Good start, but then it gets ruined

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Blistering performances.

This is a pretty ordinary little film about a young waitress (Barbara Stanwyck) who falls in love with a wealthy college student (Regis Toomey) who will go on to become a doctor, and how his mother strives to break up their relationship. I rounded it up a bit because of Stanwyck's performance; she is such a natural and has a couple of great scenes. I also liked how she was such a strong woman - her character was toughened by her father's death, and she stands up to unwanted advances while waitressing, endures being sent away to a woman's reformatory on morality charges, and tells Toomey off when he returns to her after she's made it as a dancer. Being committed for trumped up morality reasons is outrageous today, but it was reality then, and the mother had also considered getting her committed to an asylum, a real practice stemming from the 19th century. If you don't like 'em or they're threatening in some way, lock 'em up. The ending is unfortunately a little dippy, but you could do worse than watch this one, and it's almost entirely due to Stanywck.One of the great scenes has her throwing money in a guy's face after he tries to bribe her into leaving town to get her out of Toomey's life: "What are you trying to make of me - what you wish I was? Something cheap and common, something that money can buy? Well, you can't. Nobody can! You and the nice, decent people who sent you here are the real cheap ones, trying to put a price on something there isn't any price for! If that's being decent, I'm glad I'm common! If that's being rich, I'm glad I'm cheap, and I'm gonna stay cheap! Because no matter how cheap I am, I'm not for sale!"

....if you and your kind are the decent ones"!!! This was one of the "Stanwyck Showdowns" that were becoming an essential part of her films. She had a few in this pot boiler but boy was she put through the wringer. If she only realised it, her earliest scene in the mining camp was going to be the happiest in the movie but just before her father dies (in a mining explosion) he tells her to get out of this town and make something of herself by any means available. First step up the ladder is her aunt and uncle's diner - her uncle is one of those types frequently seen in Bab's movies - the sanctimonious male, quick to berate her for being cheap and vulgar but equally quick to ogle her as well!! Showdown no. 1 - "your ideas could use some fresh air"!! But Kitty (that's Babs) needs all her artillery for the big one - the smother mother!! And Clara Blandick gives the role all she has - you know, the type who feign heart attacks when things aren't going their way!! Regis Toomey plays David, the bookish mother's boy who develops a backbone almost at the last minute. He played his part a bit too well - he just lacked the charisma to pull him out of the also ran actors!!They are all set to marry when Mrs. Livingstone has one of her turns, convinces David to accompany her to Europe and for the icing on the cake has Kitty thrown into a reformatory on a trumped up morals charge. Years pass and Kitty, with her aunt in tow (for all Zasu Pitt's billing she doesn't have much to do) is now the toast of Broadway and it is really nice to see Barbara in a revealing pre-code showgirl outfit and seeing that she was a showgirl before movies came along, it would have been nice to see her dance a few steps but oh well!!David looks her up, having heard a watered down version of what happened from his dear mother and is eager to start again!! Kitty can't believe it - nor can the audience, Toomey just sounds as though he has more pluck than the part requires - David Manners was really needed here!! Once again Kitty is talked around and once again Mrs. Livingstone comes gunning (literally!!) What will happen - who doesn't know!!!When Warners Bros. agreed, in 1932, to pay Barbara Stanwyck $50,000 a picture due to her increased popularity at the box office she asked Columbia to match it but Harry Cohn refused. When he finally did, her next two films weren't worth the effort. "Forbidden" was an overlong soggy soap opera and "Shopworn" was a trite programmer whose plot would not have been out of place under the Mayfair of Majestic banner.

Barbara Stanwyck stars in SHOPWORN (1932) as Kitty Lane, a young woman who has to move to the city when her father dies after a work accident. She is taken in by her aunt Dot (ZaSu Pitts) and works in a diner frequented by college students who are always hitting on her. Unfairly, she acquires a reputation as an "easy" girl, and this complicates things when she falls in love with David (Regis Toomey), a wealthy young man whose selfish mother (Clara Blandick) will stop at nothing to prevent the two from marrying. The plot of SHOPWORN is standard melodrama – boy loves girl from "the wrong side of the tracks", the good girl with an undeserved bad reputation, the overly possessive mother, the uppity disapproving blue bloods, etc. As such, there are very few surprises here and the peripheral characters are very one-note. The ending is rather predictable. There is also a misunderstanding (based on a lie) between Kitty and David that causes them to separate for a long time, and Kitty finds success as an actress in an unlikely plot twist. It does have some pre-Code innuendos that I found rather surprising, especially when the college students at the diner hit on Kitty. There are some witty exchanges between Kitty and David that make the movie livelier in spots as well. The film is redeemed somewhat by the caliber of the performances. Barbara Stanwyck is always worth watching, and her charm, fire, wit and charisma help to bring some life to the rather cookie-cutter plot. Regis Toomey is good as David, sometimes a little cloying during the love scenes but effective when he defends his love and stands up to his mother. Clara Blandick plays the mother about as well as her character could have been played, revealing an unhappy, self-centered woman whose "love" for her son is mostly obsessive fixation and a desire to control him. The cinematography and editing are professional, if not outstanding, except for the first part where Kitty's father is killed as the result of an explosion. Overall, SHOPWORN isn't really a great movie, but fairly serviceable and not very long (1 hour 12 minutes). Worth seeing mostly for Barbara Stanwyck's performance. SCORE: 7/10

In her tenth film, Barbara Stanwyck is the poor, working girl (Kitty Lane) who only wants to marry the man she loves, but his snobby rich family keeps interfering. Filmed J-u-s-t before the production code came into being, they put her away on "morals charges". Regis Toomey (competent, but Mr. monotone) stars as David Livingston, who wants to marry Kitty, but doesn't have the guts to stand up to his family. They go their separate ways, but meet up again later, when Kitty has become the successful entertainer, although they don't make it clear just what she does for a living now; Wearing rings and fancy jewelry when they meet up again, she tells him "Careful Dave, I'm a notorious, woman, and you'll probably get yourself talked about!" Oscar Apfel (always played the judge or the police chief) and Clara Blandick (Mom Livingston) team up to stop the marriage, but it all works out in the end... One of Nick Grinde's first talkies as Director. He and Zasu Pitts (Dot) had been in silent movies for YEARS before this film. Fun film, no big surprises.