THE BRIDE WALKS OUT (1936)

Another anti-feminist comedy-fable from the Production Code 30's. Barbara Stanwyck is making good money as a model but her boyfriend (Gene Raymond) wants her to quit her job and marry him, a poor and stuggling engineer. She doesn't want to quit but is eventually persuaded. Soon they are in debt and their furniture is repossessed on New Year's Eve, but a drunken playboy (Robert Young) who has admired Stanwyck for some time gets the furniture back before Raymond knows what has happened. Soon Stanwyck is back at work behind her husband's back; of course, he finds out, they split up, Young threatens to step in, Raymond wants her back, etc. Guess what? Raymond gets her back and she agrees not to work (despite many unpaid bills). The chemistry between Stanwyck and Young is good, which unfortunately highlights the relative lack of chemistry between Stanwyck and Raymond. Helen Broderick (in her usual role as the best friend, and the real reason to watch the movie) and Ned Sparks are quite good as a bickering couple. Billy Gilbert and Hattie McDaniel have small roles. One dialogue gem: Sparks: "You didn't have a rag on your back when I met you"; Broderick: "I've got plenty of them now!" Another one: Stanwyck: "Why did you get married?"; Broderick: "I dunno--it was raining, we were in Pittsburgh..."