The temptation of love has been burning in the desires of the young since there first were the young. For privileged Swiss boarding school student Dorothy Wilson, the desires of youth leaves her "in trouble", as they used to be, and she's tormented by guilt, both for her own life, the father to be and the scandal it will bring to her own father, the wealthy Walter Connelly. Through what's going on inside of her, the audience gets to learn the truth, and it's very haunting to see her suffer as she feels with suspicious fellow students, beau Douglas Montgomery and strict adviser Kay Johnson, the coach of the crew team she's on.
While the flashbacks of her romance with Montgomery and the personalities of some of her fellow stories bring on comical moments, this is best when it strives for poignancy, especially when Wilson fails a test while remembering learning she was "with child". A later nightmare she has is rather frightening. Wilson, a lovely forgotten leading lady of the early 1930's, gives this part its all. I just don't care for the title, which I believe was meant to spoof "Three on a Match", although none of the other girls really have any impact in the plot. Kay Johnson's unsympathetic teacher/coach is given a rather masculine demeanor, giving off all sorts of subtle hints.
This is one of the more direct and obvious reasons as to why the code came in, although there is no real moral message implied. I'd be curious to see the 1932 German version of this, as coming right before the change in the political climate, the character of Johnson seems quite harsh in its demeanor, as if forecasting the fascist regime rising in power. Quite a different role for Johnson who just a few years before played mostly long suffering heroines. But, after a particularly cruel moment here, I go back to one film where she had two faces, she really does earn the title of "Madam Satan" here.
But a sudden twist shows a moral lesson about judgment and sisterhood and loyalty and trust, important qualities that struggle to remain vital because of human failing. Johnson makes a realistic switch, while Connelly's father is no different than he was in "It Happened One Night". Montgomery is a handsome hero, noble and idealistic, even if he committed a "sin" that could have marked Wilson for life. The somber first three quarters wrap up neatly and even the power of sisterhood can't come between the struggle for nobility. Some anti-male sentiments open up the question of why men in this situation are automatically assumed to be snakes in the grass.
While the flashbacks of her romance with Montgomery and the personalities of some of her fellow stories bring on comical moments, this is best when it strives for poignancy, especially when Wilson fails a test while remembering learning she was "with child". A later nightmare she has is rather frightening. Wilson, a lovely forgotten leading lady of the early 1930's, gives this part its all. I just don't care for the title, which I believe was meant to spoof "Three on a Match", although none of the other girls really have any impact in the plot. Kay Johnson's unsympathetic teacher/coach is given a rather masculine demeanor, giving off all sorts of subtle hints.
This is one of the more direct and obvious reasons as to why the code came in, although there is no real moral message implied. I'd be curious to see the 1932 German version of this, as coming right before the change in the political climate, the character of Johnson seems quite harsh in its demeanor, as if forecasting the fascist regime rising in power. Quite a different role for Johnson who just a few years before played mostly long suffering heroines. But, after a particularly cruel moment here, I go back to one film where she had two faces, she really does earn the title of "Madam Satan" here.
But a sudden twist shows a moral lesson about judgment and sisterhood and loyalty and trust, important qualities that struggle to remain vital because of human failing. Johnson makes a realistic switch, while Connelly's father is no different than he was in "It Happened One Night". Montgomery is a handsome hero, noble and idealistic, even if he committed a "sin" that could have marked Wilson for life. The somber first three quarters wrap up neatly and even the power of sisterhood can't come between the struggle for nobility. Some anti-male sentiments open up the question of why men in this situation are automatically assumed to be snakes in the grass.