Indiscreet (1931 film)

Indiscreet (1931) is a American comedy film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Gloria Swanson and Ben Lyon. The screenplay by Buddy G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson, based on their story Obey That Impulse, originally was written as a full-fledged musical, but only two songs - "If You Haven't Got Love" and "Come to Me" - remained when the film was released .

The plot of the United Artists release centers on fashion designer Geraldine Trent (Swanson), who takes up with novelist Tony Blake (Lyon) after leaving her former beau Jim Woodward because of his many indiscretions with other women. Tony has indicated he has no interest in dating a woman with a past, so Geraldine remains mum about her affair with Jim, until her younger sister Joan arrives and announces she's engaged -- to Jim. Madcap complications ensue as Geraldine tries to keep her secret from Tony while convincing her sister to rid herself of her womanizing fiancé in favor of simple country boy Buster Collins.

The film is available on DVD.

Principal cast

• Gloria Swanson ..... Geraldine Trent
• Ben Lyon ..... Tony Blake
• Monroe Owsley ..... Jim Woodward
• Barbara Kent ..... Joan Trent
• Arthur Lake ..... Buster Collins

Principal production credits

• Producers ..... Lew Brown, Buddy G. DeSylva, Ray Henderson
• Music Supervision ..... Alfred Newman
• Cinematography ..... Gregg Toland, Ray June
• Art Direction ..... Richard Day
• Costume Design ..... René Hubert

Critical reception

In his review in the New York Times, Mordaunt Hall observed, "It may have its off moments so far as the few serious incidents are concerned, but when it stoops to farce, there is no denying its jollity . . . on the whole, it is a well-worked out entertainment, wherein gusts of merriment cause one to overlook its occasional flaws . . . Now and again the film sobers up, but the director and the authors have solved a way of inoculating it with further mirth, and even at the end there is a streak of fun that is almost Chaplinesque.

References

External links

• Indiscreet at the Internet Movie Database