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Very well executed

Such a frustrating disappointment

Admirable film.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The lovely Nancy Carroll bore such a close resemblance to fellow Paramount contract player Clara Bow that even with the attempts of casting her as long suffering and fragile while Bow took on the more floozy parts, she came off as a frightened waif. Here, she's on a tropical island with pretty much the scum of the earth. Meeting recluse Richard Arlen, she badgers him to visit his island, all the while fighting to prevent hotel owner Warner Boland and employee Clarence Wilson from taking advantage of her and resulting in violence and unjustified accusations towards her. This is up there with a dozen other "Island of Lost Souls" style movies where actors like Carroll, Bow, Tallulah Bankhead, Ruth Chatterton and Helen Twelvetrees would play the misunderstood shady dame. At just under an hour, this is static and pretty lifeless, although rising star Carroll does on occasion jerking this to life. Otherwise, it's really forgettable.

This early talkie, like a pencil sketch of the famous Maurice Tourneur silent, preposterously reduces Conrad's "Victory" to a Nancy Carroll vehicle. But don't blame her: she gives a characteristically warm and nuanced performance, the best in the film, as a downtrodden violin-player in an all-girl band in Surabaya (now, why didn't Joseph Conrad think of that?),William Wellman directs in rough-and-ready style, emphasizing leering melodrama, yet produces few pre-code thrills. The weakest link here is Wellman favorite Richard Arlen, even more awkward than he was in WINGS; playing Heyst as Joe College in a tropical white suit, who just happens to enjoy living alone on an island, he drains the central role of conflict and complexity.In this company, the villains have ample room to shine: Warner Oland works hard at threatening the leading lady's virtue (as does most of the cast), but only Gustav von Seyffertitz, in a stylish black cloak and using Bela Lugosi's vowels, suggests the corruption and wit of Conrad's creation.The tropical flavor of Surabaya comes down to hula dancers and Hawaiian music, but Archie Stout provides some effective lighting and keeps his shaky-cam moving. While the plot resolution will please only fans of routine Hollywood endings, Nancy Carroll at her peak is always worth a look.