Jewel Robbery

Jewel Robbery (1932)

Runtime: 68 minutes

Directed by: William Dieterle

Starring: William Powell, Kay Francis, Helen Vinson, Hardie Albright, Alan Mowbray

From: Warner Bros.

The reason for this rare late night review: the preceding week I've not only been pretty busy, but my health was not always 100%. However, things should be back to normal now. This film was just on Turner Classic Movies and I had the free time to watch then immediately review.

This is a breezy farce (barely over an hour long) where Kay Francis plays a baroness in Vienna who is robbed in a jewelry store by a gang of bandits led by William Powell. She leads an incredibly pampered life but she is bored so of course after the theft the two become smitten with each other. It helped that it was the most chill robbery I've ever seen, complete with The Blue Danube Waltz being played on phonograph, and Powell acting like a gentleman despite his line of work. Jewel Robbery-based on a contemporary Hungarian play, of all things-develops a more and more exaggerated style until it becomes quite theatrical in the final act but I can see why this was nice escapist entertainment for Great Depression.

I mean, I was also charmed by this film. It was a nice way to kill time tonight. This was Pre-Code so among other things a character is given “a funny cigarette” and later on other characters unwittingly toke up-as many people do when given that, they act silly & giggle uncontrollably... or so I've heard. The movie manages to be likable because the two leads are a nice duo and deliver the best performances-furthermore, Francis was a dish.


As an aside, the same year's Trouble in Paradise was based on another Hungarian play, and it was by a different playwright. I am not sure what's more surprising... Hungarian plays being hot at the time or the fact that thieves were a popular topic in them.