Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Behind the Make Up (1930)

Director: Robert Milton, Dorothy Arzner, Henry Hathaway

Cast: Hal Skelly, William Powell, Fay Wray, Kay Francis, Paul Lukas, E H Calvert, Torben Meyer, Bob Perry, Walter Huston

70 min

Behind the Make-Up (1930) is an American Pre-Code drama film starring Hal Skelly, William Powell, Kay Francis, and Fay Wray, and based on the short story “The Feeder” by Mildred Cram.

This was the first of seven in which Powell and Francis co-starred, the others being Street of Chance (1930), Paramount on Parade (1930), For the Defense (1930), Ladies’ Man (1931), Jewel Robbery (1932), and One Way Passage (1932).

Plot Summary

Gardoni, a down-on-his-luck vaudeville performer, is taken in by a fellow performer, a clown who has a bicycle riding act. Gardoni shows his appreciation by stealing the clown’s act and his girlfriend, whom he marries.

Cast

• Hal Skelly as Hap Brown
• William Powell as Gardoni
• Fay Wray as Marie Gardoni
• Kay Francis as Kitty Parker
• E. H. Calvert as Dawson
• Paul Lukas as Boris
• Jean De Briac as Sculptor
• Torben Meyer as Waiter

Critical reception

Mordaunt Hall, film critic of the New York Times, praised the performances of Powell (“excellent”), Wray (“pleasing”), Skelly (“goes about his part with earnestness and intelligence”), and Francis (“does nicely”), but noted “the story is rather limp and disappointing.”^[1]

References

Blu Ray

Not released on Blu Ray

DVD