Millie (1931)

By CinemaSerf

Helen Twelvetrees is pretty good in this story of the eponymous young girl who falls passionately in love. When her husband "John" (James Hall) proves to be a bit of a rake, she loses the plot somewhat and gets herself a bit of a reputation. It's only many years later when she discovers that one of her less than scrupulous ex-beaux has his eye on her daughter "Connie" (Anita Louise) that she takes matters into her own hands - and that puts her before a court. The story is nothing new, and the production is still anchored in the silent movie style, but there is one scene - short, but potent, that illustrates how an elderly man - in this case "Damier" (John Halliday) engages in a kind of grooming that even now, makes my flesh creep. He tries to seduce the 17 year old girl with a Chinese silk coat as the "prize". I always reckon with films like this this that the "Code" really did the throttle the ability of American cinema to deal with subjects like this later on - the narratives lost their cutting edge and ability to handle gritty objects so effectively. This is a powerful story, well put together, and is well worth a watch.