Date and Time
- Sunday, Nov 15, 2026 1:30pm
Details
Preceded by a discussion with film historian Farran Smith Nehme and Margaret Talbot, daughter of actor Lyle Talbot and author of “The Entertainer: Movies, Magic and My Father's Twentieth Century”
Three girls from the slums follow different paths — Ruth (Bette Davis) becomes a stenographer, Vivian (Ann Dvorak) a trophy wife and Mary (Joan Blondell) a showgirl via reform school. Their happenstance reunion in the big city leads to a vivid exploration of themes soon to be forbidden under the production code — alcoholism, drug addiction, blackmail, child kidnapping, suicide, illicit sex and more. Dvorak gives the performance of a lifetime as the socialite who explores her dark side with a playboy gambler with mob connections (Lyle Talbot). This compact melodrama heads in unexpected directions, with an ending that still has the power to stun an audience. The great supporting cast includes Warren William, Glenda Farrell, Humphrey Bogart, Patricia Ellis, Edward Arnold, Jack La Rue and Allen Jenkins.
