Fascinating, richly-textured morality play by the great Somerset Maugham, acted to perfection by a first-rate cast including Constance Bennett at her absolute peak. George Cukor directed with a master's touch, Max Steiner provided the score, and David O. Selznick's production was polished. Constance Bennett plays the disillusioned American wife of a British aristocrat, who finds out on her wedding day that her husband married her only for her money. She decides to take life on their terms, and becomes a cunning seductress among a large group of wealthy and cynical people. Her scheming, combined with the sharp, cynical dialog worthy of Oscar Wilde, and the general irony of the whole affair, makes for an amusing and intelligent film. The witty one-liners are to be cherished, as are the fabulous gowns, and the glowing beauty of Constance Bennett. The film was also one of the first to feature an openly gay character. It's a great treat to view the film 75 years later. Although society may have changed, human behavior has not.

Some will know of this film from a brief excerpt in 'The Celluloid Closet' (dance instructor fop--quite outrageous). See the whole film, and you'll find that excerpt is only one turn of the screw among many made by manipulative Pearl Lady Graystone (Constance Bennett). Lady Graystone is a beautiful American heiress whose fortune bailed out her titled husband so he can continue... but it's less the storyline than the characters that count here. Pearl starts out determined to be a true, loving wife. After discovering that her husband is betraying her, her life morphs into something outwardly scintillating and inwardly 'cheap and vulgar'. Yet she saves, secrectly and in the brink of time, her younger sister from repeating her mistake. The film is based on a 1917 stage hit by W. Somerset Maugham, where the author dissects with an unflinching scalpel the pretensions of 'our betters'. A few scenes get added in the film (opening sequence, presentation at court). There are moments of memorable acting. This is a little gem of its kind, unjustly neglected. And it may cause the viewer to exclaim at the end 'Our betters!--thank God I'm nowhere so bad' and to think 'am I?'

This is a delightfully bitter and witty play by Maugham, adapted to film almost exactly as it appeared on stage. Kemble as Minnie steals the show. And the last scene, between Minnie and the dance instructor, is simply hilarious. Charles Starrett, later a Western star in "B" movies, is wooden, and poor Gilbert Roland doesn't have a lot to work with in the script. But the others sparkle and shine, telling us what sophisticated light comedy can be at its best. What a shame this has not appeared on VHS.

Must confess I scored it a Ten to raise the average. By all rights this one should rate an average of 8-9.The bad prints and dated stage business cannot diminish the ethereal beauty of Constance Bennett and Anita Louise, the biting satire of Somerset Maugham, and an over-the-top pas de deux finalé between a lecherous duchess and a "dancing queen" that embellishes one of the most comically smashing dénouements in film history.