Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Purchase Price (1932)


Barbara Stanwyck.  I've lost the ability to write anything objective about her.  Was there ever a more perfect person for the pre-Code era?  (Possibly Joan Blondell, but I digress.)

Miss Stanwyck is a torch singer in a bit of trouble, and decides to escape it by becoming a farmer's mail-order bride.  The result is a warm, funny, charming picture, with more than a bit of Frank Capra about it (though actually directed, and beautifully so, by William Wellman).  George Brent plays the farmer and is immensely likeable -- he and Stanwyck have terrific chemistry and are (at the risk of sounding cliche) a delight.

The ending is a bit abrupt after the easy flow of the film, but I still enjoyed it very much.  Highly recommended!

I give this one: