Carol Lombard and Pat O'Brien make for a decent pairing in this poverty row production about a pair of streetwise, big city denizens looking for a break during the Depression. The duo share a vulnerable chemistry hidden beneath a veneer of caustic cynicism that more than once threatens to derail their relationship and Lombard and O'Brien in the leads give the characters an unglamorous edge of believability that a studio like Metro might gild with Gable and Crawford.
Lady of the night, Mae (Lombard) is run out of town by the local authorities. Figuring Danbury CT. is not a good fit for her she simply turns around and grabs a cab back to the city beating savvy braggart hack Jimmy Doyle out of his fare. When she tries to square things he tries to remain proud and aloof but the two fall for each other and she decides to go straight without letting Jimmy know of her past. Inadvertently she once again gets involved with her former associates that leads to not only blowing her cover but getting herself implicated in a murder.
Cameraman Joseph Walker does his usual solid job of giving Virtue a nice crisp look while director Ed Buzzell keeps things lively enough with a supporting cast ( especially Mayo Methot and Jack LaRue) of duplicitous hookers, pimps and self righteous officials making life lousy for Mae and Jimmy. The film's expedient denouement is a little far fetched but by then your rooting too hard for the pair to care.
Lady of the night, Mae (Lombard) is run out of town by the local authorities. Figuring Danbury CT. is not a good fit for her she simply turns around and grabs a cab back to the city beating savvy braggart hack Jimmy Doyle out of his fare. When she tries to square things he tries to remain proud and aloof but the two fall for each other and she decides to go straight without letting Jimmy know of her past. Inadvertently she once again gets involved with her former associates that leads to not only blowing her cover but getting herself implicated in a murder.
Cameraman Joseph Walker does his usual solid job of giving Virtue a nice crisp look while director Ed Buzzell keeps things lively enough with a supporting cast ( especially Mayo Methot and Jack LaRue) of duplicitous hookers, pimps and self righteous officials making life lousy for Mae and Jimmy. The film's expedient denouement is a little far fetched but by then your rooting too hard for the pair to care.