Nancy Carroll, one of Paramount's top pre-code stars, is absolutely aces in this 1932 melodrama. In William A. Seiter's adaptation of Harvey Fergusson’s 1926 novel, she plays Ruth Brock, a vivacious, if responsible bank clerk. She lives with her parents, dutifully contributing to the household income. If anything, she appears to be the primary breadwinner, since her battleax mother (Oscar winner Jane Darwell, The Grapes of Wrath) keeps house and her kindly father (William Collier Sr.) prefers napping to work. Dressed in the latest striped and polka-dotted fashions, Ruth is confident and self-possessed.
The young men in town, especially Conny (Edward Woods, Public Enemy), would love to take her out and the young women, especially Eva (Lillian Bond, The Old Dark House), resent her. Through no fault of his own, well-heeled playboy Romer Sheffield (Cary Grant resplendent in white suits and black kimonos), vacationing in Marysville for the summer, will throw a match on this powder keg. It starts when he opens an account at the bank and continues when Ruth and Conny run into him at a roadhouse where everyone sings along to the sexy torch song "I'm Burning for You."
Then, after petulant Conny abandons her by the side of the lake after she rebuffs his advances, Romer asks his driver to take her home. The next day, Eva and Conny spread the rumor that Ruth spent the night with him. It isn't true, but the whole town turns against her until high school admirer Bill Hadden (Randolph Scott, Grant's then-roommate), now a geologist, returns to town. Bill romances Ruth until he overhears the rumor, causing him to reconsider their plans to marry. The proto-feminist ending allows Ruth to have her cake and eat it, too, when she turns the rumor to her advantage.
In his commentary track, author Lee Gambin notes that the studio sought Carole Lombard for Ruth. Talent aside, the role seems all wrong for someone so sleek, so it's fortunate she cleared a space for the plucky Carroll to make her mark. Sadly, by the end of the decade, Grant and Scott had become established stars, while their costar had left Hollywood in disillusionment. Just two years before, she had received an Oscar nomination for The Devil's Holiday.
Though she would also work with respected filmmakers like James Whale and Ernst Lubitsch, by 1938 more good roles proved elusive, Paramount dropped her, and she reportedly returned to the stage before shifting to television. It's a shame, especially since she has all the spirit and appeal, here, of a young Claudette Colbert or Myrna Loy.
Scott, who would find his true métier in Westerns, doesn't make much of an impression, and Grant is terrific. Though he had only arrived in Hollywood a year before, he comes on like a seasoned pro, handling comedy and romance with equal aplomb and wearing his jodhpurs and popped collars with élan. It's not hard to see why Ruth would take a chance on such a wild card. Highly recommended.