The 1940 Mervyn LeRoy remake is much better known, but this early-sound weepie (1931, 81 min.), based on a play by Robert E. Sherwood, was the second feature of the great James Whale (Show Boat, Bride of Frankenstein). Mae Clarke is an American chorus girl who marries an officer in London during World War I; after he’s reported missing and his family rejects her, she drifts into prostitution. The film’s precode dialogue is said to be much saltier than that of LeRoy’s version, and Bette Davis appears in a small role. (JR)