This is an early Barbara Stanwyck film, Shopworn, from 1932.After her father dies in a construction accident, Kitty Lane (Stanwyck) keeps her promise to her dad and goes to live with his sister (Zasu Pitts). There, she works as a waitress. It's a college town, and the guys are ga-ga over her, though she turns them all down. She falls for a bookish man, David (Regis Toomey), a medical student who doesn't seem to pay attention to her. David comes from a good family - his father is a Judge, and his mother is possessive. She does not approve of Kitty. She fakes an illness and David finds that he must take her to a specialist in Vienna. Before he leaves, he proposes to Kitty, intending that she join them. Everyone pretends to go along, but while packing, the police show up and arrest her for violating the public morals act, after she refuses the $5000 offered her. She is sentenced to prison for 90 days. David is told she took the money.Upon her release, Kitty joins the Follies and makes a great success. Six years later, David visits her dressing room. She leads him on just to reject him, but later, the two talk it out and get back together. But his mother is still a pain, referring to her as "that shopworn woman."One major scene was cut from this film - while in prison, Kitty miscarries a pregnancy, so it seems that she and David had quite the romance going. I wouldn't say that Regis Toomey, who became a prolific character actor, and Barbara Stanwyck are well-matched. In the beginning, his role is that of an easily-influenced young man where his parents are concerned, and back in those days, this wasn't unusual. Later on he seems better able to stand up for himself. But as a couple, even when she was just starting out, Stanwyck had star quality, so it doesn't really work.Stanwyck was a petite ball of fire, versatile, strong and charismatic, with a beautiful figure to boot. What a pleasure to see her in these early films. Watch it for her.

TCM recently featured Barbara Stanwyck as their star of the month, giving them an opportunity to show a good number of the numerous films she pumped out very early in her career with Warner Brothers and Columbia. It is fascinating to watch several movies with the same star immediately one after another, because this way you get to determine how good an actor really is: do they become tiresome, or do they have staying power?Barbara Stanwyck was the real thing. Thanks to her understated skills, I found myself appreciating her more and more, the more films of hers I watched. By herself she could pull even the weakest script into something worth watching. "Shopworn", a typical quicky, was one of the best from those early days. Her range of talent was immense, playing, within this one film, a poverty-stricken waif and a successful Broadway star, playing happy and sad, incensed and appreciative, kindly and outraged, always with a dignity and slight detachment that are wondrous to watch. Again, it is sometimes only by watching multiple films of hers in succession to these nuances start to really make themselves known.This is a strong film, with a very good cast. Regis Toomey is very likable as Stanwyck's love interest, and Clara Blandick and Oscar Apfel, as Toomey's mother and her consort, are deliciously manipulative and evil. Zasu Pitts adds a little mild comedy to the proceedings, providing a nice contrast.Look for some very brave and quite interesting camera angles and panning sequences; one particularly good shot was taken of Stanwyck reaching under her bed for a suitcase - the camera is at floor level, shooting the scene from under the bed! Very unique and perhaps a little experimental for the time.I highly recommend this fast-paced little film; and highly recommend seeking out early Barbara Stanwyck gems like this!

This was a surprise of a film starring Barbara Stanwyck, (Kitty Lane) who plays the role as a waitress in a small town and is liked by everyone. Kitty is a nice gal and is very much in love with a boy named David Livingston, (Regis Toomey) who comes from a rich family and he lives with his mother who loves him very much and is very protective of who he see's and what he does. As a few years pass by, David asks Kitty to marry him, but his mother interferes and contacts a judge who manages to put poor Kitty in a girls reformatory in order to prevent her son from getting married. As many years pass by, David becomes a very successful surgeon and Kitty becomes very well known. This is a very interesting love story and Barbara Stanwyck gave an outstanding performance. Sasu Pitts, (Dot) a veteran actress gave a great supporting role Don't miss this film, it is truly a great Stanwyck Classic Film.

In her tenth film, Barbara Stanwyck is the poor, working girl (Kitty Lane) who only wants to marry the man she loves, but his snobby rich family keeps interfering. Filmed J-u-s-t before the production code came into being, they put her away on "morals charges". Regis Toomey (competent, but Mr. monotone) stars as David Livingston, who wants to marry Kitty, but doesn't have the guts to stand up to his family. They go their separate ways, but meet up again later, when Kitty has become the successful entertainer, although they don't make it clear just what she does for a living now; Wearing rings and fancy jewelry when they meet up again, she tells him "Careful Dave, I'm a notorious, woman, and you'll probably get yourself talked about!" Oscar Apfel (always played the judge or the police chief) and Clara Blandick (Mom Livingston) team up to stop the marriage, but it all works out in the end... One of Nick Grinde's first talkies as Director. He and Zasu Pitts (Dot) had been in silent movies for YEARS before this film. Fun film, no big surprises.