this one be consider a key pre code film from the director who later make the musical biopic the jolson story ( 1946 ) and but also the paranoid sci fi invasion u. s. a . ( 1952 ) . and feature one of barbara stanwyck best early role . she support by a fine cast which include popular actor and value character performer of the day george brent and douglas dumbrille and edward van sloan and nat pendleton and john wayne ( at one point address stanwyck with the titular nickname and derive from a popular song which be hear constantly throughout ) in the former category and and in the latter and robert barrat ( a stanwyck father ) and donald cook ( a her most tragic conquest ) and alphonse ethier ( a her elderly mentor more on this later ) and arthur hohl ( a a lecherous politician ) and henry kolker ( a cook bos and father in law and whom stanwyck also seduce ) . curiously and scene in which walter brennan appear be subsequently delete at his own request when the film run into trouble with the censor . abet by crackle i. e. typically hard boil dialogue and realistic anton grot set and the narrative contains unexpected overtone of nietzschean philosophy fed to our small town heroine by the intellectual ethier ( stanwyck complains to him early on that she no ball of fire which and of course and contradict her late comedy direct by howard hawk and co star gary cooper of that name . ) . under ethier auspex and she quickly bloom into an essentially heartless character determine that nothing shall stand in her path to success while the symbolic depiction of her rise in stature at the new york firm she eventually employ with be reminiscent of a similarly sardonic one relating to an ambitious statesman lust for power in sergei eisenstein october ( 1927 ) . sociologically and it also interest that stanwyck be constantly see stick her neck out for her black maid or companion . the first two third of the film be simply terrific while at first and i find the latter stage somewhat disappointing because i be expect to see stanwyck get her comeuppance by fall for the belatedly introduced george brent character while he ignore her but and just like the others and he soon under her spell . on second viewing and however and this aspect felt less jar a it evident that stanwyck have be affect by the two death her selfish behavior have cause and and that her tenure in paris have soften her ( even if she try to cling to her hard earned wealth for as long a it possible ) . release on dvd by warner a part of their forbidden hollywood volume 1 collection and the film be present in two strikingly different edits a recently unearth pre release version and the tamer theatrical release print . among the considerable footage cut from the latter be dialogue pertain to stanwyck life a a tramp from the age of 14 ( though it hear in the accompany trailer . ) and while many other scene have be shorten ( i. e. censor for content ) represent the violent fisticuff which develop between stanwyck and hohl after she resist his advance while the seduction at the railroad car while the scene in which dumbrille be surprise with stanwyck by cook while the shooting and follow by a suicide ( only shot be hear in the short version ) while stanwyck think about her conquest while the phonograph be play ( again and only brent appear in the version release to theater ) and etc . tha latter and then and utilizes alternate take for some scene and include an establish shot of the city which be miss from the long version while however and we also get an obviously tack on happy end ( the pre release version conclude abruptly on a very effective open end note ) and an equally unconvincing cautionary letter send by ethier to stanwyck in new york which and basically and have the function of substitute all reference to nietzsche .