Growing up in a poor working-class family, Laura decides not to marry the boy-next-door and instead accepts wealthy, older Will Brockton's invitation to move in with him. After falling in love with young up-and-coming newsman Jack Madison she leaves Brockton to wait for Madison's return from a long assignment. She runs out of money and becomes desperate, returning again to Brockton who, upon learning of Madison's sudden arrival, tells Laura she must inform Madison of her living situation or he will.
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Regardless of the quality of the story, I felt I had to see "The Easiest Way" because it's one of Clark Gable's earliest films. He plays a supporting character, Nick, a guy far less sophisticated and lacking the trademark mustache. Laura (Constance Bennett) lives in a crowded apartment with her trashy family. They're poor and the father is a genial drunk. Because of this background, it's not at all surprising that when she is given a chance to become her boss' mistress, she jumps at the chance. After all, he's loaded and pampers her like she's never been pampered before! But folks who know her realize what sort of a woman she is, particularly her brother-in-law, Nick. He's wise to the trampy sort of life she leads.A bit later, when Laura is on vacation out west, she meets a nice- guy reporter, Johnny (Robert Montgomery). He's handsome, sweet and you assume they'll soon marry---and he knows what sort of woman she was. However, this is only about half-way through the film, so you know IF there's going to be a happily ever after, it will have to come after a few plot twists!This film is a great example of the so-called 'Pre-Code' and its sensibilities. Although most folks today think all the movies made back in the good 'ol days were very prudish, this was NOT the case before mid-1934. In the early 30s, studios made all sorts of very adult films with plots involving prostitutes, abortion, fornication and even, occasionally, nudity and cursing. While the films sometimes didn't always SAY that is what was going on, it was always heavily implied and the adults in the audience know the score. Here in "The Easiest Way", words like 'mistress', 'prostitute' or even that she's sleeping with the suave boss (Adolph Menjou)...but it's clearly happening! On top of that, he no-good dad doesn't mind...he LIKES the money she can send home! Welcome to the pre-code era, folks!So the important question about all this is whether or not the film is any good. If you're watching it for Gable like I was, don't expect too much from him. His role is very limited and he clearly is just a contract actor in this film. As for the film itself, its quite good. The only negative, and I actually liked this, was that the ending is very vague--so if you're looking for a perfect, formulaic sort of picture, this ain't it!
Bennett's screen image was that of a sophisticated girl who knew how to take care of herself and get what she wanted. Her fans (wrote Griffith & Mayer) believed she would get out of traps that would hold them fast. Surprisingly then, in this film she's passive, unambitious and defeated at the ripe old age of 20 something. Makes me wonder what her benefactor, Menjou, saw in her that kept him interested for several years.The beginning scene in the tenement apartment is terrific, the crowded setting warm and cozy as the family members get ready to start the day. The entire cast is perfect. Gable is very watchable and it's easy to see he would soon be a star. Montgomery is charming and believable when he tells Bennett he knows about her and Menjou but he loves her and wants to marry her as long as there is no more dilly dallying with Menjou. Rambeau is especially good in the scene where she refuses to loan Bennett $100 (a lot of money in 1931), telling her to get off her high horse and do what Rambeau does to support herself. And the generous but not-the-marrying-kind Menjou is likable and his suits are beautifully cut and fitted.And Anita Page is excellent. A commenter asks what happened to Page's career. In 1930 Page was a star. In 1931 she was a supporting player. In 1933 her MGM contract was not renewed and she retired. Studio politics is what happened to the star who was second in popularity to Garbo.So there was another ending filmed but not used. My guess is that a despairing Bennett jumped onto the RR tracks, ala Anna Karenina, or teamed up with Rambeau as a I-hate-men gold digger.
Heard about Joan Bennett, but never viewed any of Constance Bennett's films, and in this 1931 picture she was very young and had great talent. Constance,(Laura Murdock),"Sin Town",'42, played a young gal who lived in a low income flat with her large Irish family and a father who was lazy and drunk most of the time. Laura decided to move out and go on her own when she meets Adolphe Menjou(William Brockton)," I Married a Woman",'58, who played a fat, rich, dirty old man who buys Laura's body and soul. As the picture progresses, Laura has plenty of worldly goods, but deep down is very unhappy and Bill Brockton does not intend to marry Laura, but just gives her promises. One day, Laura meets Robert Montgomery,(Jack Madison),"The Great Gatsby",'55 TV, who is a reporter and falls in love with him. You will also see Clark Gable, "The Misfits",'61, who portrays the role as a laundryman who goes house to house and eventually marries Laura's sister. The "Easiest Way", was performed on the New York City stage and was a rather sexy play for 1931, because Laura was considered a prostitute living with a man unmarried in those days. You will like this ending, but the real ending was a great deal different.
"The Easiest Way" is an example of how Hollywood could deal with thorny subjects before the arrival of the Hays Code. We are presented with a situation in which a young, poor, but attractive young woman, could go up in the world using her natural charms in a realistic way. That was going to change in a few more years, as the Code would not let themes such as this one be dealt with the frankness prior to its arrival.The film, directed by Jack Conway, is curiosity piece by today's standards. The original work was made for the stage where there was an open mind about risky situations. We are presented with a poor family at the beginning of the story living in a crowded tenement. Laura, the beautiful young girl has no future of getting a rich man that will take her away from the poverty she is living. When a rich man enters her life, she sees the opportunity to escape her humble origins.The film deals in a realistic way with the subject of the illicit affair between Laura and Bill Brockton. When she falls for young Jack Madison, she believes that she must abandon the man that provides her comfort and easy life, until she finds herself penniless and must face with the fact that she has to go back to Bill, but loses Jack in the process. At the end, we watch her spying outside her married sister's suburban house which is the epitome of happiness.Constance Bennett makes an interesting Laura, but this is not her best role in the movies. Robert Montgomery is not seen enough in the film. Adolph Menjou makes a great Bill Brockton, the rich man who loves Laura in spite of the fact he knows Laura doesn't care for him. Clark Gable made a good impression as the brother-in-law critical to Laura. Marjorie Rambeau, Anita Page and Hedda Haper appear in minor roles.