GOD'S GIFT TO WOMEN (1931)

 

This Warner Brothers trifle, directed by Michael Curtiz, has the unlikely premise that a marginally attractive, totally uncharismatic gentleman with the equally unlikely name of Toto Duryea (Frank Fay) is the reigning playboy of Paris whom all the women find completely irresistible. However, this paragon of masculine perfection finds he has met his match when he falls in love with an American girl, played by Laura La Plante, who doesn't return his interest. To make his dilemma even worse, Mr. Duryea's' doctor has warned him that if he doesn't give up chasing women, his heart is likely to give out. 

There are very few laughs in this pre-code photoplay that centers on the lives of the idle, and not terribly interesting, rich. This is my one and only experience of actor Frank Fay, so it may not be fair to judge the man's capabilities on this one picture. The only thing I know about him is that he was once married to Barbara Stanwyck.

 

The main reason to give notice to this film is the presence of Louise Brooks in a supporting role as one of the women in Duryea's stable of admirers. The beautiful Miss Brooks had recently returned from Europe after starring in two now-classic German silent films for director G. W. Pabst: PANDORA'S BOX and DIARY OF A LOST GIRL, both in 1929. She also had completed her first sound film: PRIX DE BEAUTE (1930) for director Rene Clair in France. She was hoping to return to Hollywood to find renewed respect and opportunity. However, she was only able to find minor roles in minor films. She is luminous in her brief scenes, and it makes me sad to wonder what might have been if she had been given the important films she deserved. Also in the cast is the marvelous Joan Blondell, always brings quality and heart to any film she appears in, minor or otherwise.

And now, let's celebrate Louise Brooks!

Brooksie takes center stage.

Louise Brooks - God's Gift to Women: Original Trailer (1931)