Liberal drug use, infidelity out in the open, and the life of a career jewel robber romanticized and celebrated: yes, we're firmly in pre-code territory here folks. The film is frank, sophisticated and deliciously amoral. Suave William Powell and chic-but-naughty Kay Francis are perfectly cast (in one of their many screen pairings). My favorite line: "Tonight is not the night to give you a name, but to forget mine". *** out of 4.

Decadent, frothy, amoral and deliciously funny -- sometimes to a rolling-in-the-aisles degree -- this film is likely to make your jaw drop with the delightfully brazen fantasy of it all: there's a real Viennese lightness to the tale of the Countess who longs to become an honest adventuress and the gentleman thief with a /modus operandi/ so civilised that his victims are caught completely off-balance -- it almost makes sense. (I particularly loved the gramophone in a hatbox that he carries everywhere with him, and the accomplice who deferentially presents him with a case containing the gun for use in the hold-up!) The dialogue demonstrates, not for the first time, that suggestion is far sexier than explicit grunt-and-heave, and the costumes are Hollywood fantasy writ large for the audience's delight. Suavity naturally rules, irony is writ large, and my only complaint was that I inadvertently guessed one of the plot twists a few minutes before the heroine did, thus losing the pleasure of the surprise. I suspect that the Middle-European setting in a famously frivolous Vienna allowed the script to dare even further than would otherwise have been permitted, but basically if you think you hear an innuendo and it's funny then it's probably entirely intentional...My main fear is that if I ever get to watch this again (probably unlikely, alas) it can't possibly live up to my memories of seeing it tonight, with a full house rocking with laughter and a freshly-restored print on the big screen.

First comes the disclaimer – I admit to being a big time Kay Francis fan. I particularly love her in movies like this – light romantic comedies. She simply shines – she is sophisticated, enchanting, elegant, seductive and absolutely inimitable; while at the same time projecting an impish charm and sense of humor that simply captivates - hell, I admit to even adoring her slight lisp – it's the minor "imperfection" that enhances the whole! This movie was released a good ten years before I was born, but I finally got to see it last week and it was worth waiting for. Other reviewers have outlined the plot, so I will only add that this movie is Kay Francis at her best, as good as, or better than her role in "Trouble in Paradise". She and William Powell play beautifully off each other, and the supporting cast – each and every one of them – is nothing short of terrific. This movie is really a gem and a wonderful example of what Hollywood could do (and did) in the early days of "talkies" before the Hayes Office Code made a travesty of film-making. They could not have made this film in 1935, just three years later. The sexual innuendos and situations would have been verboten – yet everything was merely insinuated, not blatantly exploited. This small three or four year "window" in the history of movies was able to be sophisticated, witty, erudite and adult without the necessity of crudity, gratuitous sexuality or the use of language and violence simply for it's shock value rather than for what it adds to the story or plot. Yes, yes, I know – I'm old and need to move with the times. However, this movie shows just how entertaining, funny and charming and sexy good writing, good acting and good direction can be. If you haven't seen it – do so – you won't be disappointed.

Kay Francis was never, in my possibly limited experience, so light and charming, even though her character is stupid and immoral.Her speech defect, which I had never noticed before, was very apparent in this role, but seems to have just added another layer of charm.William Powell, as the thief who preferred to be called "robber," was his usual self, which is pretty good.But, all in all, this is a pretty bad movie.The last shot is a regrettable reminder we have been wasting our time on a movie, and the movie as a whole is, indeed, pretty much a waste of time.Stupid and immoral people are too much in the news to be also a source of entertainment.Good directing and pretty good acting do not make up for the absence of any quality in the story.