Cast:
Kay Francis ... Elsie Maury
Paul Cavanagh ... Robert Maury
Ricardo Cortez ... Don Arturo de Borgus
Nance O'Neil ... Honora 'Nora' Maury
Doris Lloyd ... Paula Vrain
John St. Polis ... Serafin, Arturo's Butler
Ruth Weston ... Viscountess de Longueval
Adrienne D'Ambricourt ... Julie, Elsie's French Maid
Directed by Herbert Brenon.
Produced by William LeBaron.
Based on a novel by Kate Jordan.
Adapted by Elizabeth Meehan.
Dialogue by Benn Levy.
Original Music by Max Steiner.
Costumes and Sets by Max Ree.
Cinematography by Leo Trevor.
An RKO-Radio Picture.
Released June 12, 1931.
Background:
Transgression was the second film adaptation of Kate Jordon’s 1921 novel, The Next Corner. The first had been directed by the mentionable Sam Wood, and the film starred Conway Tearle, Dorothy Mackaill, Ricardo Cortez, and Lon Chaney. What makes the sound remake so notable for Kay Francis fans is that it is not only the first Kay Francis movie to just feel like a Kay Francis movie, but it gave her the first real opportunity in her entire motion picture career to be the real leading lady in a decent film.
It was a chance many didn’t seem to want to make.
A reviewer for one of Kay’s earlier pictures had stated that it was “doubtful this brunet beauty would ever achieve top stardom.” Certainly her typecasting in supporting vamp roles limited her somewhat during her first year in Hollywood, but by the time Transgression was made she was on the rebound. She had diversified her career seriously with roles in Street of Chance (1930) and Ladies’ Man (1931), two of her Paramount films which gave her a significant departure. Metro Goldwyn Mayer offered her a first top-billed role in Passion Flower (1930), a B movie in which Kay shared the spotlight with Charles Bickford and Kay Johnson. But Paramount again sentenced her to small roles in glorified programmers.
When other studios began to take interest in Paramount’s exotic beauty, she received some of her best roles that pushed her up the fame ladder considerably. It was only at some point where she would have to be showcased in a film as a star, and RKO gave her that chance in Transgression.
Though her star treatment is nothing like the way Warner Brothers pampered to Kay in her upcoming years, she’s still the center of Transgression, surrounded by a decent crop of great actors of their time. The sets are impressive, and the picture looks probably more expensive than it actually was to make. Everything is finished with chandeliers, molding, and overly exaggerated but beautiful furniture. The sets for Transgression provide a dream world for those who love the polished, art deco look.
Paul Cavanagh, who plays Kay’s husband, had appeared in films with Loretta Young, Myrna Loy, Constance Bennett, and Ruth Chatterton by the time he was loaned out from Fox to appear with Kay in this one. Previously, he had worked with her in The Virtuous Sin (1930), the second of three on screen parings between Kay and Walter Huston. Ricardo Cortez, who had a lengthy career in silent films, had never worked opposite Kay before, and was paired with her in three more films when she switched over to Warner Brothers.
Director Herbert Brenon’s work in such silent film classics as Sorrell and Son (1927) and Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) had him highly regarded as one of the most interesting man in pictures. But when talkies arrived, he had trouble adjusting to the new form of movie making and eventually ended his career all together a few years after Transgression’s release.
Today the film survives as an example of why he didn’t make it. Though the picture is seriously enjoyable, it doesn’t seem to be as impressive as it should when a director like Brenon was in charge.
Transgression was a popular enough hit with audiences to have other studios prying on Kay’s services from Paramount. It was the ideal soapy melodrama that audiences loved so much at the time, an art form that could have really only existed in the early stages of talkies, when the technology was still so archaic. After this she went to MGM to appear in the excellent Guilty Hands (1931), and finished her Paramount contract only a year later.
Below: In this scene from Transgression, Kay awaits the mail to get a letter she mailed to her husband during a suspicious night in the Spanish Countryside.
Webmaster's Review:
Elsie Maury is the young wife of Robert, a mining engineer who must go to India for over a year on an expedition. Since his older sister Honora, an old maid, constantly criticizes and belittles Elsie out of jealousy, Robert has decided to send Elsie over to Paris where she won’t be lonely.
“Paris can be just as lonely as the English countryside,” Honora insists. “Or it aught to be if one behaves oneself.”
Robert has made up his mind, he knows Elsie will be happier with their friends in Paris. One friend in particular, Paula Vrain, acts as an escort for Elsie, introducing her to the Paris lifestyle and atmosphere. At a beauty salon Elsie is remade from doughty young ingénue into sophisticated Parisian socialite.
She and Paula attend all of the fashionable parties, one of which leads Elsie to be introduced to a mutual friend of Paula’s, Don Arturo.
Elsie and Arturo innocently flirt with each other, but Elsie tries her hardest to remain loyal to Robert, whom she knows really loves her for the young, naïve ingénue she once was, not a sophisticated, stylish party girl in beautiful gowns and hats.
A year goes by, and Robert’s time in India has come to a close. He goes to Paris to see Elsie, and is taken back by her maturity, but, most importantly, her resistance of him. When he takes her in his arms she presses her hand on his chest to keep him at a distance. When he goes to kiss her, she makes it brief and pulls away.
Robert is begins to wonder if she still loves him.
They agree to meet in England in a few days, since Robert has some business to take care of, and Elsie wishes to say good-bye to the friends she’s made over there.
During those few days, Elsie visits Arturo’s villa in the Spanish countryside, where he plans to seduce her. Right before they make love, she decides that she has to write a letter to Robert, telling him that their marriage is over, then she can willingly have sex with Arturo without feeling remorse.
As soon as the letter is sent out, a suspicious man arrives. He is the father of a sixteen-year-old girl who was also seduced by Arturo, and died having his child. He warns Elsie to beat it, and when Arturo attempts to silence him, the man pulls a gun out and shoots him dead. Elsie leaves right away for the train station, hoping to catch that letter before it is mailed out.
Unfortunately, she is too late.
Taking a plane back to England, Elsie makes a way of getting the mail every day before Robert can get that letter. Honora becomes suspicious of this, and she and Robert have a final falling out over Elsie which ends in her leaving forever.
When Arturo’s servant Serafin arrives at the Maury estate to blackmail Elsie into getting Robert involved in a shady business deal. He has the letter that Elsie had written, and plans to show it to Robert if Elsie opens her mouth, but she doesn’t care. She tells Serafin that she is going to tell Robert what did and did not happen in Spain the minute he enters the room. Robert hears all of this, and when he walks in, he tells Serafin to get lost.
Because of her loyalty and devotion to Robert, Elsie insists that he read the letter, but it turns out to be a blank piece of paper. She realizes that the letter must have been burned by mistake when Arturo threw several of them into the fire, but wants to tell Robert what happened their anyway.
He refuses to listen, and they agree to continue on together.
This is one of my guilty favorite Kay Francis films, along with A Notorious Affair (1930) and Allotment Wives (1945). It’s not a good film. Her acting is not consistent. And there are so many bizarre twists and turns in this one that I can’t help but love it.
First of all, I like the way the plot and dialogue connect. Kay Francis, who could not pronounce her R’s, is married to a man named Robert and they have a dog named Rex. She stays in Paris while he is on an expedition. She has an affair with a man named Arturo. She is not liked by her sister-in-law, Honora, and surrounds herself with people with names like Serafin and Paul Vrain. Does everyone notice the consistent R pattern here? In nearly every sentence she is mispronouncing those R’s as W’s, something I always get a kick out of when I watch Kay Francis.
This is especially mentionable when she is at Arturo’s villa in the Spanish countryside. “That letter! I must get that letter!” She makes some odd facial expressions, bulging her eyes and making them look like they are about to pop out of their sockets while she lets her mouth hang open with an overly exaggerated shocked look on her face. The only scenes that top this are the opening ones where she is about as dim-witted and naive as a twelve-year-old girl on her first day of Junior High School.
For the New York Times to give her praise for a “clear portrayal” makes one rethink the trust we as a people place in that newspaper. She is anything but clear, and, as I mentioned before, all over the place in her characterization as Elsie Maury, but I still like this as campy fun.
When people talk about Kay Francis not being able to act, it’s the films like Transgression they are talking about. Her beautiful hairstyles and stylish costumes do make an impression, however.
Paul Cavanagh has a thankless role as the husband, though he is believable as a man who can see that Elsie really does love him, despite of her drastic change during her year in Paris without him.
The one who does best here is Ricardo Cortez as Arturo. This is a good one to see him in. He’s capable in his performance, and does great with his Spanish pronunciations, considering he was in fact Austrian in real life.
Kay biographer Scott O’Brien pointed out that Herbert Brenon, the man who directed Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1929), among a long list of highly-regarded silent films, never master the sound picture. Transgression is perfect proof of that. While the story stays on track, his work is especially mediocre, almost as if it was directed by a newcomer, or someone with little experience in filmmaking.
Luckily, this one does have some prestige. The sets are beautiful throughout the picture. There isn’t one scene that doesn’t look like it was made for an actress on the Kay Francis level at the time, still pretty much regarded as a B movie star. Everything looks as expensive as a set for Norma Shearer or Joan Crawford.
Perhaps this is why RKO is famous for its financial troubles throughout its run as a top-rank studio in Hollywood.
Below: Kay promises Ricardo Cortez that he may only have fifteen minutes to say goodnight to her.
Below: This is actually a photo of Kay from The Virtuous Sin (1930), but it sort of matches the scene in which Ricardo Cortez and Kay are alone at his Spanish countryside home in Transgression (1931).
