Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Faithless Blu-ray Movie Review

Rich people... they're just like us!

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 6, 2024

A pre-Code melodrama starring Broadway legend Tallulah Bankhead before her 12-year hiatus from Hollywood (which ended with her comeback in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat), Harry Beaumont's Faithless is only a minor entry in this era of filmmaking. Studios didn't always know how to appeal to average, everyday folks trapped in the Great Depression -- at least those with enough spare change to buy a movie ticket -- but showing a spoiled socialite's fall from grace to elicit audience sympathy was not the way. It wasn't generally well-received by critics and, despite a few interesting twists and performances, Faithless is a miscast and frankly kind of dull production that hasn't improved with age.

If that vague synopsis of "rich person loses money" sounds familiar, it's because several earlier films tackled similar subject matter. One such example is 1931's Dance, Fools, Dance, which utilizes a kindred core premise but features a better cast and more interesting plot detours to at least carve out a stronger overall narrative. In Faithless, our story is told from the perspective of wealthy New York socialite Carol Morgan (Bankhead) as she enjoys a life of luxury and a loving relationship with advertising man Bill Wade (Montgomery). Despite the very real possibility of marriage, Carol resists the idea because Bill Wade's comparatively very modest $20,000 salary (a mere $430,000 in today's terms) wouldn't be enough for them to live on. Stuck at an impasse, Bill leaves the offer open and departs.

Most of the remaining tale is one tragedy after another for Carol, who is flatly informed by her lawyer and financial manager that the family fortune has evaporated almost overnight. Forced to accept the reality that she's basically homeless, she seeks out Bill (who has unfortunately lost his job) and an argument about him making even less money dashes any remaining hopes of marriage. From here, Carol resorts to sponging off of those lucky enough to keep their fortunes, including becoming the mistress of Peter Blainey (Hugh Herbert), and even sells some of her belongings to pay rent on her modest apartment. Even a chance reunion with Bill -- one of several, and most of them handy plot conveniences -- leads to a break in the storm, but tragedy strikes yet again and Carol finds herself at rock-bottom: a reluctant prostitute. After enduring a streak of bad luck (much of it self-imposed) resembling the stock market in October 1929, one could only hope our protagonist might finally recognize her role in this train wreck.

So yes, Faithless feels more like a well-intentioned cautionary tale that should appeal to a broader audience, but the end result still just doesn't feel right. Bankhead, strong enough in the lead role based solely on natural ability, simply isn't believable on the "lower end of the financial spectrum" and the narrative's path never really sells the idea of her and Bill being star-crossed lovers. Yet the film's biggest flaw is its stop-and-start momentum: even at a relatively sleek 77 minutes, Faithless is fairly dull during several lengthy stretches and finally ends on something of a flat note. One gets the feeling that a majority of its cast was sleepwalking through the material, Bankhead included.

If it sounds like I'm being too rough on her character, I'll at least concede that Faithless at least drums up a bit of sympathy for Carol initially: Bill quite unfairly wants to be the breadwinner and all but directly implies that his soon-to-be wife has no say in the matter. (This pity doesn't last long, of course, but it's still worth pointing out.) Faithless also does one thing particularly well: it paints a generally accurate picture of everyday life during the Great Depression: the way workers of all income levels were regularly -- and almost randomly -- tossed into the street, as well as its portrayal of so-called "strikebreakers" and their turbulent clashes with those protesting for laborer's rights. One feeling I couldn't shake during my viewing of Faithless, somewhat ironically, was that any number of potentially more interesting stories was waiting to be told from the perspective of those voiceless characters. Sadly, we got "the rich one".

While the merit of its main feature is up for debate, Warner Archive's new Blu-ray of Faithless at least offers fans a rock-solid restoration of this catalog deep cut. Fans of Bankhead in particular will want to give it a look due to her very limited output during this decade of cinema, but others should consider it a "try before you buy" disc.

Faithless Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Archive's new restoration and 1080p transfer were advertised as being made from "preservation elements", which typically indicates a mixture of the original negative and at least one other high-quality source. Either way, it's no surprise that the end result is more or less as seamlessly beautiful as most of their output from "the nitrate era", as the image often looks soft and luxurious with a silvery sheen and remarkable image detail. Fine gradients, strong black levels, and solid encoding round out this near-flawless effort that only shows trace elements of posterization, leaving a basically pristine image that easily surpasses earlier physical releases and possibly even original theatrical showings. It easily earns high marks for sure and will absolutely thrill die-hard fans of vintage Hollywood cinema.

Faithless Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio doesn't register quite as strongly on this DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix, which as usual lightly widens the original one-channel source to a split 2.0 mono presentation. Dialogue is mostly intelligible but lightly persistent hiss and other age-related wear-and-tear occasionally distracts, although at least the film's dynamic range hasn't been compromised by excellent processing. Still, I'd imagine that a slightly more comfortable middle ground could have been achieved here, even if again this lossless presentation obviously represents a slight step up from earlier editions such as WAC's 2012 DVD release of The Robert Montgomery Collection, a recommended set for die-hard fans.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included for the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Faithless Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover artwork and no inserts. Extras are limited to period-specific pre-show entertainment that's at least worth a once-over for pre-Code Hollywood fans.

• Rambling 'Round Radio Row #1B (11:02) - This early episode of the long-running musical variety series was previously available on Warner Archive's 2011 six-disc DVD release of the Warner Bros. Big Band, Jazz & Swing Short Subject Collection. It's obviously been taken from a decently maintained film source (possibly the original negative?) and, despite a lack of manual cleanup, looks and sounds very good for its age.

• Vitaphone Shorts - Two pillar-boxed episodes from the WB vault in rough but watchable condition.

• The Trans-Atlantic Mystery (21:41) - This 1932 short, helmed by actor-turned-director Joseph Henabery and written by S.S. Van Dine and Burnet Hershey, follows a pair of crooks as they attempt to smuggle the famous Stanhope diamonds into New York before their own greed gets in the way.
• The Symphonic Murder Mystery (21:29) - Another 1932 short written and directed by the same team, this outing concerns a cellist who's murdered during a concert... before the venue manager is found dead of "suicide". Since this one's over 20 minutes, there's obviously a bit more to the story than that.

Faithless Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Harry Beaumont's Faithless is a fairly lukewarm pre-Code melodrama, one that has its moments (and, of course, a reliably strong performance from Tallulah Bankhead, just before her 12-year hiatus from Hollywood) but generates little excitement overall. The story treads all-too-familiar territory which was handled better in earlier films like Dance, Fools, Dance, but it's still worth a watch for fans of the cast. Warner Archive's Blu-ray serves up a predictably great-looking new 1080p transfer and a few passable pre-show bonus features, but I can only mildly recommend this one.