They Call It Sin

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Russ G @RT78760655 Jan 15, 2026 A passable pre-Code talkie; I've graded it on the curve. Naive Kansas girl persues the object of her infatuation to New York and finds trouble. Miss Young is lovely and Louis Calhern plays his usual handsome rake earlier than his better-known roles. George Brent is wooden as always. It suffers from the usual shortcomings of Hollywood productions of the time but it's redeemed by the mercifully short running time. See more Dec 4, 2018 Perhaps a better title for this one would have been Men Behaving Badly. A poor young woman from Kansas (Loretta Young at just 19) is preyed upon by three affluent guys in New York, who on the surface are cordial and charming, but in reality are kinda sleazy. Thereâ(TM)s the businessman who is already engaged to another woman (David Manners), his doctor friend who tries to angle his way in by being alone with her (George Brent), and a producer of musicals who hires her as a pianist with one thing on his mind (Louis Calhern). Young is certainly engaging and her character stands up for herself, making the film reasonably entertaining over a good portion of it. In Kansas, she asserts herself against her old-school parents who disapprove of her staying out until midnight with a strange man, even though weâ(TM)re pretty sure she hasnâ(TM)t â~done anythingâ(TM). In New York, she leaves Manners when she finds out heâ(TM)s engaged, politely declines Brentâ(TM)s marriage proposal, and keeps things professional with Calhern, even when he suggests they enjoy breakfast together, which in this era implied sleeping together. She also raises hell with him when he steals her composition. Her character is easy-going and good hearted, but sheâ(TM)s not a pushover. Unfortunately, the film falls apart a bit during a moment of self-sacrifice on her part, followed by a ridiculous scene involving an operation. The ending is weak, as none of the characters behave in a way thatâ(TM)s believable based on what theyâ(TM)ve done or said previously, with the exception of the doctor. What started as a decent setup kinda cops out. Similarly, the filmâ(TM)s title is misleading; itâ(TM)s quite tame and is more in keeping with those youâ(TM)d see after the production code went into effect. Iâ(TM)m aware of several other pre-code films with the word â~sinâ(TM) in the title that have this characteristic, and usually itâ(TM)s a bad sign. Anyway, Loretta Young is enough to make it watchable, especially for fans of hers, but donâ(TM)t expect much else. See more Feb 19, 2015 Middling pre-code drama about innocent Loretta Young moving to the big city after a man, only to find out that he's engaged to another woman. There are bits of of pre-code naughtiness that make it somewhat entertaining, like Una Merkel in her underwear and some milk profanity, not to mention a main character being a two timing louse. That's enough to make this worth watching for fans of pre-code films, but that's about the only reason to watch this tepid drama. See more Jun 9, 2014 A pre-Code Hollywood movie (with something like the story of "Eugene Onegin"), titled "They Call It Sin", that's remarkably chaste. It's also dishonest, hypocritical, yet mature, but becomes ridiculous at the point of the fall from the balcony. I guess a restrained/repressed concept of love calls forth reckless/extravagant gestures of love (like confessing to a murder one didn't commit, or performing risky surgery on the "murder" victim to clear the false confession). See more Jan 9, 2013 one of 6 films young made in 1932 this pre-code talkie has her falling 4 the 'wrong sort' of man. See more Read all reviews

They Call It Sin

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