East of Fifth Avenue

At a boarding house run by Maude Eburne, there's a lot of drama and comedy going on among the residents and staff. Most of the movie, however, centers around the triangle of gambler Wallace Ford, whose new wife, Mary Carlisle, wants him to get into a real business; and chorus line gypsy Dorothy Tree, his old girl friend, who's a few months along. Guess who the father is.

Given the year and the pretty good cast that Columbia could assemble for its programmers, there's a tendency to compare this to GRAND HOTEL. Perhaps that's what Columbia had in mind; after all, Keaton claimed he had pitched GRAND MILLS HOTEL, an all-star burlesque about a notorious Bowery flophouse, to Thalberg. If you look at it that way, it looks shoddy and ridiculous. If you stop and consider that the problems of the rich and famous are different than ours because they have money, and the problems of people without money might be just as important.... well, it's a strange and revolutionary idea to some, but it might have some truth in it.

It's too bad that director Albert Rogell is just competent, and has a typical Columbia budget. Still, DP Benjamin Kline offers some lovely two-shots of Mr. Ford and Miss Tree.