherwise he wouldn't be sleeping with any babes at all. He's not a looker like me. One of these women - Mae Murray (Agatha) is particularly keen and keeps showing up at his apartment. However, he's no longer interested as he has decided to pursue one woman and one woman only - stenographer Irene Dunne (Helene). However, she is completely uninterested in him. Where do we go from here...?

Well, we know where we're going. It's a comedy and so it's going to end with a happy-ever-after situation. The problem is that the film is rather boring. I wanted to like it but kept drifting off on daydreams. This happened on at least 3 occasions. I'm afraid the film doesn't hold the attention for the full duration. Castwise, Sherman has a natural style of acting and is fine to lead proceedings but the opening sequence with butler Charles Coleman (Rollins) sets the mood of the film. It's a long drawn out sequence of clearing up the living room after a night of debauchery with interruptions from the telephone and doorbell and it goes on for ages - boring!

Irene Dunne has nothing about her which screams "she's the one" and Murray has a peculiar voice - no wonder Hollywood dropped her from speaking parts. Her laugh is awful. Sherman is the best thing about this effort but it's just not quite enough.

Mae Murray Quite Sexy!

[zpzjones · 13 July 2006]

I really don't know why Mae Murray didn't continue on with her film career. She's quite sexy in this RKO picture. I first saw this in a crystal clear copy on the old AMC cable channel. A number of Lowell Sherman films, of which he either directed, starred in or both have shown up on AMC in newly struck prints in the past. This being a far cry from the old C&C television released prints of the 50s & 60s which were murky at best. This movie is basically another situation/drawing room type of comedy of which Sherman was showing so much adeptness at. Hopefully, this like Royal Bed, will show up on DVD in that nice print more or less. Mae Murray plays a sassy character similar to those then being played by the younger Jean Harlow over at the MGM. Having been a silent star Murray's voice modulated acceptably and her cross over to sound wasn't as harsh as let's say John Gilbert or Clara Bow. Then again Murray had been a stage performer(like Sherman) & Ziegfeld girl prior to entering silents in 1916 so she was no stranger to dialogue. Her silent movie sexiness & vivacity is toned down here but is in evidence notably in the bedroom scene. The bedroom scene is particularly striking as Murray wears a gown that can only be described as being 'nearly diaphanous'. She walks towards the door after calling for Sherman's character and her still fine figure at 42 is very much in shape. Irene Dunne is so much less sexy than Murray even though she's ten years younger. Dunne is already looking schoolmarmish years before her major successes with Cary Grant later in the decade. I must confess that I watched & liked this for Sherman's directing & acting and most of all for Murray's appearance. Having seen her beautiful face in so many silent film stills I wanted to see her in an actual movie(she also appeared in Sherman's next movie and her last titled HIGH STAKES). I really don't know why Mae Murray didn't continue on with talkies. She was delectable and still quite beautiful and even more beautiful than some of the up-n-coming new stars. Watching Mae Murray in a talkie one sees that she's a beautiful concoction of Jean Harlow & Mae West at best. She certainly could've adapt to talkies' situation-dramas or comedies. This being in contrast to her over the top silent film fantasy queen image such as in THE MERRY WIDOW or CIRCE THE ENCHANTRESS. Though beautiful as she was in those silents. But more than likely Mae sensing that she was aging and that talkie picture making environment certainly changed from the freedom of the silents chose to bow out like many a silent star. Also her fabled temperament with directors like Stroheim & Von Sternberg hampered her employment chances with the studios as she aged and that reputation she couldn't shake. Her later life after these early talkies was quite sad as she lived in poverty and perhaps seclusion ending up in obscurity before her passing in 1965. Something similar to Clara Bow whose crossover to sound was more harrowing. Curiously, Mae Murray was offered the now famous role of Norma Desmond first before it went to Gloria Swanson. Perhaps the role hit too close to home for the then 60 year old Murray with lines like "...we had faces then" a quote from when Norma is referring to bygone silent stars. But of Mae's few films(silent or sound)that are even shown on cable or television BACHELOR APARTMENT appears very occasionally on Turncer Classics and usually in the dead of night. Hopefully there's a revival of Lowell Sherman & Mae Murray performances and their talkies together BA & HIGH STAKES along with Sherman's THE PAYOFF and Mae's talkie debut PEACOCK ALLEY(she also did a silent of this) can be released on DVD.

This boss forgets that a secretary is not a toy....

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 17 April 2014]

That aging playboy Lowell Sherman has all the women in New York ga-ga with his love-making, breaking up homes and even keeping a closet filled with women's clothes (where one size fits all) for convenience. A misunderstanding between sisters Claudia Dell and Irene Dunne brings Dunne to Sherman's penthouse and within days, Dunne is working as Sherman's executive secretary, creating a lot of office gossip. At first aloof, she bends her high moral standards when a jealous husband (and old pal of Sherman's) accuses him of having an affair with his wife (Madge Murray) who has been trying to seduce Sherman for months.

While this certainly creates the right atmosphere of the working girl's life during depression era New York City, it lacks in credibility with Sherman's eternal playboy character, played by him far too often after he was truly a bit long in the tooth. The double-chinned, portly Sherman even directed this (as usual), giving it an egotistical smell that left me shaking my head. Dunne comes off unscathed as she is always likable, but Mae Murray (as the pesky married woman stalking Sherman) is entirely obnoxious. This is still interesting for its pre-code elements if you can stomach watching Sherman constantly ogling the young ladies like some lecherous old fool.

When Irene Met Lowell....

[JLRMovieReviews · 9/10 · 7 April 2011]

We open on an bachelor apartment. We know this, because the place is trashed and littered with glasses, champagne bottles, cigarette butts, and something that looks like cigarettes all over the place, from the night before. We also know this, because this is aptly named "Bachelor Apartment." The bachelor in question is Lowell Sherman, whose other screen credits include What Price Hollywood?, the original "A Star is Born" movie, and his silent movies where he usually played the villain with the pencil-thin mustache. Here, he tries to stop playing the game, after finding it very tiresome having to keep track of who comes and goes through his revolving door. But it seems he decided just this morning. It makes the viewer wonder if this decision is one he makes all the time. But, in the meantime, the, er, um, ladies, yes well, they don't know of his conversion to sainthood and still show up unannounced, notably Mae Murray, in an unforgettable and saucy role, who can be seen in one scene in a see-through nightgown. Really! You can see.... Her husband suspects she's cheating and it's driving him crazy, He's going to find the @#$*& or die trying. Meanwhile, through a series of events, Irene Dunne enters the picture as a stenographer who doesn't like fast workers for bosses. He dares her to take this well-paying job, which she does. Will she fall for his charming ways? Will Irene's clean reputation rub off on him and make him see the light? Only I know, and you've got to see this very well-written and racy Pre-Code movie to find out.

Playboy of the Depression

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 11 September 2018]

I can only imagine that folks who had a nickel to spare in 1931 might have hated Lowell Sherman. He's a rich unapologetic hedonist who changes women like bath water. Worse than that he's self made, but got money in of all things, being an investment broker. If people weren't willing to kill for bedding their wives they might kill him for making them broke in the stock market.

His day however is interrupted when he runs into Irene Dunne in a fender bender automobile crash. She's on her way to San Francisco, but gets waylaid instead to Sherman's Bachelor Apartment.

Dunne Lives with her more liberal sister Claudia Dell. And Sherman is busy romancing friend's wife Mae Murray currently. Yet somehow they seem fated to be mated.

Bachelor Apartment doesn't wear well. Lowell Sherman comes over more like a Snidely Whiplash villain than a romantic hero. Maybe someone like Tyrone Power or a Robert Taylor might have carried this off, but Sherman no way folks.

Not likely to see a remake.

An early curiosity, but it's pretty good.

[lnoft97 · 9/10 · 24 August 2012]

I just love the LOOK of the movies of the 30's, that is, the movies celebrating the lifestyles of the giddy rich. The clothes, the decor, the cars, the swank living quarters. The plot has already been discussed here, I came to comment about Mae Murray (age 42?? she looks adorable!). I am reminded of the back story of the comic strip that has been around forever - "Blondie" - who was a flapper who married Dagwood way back in the 20's, thereby prompting his wealthy family to cut him off and condemn him to working for a living unto this day. Mae Murray looks exactly like "Blondie" might have looked, in her wild youth, before she became domesticated ! A creaky movie, but worth a look. The 'playboy' is rather silly, it's the women and the look of the film I enjoy.

Lowell Sherman sows some wild oats....

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 16 November 2015]

Back before the newer, tougher Production Code was enacted in July, 1934, films were often quite bawdy--far bawdier than most folks today would expect. While nudity was rare (but NOT unheard of), topics like homosexuality, promiscuity, infidelity and even abortion were talked about in Hollywood films. While not among the more risqué films of the day, "Bachelor Apartment" is very Pre-Code in its sensibilities!

Wayne Carter (Lowell Sherman--who also directed this film) is an unabashed womanizer and playboy. He uses a wide variety of pickup lines and routines to get women to sleep with him and in this Pre- Code world, the women are more than eager to oblige. However, when he meets a nice lady, Helene (Irene Dunne), he has second thoughts about his life. While he loves the hot sex, he starts to realize that he's missing out on something. So, to be near Helene, he hires her to be his secretary and through most of the film admires her without telling her he loves her. Does this dirty old man have a prayer with Helene? And, is he capable of changing to get her?

I liked this film. Sherman was a terrific actor and if he hadn't died so young, he'd probably be remembered today--both for his stage and screen work. It talks about the old double-standard and exposes both the positive side (it can be fun) and negative (ultimately, it's rather lonely) without being preachy or heavy-handed. Well worth seeing.

Life at the Top,circa 1931

[dougdoepke · 6 November 2012]

It may be 1931, but there's no hint of an economic depression among the well-upholstered lounge lizards of Manhattan. It's pretty much a steady round of casual couplings and uncouplings among the urban sophisticates. Not much of a plot except for middle-aged Lothario (Sherman) slowly falling for nice girl Helene (Dunne). Movie's main interest is in its provocative pre-Code liberties—innuendoes fly fast, while some clinging gowns leave little to the imagination. It's a talky script with some clever lines, and if there's little action, at least director Sherman keeps things moving. The comedy is more occasional than sparkling, but does have its moments, even though Dunne surprisingly gets few laugh lines. All in all, it's a fairly entertaining antique with a good glimpse of bygone fashions.

Spicy pre-code Cinderella tale

[RickeyMooney · 8/10 · 5 February 2022]

And what better time for Cinderella tales than the Great Depression, when shopgirls, secretaries and waitresses (like Mia Farrow in Purple Rose of Cairo) could dream about Prince Charming, or in a pinch a mere millionaire, recognizing their inner goodness, virtue and purity, giving them that ring and whisking them away to live happily ever after.

Such tales became a bit stale and predictable but never fear, this is way before the Production Code took hold and there are several twists and turns before the inevitable.

Leading man Lowell Sherman, who died unexpectedly in 1934 at age 48, was a suave William Powell type onscreen as well as a successful director. Early Irene Dunne, as virtuous stenographer with requisite untamed younger sister, was perfect for conveying the kind of prissiness required for the role. There are two other gold-digging floozies to contrast with Irene's idealism, one of whom appears briefly in a see-through nightgown towards the end. This really was pre-code. Even Sherman's Jeeves-like butler is a bit of a cad in one scene.

Most of the complications arise from two of Sherman's old flames pursuing him while he pursues Dunne. One of them kind of fades out like the screenwriter forgot about her, or maybe some bits ended up on the cutting room floor. The other is a nasty, if somewhat cartoonish, femme fatale who stirs up some surprisingly serious trouble.

Much snappy dialogue and a good example of the fast-paced adult films that would become unmakeable in Hollywood a few years later.

Bachelor Apartment-No Vacancy Here ***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 29 August 2012]

Expert direction by Lowell Sherman. He acts up a storm as well as playboy, wanting to become more ethical in his life. This is especially so when his friend's wife tries more than just flirting with him. The wife, Mae Murray, steals the show here with her threats, laughter and qualities of a woman who just didn't know when she had it so good.

Sherman lives on Park Avenue and has built up a business dealing with the market all by himself. On the other side of town, would-be-stenographer Irene Dunne lives with her selfish sister, the latter wanting to break into Broadway. When the latter is fooled by Sherman's butler, thinking that he's the wealthy playboy, the fun begins. Dunne meets the Sherman character and the wonderful coincidence is that she applies for the job at the company he heads.

This is really a story of about how people feel about themselves. It has comical and dramatic overtones.