Back Street

1932

Action / Drama / Music / Mystery / Romance

2
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 57% · 3 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 57% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.0/10 10 1237 1.2K

love devotion pre-code kept woman

Plot summary

A woman's love for and devotion to a married man results in her being relegated to the "back streets" of his life.

Director

John M. Stahl Photo
John M. Stahl

Top cast

William Bakewell Photo
William Bakewell as Richard Saxel - Walter's Son
Rosalie Roy Photo
Rosalie Roy as Minor Role
Betty Blythe Photo
Betty Blythe as Gossip
George Meeker Photo
George Meeker as Kurt Shendler
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
820.53 MB
978*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 29 min
Seeds ...
1.49 GB
1456*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 29 min
Seeds 5

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by chuck-reilly 8 / 10

"Back Street" gives early view of Irene Dunne's talent

Reviewed by AlsExGal 8 / 10

Nobody could suffer quite like Irene Dunne

Rae Schmidt (Irene Dunne) is a free spirited girl in the early 20th century who meets dapper Walter Saxel (John Boles) one day when she is seeing off an acquaintance on a train trip. Walter is engaged, but this marriage is his mother's dream more than his own, and he and Rae quickly fall for one another. Walter gets the idea that he might get his mother to come around to him marrying Rae instead if they could meet. They plan to have a "chance" meeting at a band concert the next day that Walter will be attending with his mother. But fate intervenes and Rae doesn't get there until after everyone has left because of a family emergency that she must attend to. Walter thinks he's been stood up.Five years pass and Walter and Ray meet again, this time in New York. Walter married his fiancée and now has two children. But that doesn't stop them from starting a long running affair since both have loved one another all of these years. He rents an apartment that she lives in, and she gives up her job so she can be available when he needs her. She also gives up her friends because she can't risk anybody finding out about this arrangement as Walter is the member of a prominent family and has a prominent job with a prominent bank. What does he give up - Zilch, Zip, Nada.This is a creaky soap opera to be sure, but well-acted and very well directed by Stahl. The episodic story left some plot points dangling (what did the car inventor think of Rae dumping him and running back to Walter? And what did daddy think of Rae's lifestyle? He's dropped, too, after the early scenes) I thought this was the best of the three versions. The second is well acted, but Boyer comes off as a cad overall. Boles, in this version, is more sincere and nicer (though still selfish). The 60s remake is pretty bad, saved in part by Vera Miles as the shrewish wife (which is a minor part in the first two versions). Dunne is good, as always. She played the same kind of part in The Secret of Madame Blanche shortly after this.I wondered why Walter didn't at some point divorce his wife as apparently his marriage was just something he did to make his mother happy. I thought he was staying just to protect his career, and then I found out something about the source material. In the novel, Walter was Jewish and under pressure from his mother to marry a Jewish girl. Given the times, it's not too surprising this was dropped in the film versions, even in the precode era. It does dilute the man's motivations in the story considerably.
Reviewed by chuck-reilly 8 / 10

"Back Street" gives early view of Irene Dunne's talent

Irene Dunne stars as Ray Smith, the mistress of a well-off married man (John Boles) who lives her life selflessly for him, relegating her forever to the "Back Street" of the title. This film and Dunne's performance were the ultimate in "soap opera" entertainment for the early 1930's and audiences loved it. Boles, a wooden actor if there ever was one, is actually quite good in this movie as Walter Saxel, the man Dunne just can't seem to get enough of. Unfortunately, since he's married and raising a family, there isn't too much of him to go around. The tear-jerking ending is worth sticking around for, however, and it's a good idea to keep a box of tissues handy. Despite the year (1932), the film tackles an issue that was somewhat taboo for the times (i.e. extra-marital sex and its consequences). It's all done tastefully and relatively true to the original novel by Fannie Hurst. For those unfamiliar with her work, Ms. Hurst was the Danielle Steele of her day, although she's largely forgotten now. So is this film, but it's worth seeing if only for a view of an early performance by the incredible Irene Dunne. Of course, the talented Ms. Dunne went on to star in more famous movies than this one, but she gives a worthy effort to the proceedings here and raises the film far above the norm.
Read more IMDb reviews

No comments yet

Be the first to leave a comment