The Locked Door (1929)

We start off here on a fine liner amidst a raid that sees "Ann" (Barbara Stanwyck) getting caught up with the rake that is "Devereaux" (Rod La Rocque) and photographed by the police. Skip forward a while and now she is married to the loving and respectable "Lawrence" (William Boyd) and living with his younger sister "Helen" (Betty Bronson). It's this latter gal who starts to cause ructions when she meets and falls for the roguish "Devereaux" - a romance her new sister-in-law is determined to thwart. It won't be that simple, though - "Devereaux" is a rogue, but quite a calculating one and he has evidence that could rock the happiness "Ann" has found to it's foundations. Meanwhile. it's also reaching her husband's ears that his sister is fraternising with this wrong 'un, and so an unannounced arrival at his apartment sets up a showdown that will eventually involve the police, the ditzy and entertaining switchboard operator (Zasu Pitts) and just about everyone else. Stanwyck stands out here - not because she's very good, but because she is so much better than everyone else. The script and pace of the thing do just about enough leading to a denouement that isn't quite what was expected. A story of love, lust and loyalty that passes an hour or so easily enough.