A young woman uses her body and her sexuality to help her climb the social ladder, but soon begins to wonder if her new status will ever bring her happiness.
Acting
Stanwyck's dead-eyed determination still shocks 90 years later.
Writing
Nietzsche-quoting pimp father gives the most unhinged advice.
Production
Giant skyscraper tracking shot = visual metaphor on steroids.
Director
Alfred E. Green
Barbara Stanwyck
Lily Powers
George Brent
Courtland Trenholm
Donald Cook
Ned Stevens
Alphonse Ethier
Adolf Cragg
Henry Kolker
J.R. Carter
Margaret Lindsay
Ann Carter
Arthur Hohl
Ed Sipple
John Wayne
Jimmy McCoy Jr.
Robert Barrat
Nick Powers
Douglass Dumbrille
Brody
Theresa Harris
Chico
Joan Barclay
Job Seeker (uncredited)
Charles Coleman
Hodges (uncredited)
Heinie Conklin
Speakeasy Waiter (uncredited)
Grace Hayle
Mrs. Hemingway (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Hays Office demanded 20 minutes of cuts; the original negative was lost for decades until a 2004 discovery in a Library of Congress vault.
This film basically ended the Pre-Code era — moral panic was so severe that enforcement of the Production Code became draconian immediately after.
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