Customer Reviews

Illicit [VHS]

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Barbara Stanwyck wowed the critics in 1931 with this performance. She plays Anne, a free-spirited gal who believes that marriage kills love. Here, Stanwyck heightened the fine impression she made in LADIES OF LEISURE (1930). In ILLICIT, she has several splendid oppurtunities to prove her worth as a dramatic actress; particularly good is her emotional scene at the telephone. ILLICIT is amazing in that its unconventional treatment holds up even today; its even more meaningful when you consider the sexual revolution of the 1960's. For 1931, it was daring indeed. The naturalness of the dialogue and the restrained direction of Archie Mayo provided Stanwyck with the material to create a near-perfect performance and was paid 35,000 for this role! Lew Cody was originally to play the part of Price Baines but it was inherited by Ricardo Cortez. ILLICIT caused quite a storm in its day - it was actually re-made just two years later as a starring vehicle for a rising new Warner Bros. starlet named Bette Davis. It was a trashy little epic entitled EX-LADY.

This hard-to-find little treat is a must see for Barbara Stanwyck fans, one of her first serious film vehicles. Stanwyck plays Anne Vincent, a thoroughly modern Millie who, despite her love for Dick (James Rennie) disbelieves in the strictures of marriage. So, notwithstanding Dick's persistent proposals, the most she'll give him is the occasional fornicatory weekend in the country. Only after the local society gossips start buzzing does Anne finally agree, under protest, to marry Dick. Predictably, things begin going sour almost immediately after the honeymoon as boredom sets in and petty jealousies flare.

Maybe it's just her acting skill, but its easy to get the impression that Stanwyck was a complicated and interesting person--both a product of her time and way ahead of it, like Anne. What makes this film complicated and interesting, even by the standards of pre-code Hollywood, is that Anne isn't tawdry, isn't disloyal, isn't a vulturous man-eater like the character Stanwyck played in *Baby Face* (1933). She's just a forceful personality who doesn't want to go along with the crowd simply to go along--especially not if it means getting tired of ... uh, Dick.

Copies of this rare VHS go for positively spectacular prices on internet auctions, leading me to believe that the time may be ripe for a DVD release.

Mores & styles change & the term "living in sin" is pretty laughable today. But it does not follow that a great boyfriend will make a good husband. Maybe. But the opposite is probably more likely. A perceptive, smart woman can see that a less than great boyfriend may make good husband. That is, assuming of course, that he truly loves her & she loves him. Barbara Stanwyck is Ann. She is way ahead of the curve. She is passionately in love with Richard. He is as much in love with her. She prefers he stay overnight as much as possible. He worries about appearances. She does not & in fact does not want to get married, period, end of discussion. They get pressure from their wealthy friends & his family who also worry about their reputations. Finally, against her better judgement & the possibility of losing Richard, she relents. All her worst fears are realized. He starts working late, neglects her, lies & starts up again with an old girlfriend. She is bored & frustrated, starved for love which apparently she needs a lot of. They try to separate for a while. Her old boy friend, Price, starts sniffing around like a dog in heat. At first she tries to discourage him, but it's hard knowing Richard is stepping out on her. The movie is daring for it's time. Guess what? In the pre-code movies women enjoyed sex. It all works itself out in a way, the only way that it could given the times. Babara Stanwyck is beautiful & already an excellent actress in this early role.

The naming of this film must have been just to attract Depression era audiences, because there is nothing really illicit about it. However, it is a very modern look at romance and marriage considering it was made in 1931. Barbara Stanwyck plays Anne Vincent, a modern woman who is afraid that her relationship with boyfriend Richard Ives will be changed by marriage. She bases her beliefs on watching her own parents and her friends. In her parents' case she says that she knows they loved each other, but divorced anyways, and she is sure that separation from one another is what killed them. However, social pressures prevail and the two do get married.

Anne's fears become realized as Richard seems to only be interested in going out when it involves other people, not just Anne. She sees him out with another woman one night when he is supposed to be working, and she decides what the two need is a trial separation from one another - to become individuals again. Throw Ricardo Cortez into the mix as someone who wants Anne's marriage to not work out, and you have the makings of an above average potboiler from the precode era.

This film is mainly interesting because of Stanwyck. Without her abilities this would be a pretty forgettable film. And those fashions! With all of the ermine and feathers, this film has Barbara Stanwyck venturing into Kay Francis territory. Also lending good support is Charles Butterworth as the seldom sober friend to the young couple, and the always wonderful Joan Blondell as Anne's close friend.