Too much of everything

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

. . . for the money-grubbing miserly weasels that they are in this Depression Era LOVE AFFAIR. By the close of this story, Bogart's "Jim Leonard" character is told that the same Two-Timing Rich Dude has knocked up his little sister, filched his invention, and stolen his fiancée. Since Mr. Moneybags only cares about his Mountain of Gold, he rides off into the LOVE AFFAIR sunset with 100% ownership of Jim's Brain Child, leaving little sis Linda ruined in a Fate Worse Than Death (if she's even still alive), and Jim settling for sloppy seconds from the Big Shot's Beauty School Drop-Out. LOVE AFFAIR is just one example of many movies from this era urging Everyman from Anytown, USA, to grab his pitchfork and skedaddle on over to the next C of C meeting to straighten out America. Now with the Citizen's United Decision and the Rich Party's declaration that they'll never again vote on Supreme Court nominees save their own, it's too late for pitchforks to do any good. As the ending of LOVE AFFAIR suggests, One-Way Missions will be required of most every normal American to reclaim our Homeland for our children from the Vacuous Villain Class, represented here by "Bruce Hardy."

... in this rather muddled tale involving a love quadrangle. The four corners of this quadrangle (in order) are engineer Jim Leonard (Humphrey Bogart) who is the protective brother of chorus girl Linda, who is the secret mistress of Bruce Hardy, who is the financial adviser and suitor of poor little rich girl Carol Owen (Dorothy McKaill) who falls for Jim Leonard. As Jim Leonard says to Carol, "Can you read blueprints?". If you can, you might have a chance of following this busy little precode film. Add in one more important character - a sleazy guy who wants to star Linda in a revue financed by Hardy's money. What really hurts this movie is that the subplots don't really gel that well into one well integrated plot of a movie. Also there are some lines that you wait to hear that you never do. For example, when Carol brings Jim over to her mansion for a party the serious upright young man is obviously disgusted by Carol pretending to auction off her servant Kibbee like he was a piece of furniture to her drunken guests to offset her losses in the stock market. Jim walks out without saying goodbye. However, the next time the two meet Jim soft soaps the entire affair. I really wanted him to tell her off. What saves the film are the fine performances and the fact that the subplots are interesting enough even given the lack of motivation for the players' actions. It's truly interesting to see Bogart playing a rather shy very scrupulous engineer - what a great smile he has! Dorothy McKaill is quite good as bored rich girl Carol who is trying desperately to fill up her day with fun things to do when her real problem is that she's lonely in spite of her busy social life. She really had a great voice and did good work here. It's a puzzle to me why she didn't really do that well in talkies. I'd recommend it to fans of McKaill and/or Bogart and to anyone interested in films of the early 30's.Best precode moment - Jim has spent the night with Carol and is standing at the base of the stairs wearing the clothes he had on when he got there last night - a tuxedo. He's surprised by Carol's butler Kibbee. Jim then tries to stutter through an explanation of why he is there at 8AM in formal attire. Kibbee plays the part of the father figure that pretends to be convinced of his grown daughter's chastity when he knows otherwise and this is one of the few times you'll ever see Bogart behaving like a tongue tied teenager on film.

"You were on your way up and you tripped on a skirt !" Gilligan says to Jim Leonard. That sums up the plot of this story of up and coming Leonard (a YOUNG Humphrey Bogart) when his dream gets sidetracked by the bombshell heiress Carol, played by Dorothy Mackaill. Leonard has been working on a new and improved motor, but now his love life and motor company both have their ups and downs in this 68 minute shortie. Bogart hadn't developed the quiet, brooding style yet. Good performances by most of the supporting characters - her butler, his co-workers, a sister, interlopers along the way. Some adult themes, since it was done just before they really enforced the film code, but it's still tame compared to what is on TV today. Directed by Thornton Freeland, a year before Freeland directed the incredible "Flying Down to Rio".

Filmed in 1932, "Love Affair" has traces of the silent film era coming to a close, particularly in the wide eyed and innocent faces of the two female leads, Dorothy Mackaill as free wheeling socialite Carol Owen, and Astrid Allwyn as struggling actress Linda Lee. Linda is the sister of Humphrey Bogart's character Jim Leonard, a former flight instructor with bigger things on his mind, as he seeks financial backing for his new airplane motor that he touts as the "greatest motor in the world".The only trouble is, wealthy businessman Bruce Hardy (Hale Hamilton), who's willing to back Leonard, is also backing the penniless Carol Owen, who is completely in the dark about her financial situation. Hardy wants to marry Owen, even as he entertains an occasional dalliance with actress Lee, all without the knowledge of any of the other players. When Jim Leonard meets Carol, he is immediately smitten with her looks and charm, and begins spending time with her at the expense of the new company he's just formed. But there's a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he's just not worthy of big spender and girl about town Carol.There's a well done counterpoint at the beginning of the film when Carol first meets Jim. She requests him for her first flying lesson, and he obliges by performing some daring flight stunts, chock full of rolls and dives. As Carol turns green (you can tell, even though the film is black and white), she returns the favor once on the ground by giving Jim a harrowing ride into town in her roadster.At sixty eight minutes, the film is probably just a bit too short to effectively tell it's tale. There are a number of quick cuts and fades that create a somewhat choppy feel, though they are coherently done and maintain the flow of the story.In what could have been a disastrous ending, Carol, unwilling to marry Hardy for his money, and too embarrassed to come crawling to Jim, leaves a suicide note for airport manager Gilligan. As can be guessed, Jim races after Carol who's about to take off for a one way solo flight, and manages to create some tension as he hangs on for dear life of his own before scrambling into the cockpit of the airborne plane. The movie closes on the two lovebirds as they head off into the skies, Bogey thumbs up to indicate everything will be A-OK.Humphrey Bogart had five films under his belt by the time "Love Affair" was released. This would actually be his first leading role, and though capably done, it would be a few more years before he got to portray real meaty characters like Duke Mantee in "The Petrified Forest" (1936), and "Bugs" Fenner in the gangster drama "Bullets or Ballots" (1936). As a Bogey fan, I recommend them all, even if you're not.