BRIEF MOMENT (1933)

Another Gene Raymond movie, this time a run-of-the-mill romantic melodrama which combines two hackneyed plotlines: 1) wealthy family disapproves of the common girl their son wants to marry; 2) wife tries to reform dissolute playboy husband. Raymond, who's never had to work a day in his life, takes nightclub singer Carole Lombard home to meet the family; they disapprove because they think she's a gold digger. The two marry anyway and Lombard leaves her gig, to the dismay of club owner Arthur Hohl, who is in love with her. The couple lives on the generous allowance that Raymond's father gives them, but Lombard soon thinks it's high time for Raymond to do some honest work. He gets a job as a lowly clerk in the family business, but his best friend talks him into taking afternoons off to go to the horse races, and soon he's quit his job and is back to his playboy ways. When Lombard finds out, she is furious and moves out, going back to work at Hohl's club. Of course, true love and hard work win out in the end. I'm not really a Lombard fan, though she is fine here, and Raymond is even better, and their scenes together are the best in the movie. The supporting cast is strong: in addition to Hohl, playing a rare nice-guy role, there is Donald Cook as Raymond’s brother, and Monroe Owsley as Raymond’s no-good best friend. [TCM]