Continuing this week's festival of early Loretta Young movies, tonight's movie was THE DEVIL TO PAY!, a somewhat creaky but ultimately fairly enjoyable romantic comedy about love among members of the British upper crust.Ronald Colman plays Willie Hale, the charming ne'er-do-well son of a British lord, who arrives home from Africa and promptly falls in love with his sister's friend Dorothy. Dorothy is played by the 17-year-old Loretta Young; seeing the beautiful Miss Young so early in her career really gives one an appreciation for her longevity as a film star. Both actors, of course, are very entertaining.
For good measure, Willie's longtime lady love, an actress, is played by wonderful Myrna Loy; Loy, like Young, enjoyed decades as a movie star. Any movie starring Ronald Colman, Loretta Young, and Myrna Loy is worth seeing in my book.
(Side note: I'd love to see Young as Marsinah in 1930's KISMET, but sadly it's considered a "lost" film, according to IMDb. David Manners, who appeared with Young in THEY CALL IT SIN, played the Caliph.)
THE DEVIL TO PAY! runs 73 minutes. It was directed by George Fitzmaurice and Irving Cummings, who apparently was fired early on and replaced by Fitzmaurice.
THE DEVIL TO PAY! is available on VHS. It can also be seen on Turner Classic Movies.
March 2018 Update: It's taken a lot of years since I first reviewed this film, but I'm happy to report that it will be released on DVD by the Warner Archive in April 2018.
I love these posts on the pre-Code movies. As you noted, the longevity of the careers of some of the actors in Hollywood's heyday is remarkable.
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