Paul Stein directed this pre-Code romantic film, from a screenplay by Horace Jackson, starring Constance Bennett, Kenneth MacKenna, and Basil Rathbone.
Grade: C+
Sin Takes a Holiday
Film Poster
Originally produced by Pathé Exchange and released in 1930, it was part of the takeover package when RKO Pictures acquired Pathé; it was re-released by RKO in 1931.
The Premise:
Cast against type, Constancce Bennett plays Sylvia Brenner, a “plain” secretary sharing an apartment with two women, one of whom is her friend Annie (Zasu Pitts). Her economic condition is meager, but she makes do with what she has.
She works for a womanizing divorce attorney, Gaylord Stanton (Kenneth MacKenna), who only dates married women; he has no intention of getting married, seeing wives as “safe” since they already have husbands.
The movie was a critical and commercial failure.
Cast
Constance Bennett as Sylvia Brenner
Kenneth MacKenna as Gaylord Stanton
Basil Rathbone as Reggie Durant
Rita La Roy as Grace Lawrence
Louis John Bartels as Richards
John Roche as Sheridan
Zasu Pitts as Annie
Kendall Lee as Miss Munson
Murrell Finley as Ruth
Helen Johnson as Miss Graham
Fred Walton as the butle
Credits:
Directed by Paul L. Stein
Written by Horace Jackson (screenplay), Robert Milton (story), Dorothy Cairns (story)
Produced by E. B. Derr
Cinematography John Mescall
Edited by Daniel Mandell
Music by Francis Gromon
Sin Takes a Holiday (1930): Paul Stein’s Pre-Code Romance, Starring Constance Bennett
Paul Stein directed this pre-Code romantic film, from a screenplay by Horace Jackson, starring Constance Bennett, Kenneth MacKenna, and Basil Rathbone.
Grade: C+
Originally produced by Pathé Exchange and released in 1930, it was part of the takeover package when RKO Pictures acquired Pathé; it was re-released by RKO in 1931.
The Premise:
Cast against type, Constancce Bennett plays Sylvia Brenner, a “plain” secretary sharing an apartment with two women, one of whom is her friend Annie (Zasu Pitts). Her economic condition is meager, but she makes do with what she has.
She works for a womanizing divorce attorney, Gaylord Stanton (Kenneth MacKenna), who only dates married women; he has no intention of getting married, seeing wives as “safe” since they already have husbands.
The movie was a critical and commercial failure.
Cast
Constance Bennett as Sylvia Brenner
Kenneth MacKenna as Gaylord Stanton
Basil Rathbone as Reggie Durant
Rita La Roy as Grace Lawrence
Louis John Bartels as Richards
John Roche as Sheridan
Zasu Pitts as Annie
Kendall Lee as Miss Munson
Murrell Finley as Ruth
Helen Johnson as Miss Graham
Fred Walton as the butle
Credits:
Directed by Paul L. Stein
Written by Horace Jackson (screenplay), Robert Milton (story), Dorothy Cairns (story)
Produced by E. B. Derr
Cinematography John Mescall
Edited by Daniel Mandell
Music by Francis Gromon
Production: Pathé Exchange
Distributed by RKO
Release date: November 10, 1930 (U.S.)
Running time: 75 minutes
Budget $450,000
Box office $623,000