The Amazingly Weird "Bachelor Apartment" 1931

[Brian Sheridan]

The 1931 pre-Code film "Bachelor Apartment" aired recently on TCM. It is about the strangest "comedies" I have seen from that period. The opening scene has a butler cleaning up from a wild party and finding Benzedrine poppers and cocaine laying about the place! Hints are even dropped about threesomes. A married woman also calls to say she wants to continue her affair despite her new marriage.

Lowell Sherman directs (poorly) and acts as the rich playboy. He seems too "light in the loafers" to be a lady-killer. The whole film is paced too slowly to be funny and Sherman's fey mannerisms (he is no William Warren) are totally distracting.

The best part is his swanky Art Deco apartment.

A good review of the film can be found here:

www.altfg.com/blog/film-reviews/bachelor-apartment-lowell-sherman-irene-dunne/

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I'll have to keep an eye out for it. TCM did a series of pre-code films last fall to coincide with their release of a DVD set. It was interesting to see that there were some more racy or at least suggestive movies release pre-code. I'd heard things were different pre-code but most pre-code films I'd seen up to that point weren't that different from the post-code.

 

[HadleyH]

Pre-code films are among my favorites! I don't think I've seen "Bachelor Apartment"... i will also have to look out for it!

 

[obiwan]

Hmm, not in the Netflix library...

 

[Tomasso]

I caught it a few years ago; while mildly entertaining, not worth a re-watch.

 

[mike]

I saw this on TCM a few years ago. It was... interesting! lol not wonderful but full of worthwhile stuff for one watch.
I recently saw a documentary on director William Wellman & recorded a few of his films that I hadn't seen before like Wild Boys of the Road from 1933 - now this looks wonderful!
Actually TCM has really been on a great run of screening really really rare 30's films! Life's good

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Sounds really good to me. But then again, I tend to like those slow "read between the lines" early talkies.

I have it on DVD but haven't watched it yet. Will do next, though!