This Man Is Mine (1934)

Directed by John Cromwell. Starring Irene Dunne, Kay Johnson, Ralph Bellamy, Constance Cummings, Sidney Blackmer, Charles Starrett, Vivian Tobin, Louis Mason.

Socialite Dunne might find contentment in married life if her drippy husband (Bellamy) wasn’t still hung up on a manipulative hussy (Cummings) from his past who shows up again with designs on…well, not so much him, as whoever is on hand that she can exploit for her own fickle pleasures. Unexceptional romantic melodrama with a sluggish first act and some irredeemably dated social attitudes; everyone is some combination of stupid, spineless, and/or amoral, and the title may as well be laced in sarcasm since no one in their right mind would fight for this boob. Dunne would improve later in her career, and Cummings’ cattiness lacks claws, but those in support are far more worthless—witness Mason’s line readings during the card game scene. Based on an Anne Morrison Chapin play (Love Flies in the Window); produced by Merian C. Cooper.

41/100