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A Major Disappointment

The first must-see film of the year.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

"Road to Paradise" is a 1930 film starring Loretta Young in a dual role.Mary Brennan is a lovely young woman who is in with thieves who raised her. One night at a Chinese restaurant, they all spot her lookalike, Margaret Waring, who is very wealthy. The cons decide to go to her house while she's out, using Mary as her double, and rip her off. Of course, things don't go off without a couple of hitches.This film, even though it's short, seems long as it moves slowly. It's a very early sound movie, and the actors hadn't yet perfected the speech rhythms.Loretta Young is luminously beautiful - here, she's about 17 years old. She does a wonderful job of differentiating between the two women as well. Worth seeing for her, not much else.

There is nothing of highways or of heaven in this film, so I don't know why it was named as it was. Loretta Young plays a foundling raised by a couple of thieves who decide to rob rich girl Margaret Waring, who looks just like Loretta's character, Mary Brennan, trading on the fact that the two are physically identical. Unfortunately once inside the rich girl's darkened mansion things begin to go awry. The rich girl's boyfriend shows up (Jack Mulhall) and Mary must make him believe she is the real thing - she does all too good a job of it. Then the real Margaret Waring reappears at the house unexpectedly, there's a shooting, Mary's accomplices desert her, and the police arrive at the scene to find two Margaret Warings, one of whom is unconscious.So what's goofy about the plot besides what I've mentioned? Well, there's a rather far-fetched mind reading plot device that figures heavily into matters, the fact that the police are examining every tree for evidence yet manage to miss the forest, and that Jack Mulhall's character can fall in love based on three sentences from someone who is - at the time - just trying to get rid of him. The whole thing is a rather suspenseful yet fun mystery/comedy of errors. It really is one of Warner's better early talkie efforts. What's really amazing here is that Loretta Young was only 17 when she made this one yet she can hold her own with any of the older leading actresses of the day that made such drawing room dramas.

Road to Paradise (1930) ** (out of 4) Incredibly far fetched drama about a young woman (Loretta Young) who helps two criminals rob from her look alike. This is certainly a film you'd have to see to believe because the story is so far fetched that you can never take it serious. The screenwriter made the mistake of making this a drama when it probably would have worked better as a screwball comedy. The ending is so out there you can't help but laugh when it's supposed to be dramatic. Young gives a good performance in her duel role but the rest of the cast is pretty dull. Directed by William Beaudine.

Not bad, although the love story is incredibly rushed, and there are some distracting plot holes/contrivances. For instance, when the cop finds out who Jerry 'The Gent' really is, wouldn't he be more suspicious of Mary and her connection to him? After all, she introduced Jerry as "Mr. Jones" and they clearly had a relationship. So, discovering that this guy is a criminal, (and presumably figuring that he's one of the men who broke into Margaret Waring's home), ought to make the cops question Mary/Margaret some more. Does Mary ever learn that Jerry was arrested? I also find it hard to believe that Margaret would wake up with no ill will whatsoever towards the girl who was part of a break-in which led to Margaret getting shot. Okay, fine, sisterly love, I guess. But even harder to swallow, is Margaret's statement that she *knew* she had a twin, and had been searching for her. We saw no evidence of this at the start of the movie - Margaret seems carefree, enjoying her wealth, going to parties, etc - she doesn't behave like someone on a serious mission to find her long-lost sister. Also, it's contrived that Margaret's father supposedly told her to keep the knowledge of Mary's existence, a secret, until she found her. Why? Wouldn't it be easier to locate her sister if she had, oh, I dunno, the *police* and everybody else keeping an eye out for her double? It just doesn't make sense. One more thing, how dumb is it that Mary never once thought to try to open her locket? It didn't occur to her that it *could* be opened. Even though lockets *always* have pictures inside them...I mean, come on.Oddly enough, I find these things more implausible than I do the whole psychic/mind-reading plot device! Having said all that, Loretta Young is charming and fairly natural - she doesn't overact with broad gestures as so many stars did during the rough transition between silent films and talkies. I was impressed by the technical aspects of "Road To Paradise" as well - the variety of camera angles and the trickery employed to have Mary and Margaret in the same shot. Well done, especially for such an early movie.