morality tale, The Wages of Sin is in fact far more interesting and serious than one would expect from genre known for anti-classics with titles like Assassin of Youth, Gambling with Souls, and The Road to Ruin.
It also features a cast made up of actresses who knew from unfortunate experience that the information given in the movie's prologue was accurate -- that the majority of young women caught in similar problems weren't the victims of their own poor judgement, but rather of sociopathic men and the society that creates them. Unlike other movies of its genre, there's very little ironic laughter to be had in its story.
Marjorie Benton works at a gigantic laundry pressing clothes six days a week. She'd like to get an office job, but can't afford nice clothes, seeing that she has to fork over her weekly paycheck to her family consisting of a shrewish mother, a socialist father on strike, a lazy older brother too busy looking at the racing form to work, and a sympathetic younger brother who has to drink water because they can't afford milk, due to a shrewish mother, a socialist father...
Marjorie's co-worker Florence invites her on a double date -- even loaning her some of her own clothes -- to a roadhouse out in the sticks. Not used to how the cool kids have fun, Marjorie is soon snozzled on Tom Collins and high on reefer. "Fortunately", she and Florence are given a lift back to the latter's apartment by the charmingly oily Tony Kolinus.
Tossed out on her keister by her mother for staying out all night, Marjorie moves in with Florence. Meanwhile Tony Kolinus (the more you say it, the more it sounds like an oath uttered by W.C. Fields) arranges for Marjorie to be fired from her job, just so he can turn her into a call girl. After six months of "entertaining" traveling salesmen, she decides that a new profession is in order. Tony agrees, selling her to Fat Pearl, the madam of a brothel. Pregnant with Tony's child, Marjorie is helped to escape by Roxie, another of Fat Pearl's captives. Making her way back to L.A., she finds Tony in the arms of a new hooker-to-be. One pistol and a couple of well-aimed shots later, Marjorie faces a possible date with Ol' Sparky in the local prison. Remember: not having nice clothes can lead you to death row.
Wiseass comments aside, The Wages of Sin comes closer to any exploitation film of its time in terms of ugly reality (other than Florence warning Marjorie that marijuana is worse than cocaine). Marjorie's family is about as loathsome as you can find in any movie of the 1930s. The lengthy roadhouse scene features a stripper, a drunken old lady squawking "Listen to the Mockingbird", and a scary young woman yowling "Minnie the Moocher" while twisting herself into a pretzel and chewing on her foot, before getting into a disturbing fist-throwing, ear-chewing altercation with her boyfriend. The glamorous life this is not.
But it's the cast's real-life backstories that put the punch in The Wages of Sin. Constance Worth (Marjorie) was an actress from Australia who gradually drank herself to death after losing her shot at Hollywood A-pictures when sued for annulment a month after marrying Warners leading man George Brent. (I'll give you a moment to ask Hunh?) Clara Kimball Young (Fat Pearl) was a major star in silents until having the temerity to sue her movie-director boyfriend for losing all her savings in bad investments. (Another pause to ponder that.) And perhaps saddest of all, Betty Wonder (Roxie), forever blackballed by the movie industry for testifying on behalf of a young woman raped at a party thrown by M-G-M. See, Harvey Weinstein was just following in the footsteps of the guys who created Hollywood!
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| Marjorie is about to really get taken to the cleaners. |
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| Is everybody happy? |
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| "Marjorie, meet your new madam -- er, mother." |
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| You thought I was kidding, didn't you? |
Despite a couple of the screenshots I lifted off the internet, the print of The Wages of Sin I recently caught at the Musuem of Modern Art is as close to brand new as you'll ever see. Suprisingly, there was little if any of the usual aren't-I-sophisticated titters from the New York audience. They actually took this movie seriously.
Except for its climatic message, which advised us that the jury deciding Marjorie's fate was still undecided, and urging us to send our own verdicts (in 300 words or less!) to Reel Life Dramas (the production company), with $10,000 worth of prizes for the winners. When in doubt, always go for the cop-out ending.
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