I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Such a frustrating disappointment

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I was surprised at how good this 1929 film is: it flows, it's not stagy, the camera moves (there is a nice long tracking shot near the start), the story is clear, and the actors seem comfortable with sound. And it is informative, too - I didn't know about the 12-mile-radius-free-drinking-ship thing! The ending is a little too convenient, and the comic-relief character of the hotel manager could have been cut (Zasu Pitts can stay, I like her). As for Barbara Stanwyck's first film appearance, there is nothing really special about her performance, but certainly nothing bad, either. The one who stands out in the cast is Harry Mestayer as the D.A. - he's a precursor of all those wily officers of the law in the movies who always know when you're lying. **1/2 out of 4.

Don't be taken in by the rollicking opening sequence full of sweeping pans and tracks and hard-boiled dialogue set in an offshore speakeasy; the remaining hour (with one exception, which I shall come to) is strictly canned theatre. Based on Channing Pollock's 1919 Broadway play 'The Sign on the Door', already filmed with Norma Talmadge under its original title in 1921 (a print of which happily survives in the Library of Congress), there are actually two locked doors in this production, both of them central to the plot.Locked door number one is on board the boat when slimy lounge lizard Frank Devereaux (Rod la Rocque) pockets the key to the door of the cabin he has taken Ann Carter (Barbara Stanwyck) downstairs to for lunch all the better to force his attentions upon her when it's time for desert. Locked door number two prevents Ann from making a discreet exit from the hotel room where she sees Devereaux deservedly shot 18 months later; and it's at this point that the need on her part to improvise a plausible explanation for her presence there alone with Devereaux's body brings the film briefly to life.The settings are handsomely designed by William Cameron Menzies, but after the opening sequence cameraman Ray June's only other opportunity to add a little atmosphere to the proceedings comes with the noirish lighting of the darkened apartment after Devereaux's shooting. And when the lights go back on and the talk resumes, the interest dissipates again.This film is only remembered today as the talkie debut of the great Barbara Stanwyck; but for devotees of silent cinema there is also the bonus of Mack Swain and Zazu Pitts as the manager and telephonist of the hotel where the final leg of the film takes place. Harry Stubbs' amusing turn as the obtrusive waiter on the boat, however, has been surprisingly little remarked upon by previous reviewers, particularly considering the revelation about his character that comes late in the film, which probably worked better on stage than here under director George Fitzmaurice's pedestrian guidance.

For a while Betty Bronson looked like the natural successor to Mary Pickford's mantle of "America's Sweetheart". She was plucked from obscurity to achieve international stardom in "Peter Pan" but Paramount's indecision about how to showcase her talent not only stalled her career but ruined the studio's chance to develop her as one of their rising stars. By the time the "talkies" arrived - she was relegated to second female leads, unfortunately she didn't stand out from the crowd. Especially when she was playing opposite a new arrival from Broadway - Barbara Stanwyck.Secretary Ann (Barbara Stanwyck) is being wined and dined at an exclusive yacht party (that is serving illegal liquor beyond the twelve mile limit) by playboy Frank Devereux (Rod La Rocque). He wants a "good" time regardless of Ann's feelings but, like the cavalry, the booze police raid the liner, when it strays inside the limit and save Ann from a fate worse than death!!!Eighteen months later, Ann is happily married to wealthy Larry (William "Stage" Boyd). His sister, Helen, (adorable Betty Bronson) has some news of her own, she is completely smitten with - you guessed it, Frank Devereaux, who is trying out the same caveman tactics with her, before going to Hawaii the next day!!! Frank is in hot water - he has broken up the marriage of Larry's best friend Dixon and Dixon is out to kill him. Ann quickly flies to Frank's apartment, hoping to intercept Helen, who has secretly gone to keep a dinner rendezvous with him - even though she has been forbidden!!! Devereux's flat then becomes "Grand Central Station", as first Ann, then Larry file in for assorted showdowns. Devereux is murdered and it is no secret that Larry is the culprit. Ann has come in early and is hiding upstairs - Larry doesn't know she is there and locks the flat on his way out. Ann then goes into her act and before the night is over she has convincingly persuaded the police that she is the murderer. A surprising twist is the detective on the case, who reveals he was a plant on the booze liner, as the dopey waiter, who served Frank and Ann and can vouch for Ann's innocence. The film might be a yawn but Stanwyck isn't. She was a natural and convincing actress and while the other cast members try their best to pronounce all their words correctly, Barbara sounds and acts as though she has been acting in talkies for years - amazing for a stage actress!!!Recommended for Stanwyck.

George Fitzmaurice was one of the great commercial stylists among directors in the 1920s. He suffered an eclipse in the early talkie era but was fighting his way back into the majors when he died in 1940.This means, of course, there are a lot of problems with this movie. The screen actors don't know how to do dialogue and most of the stage actors don't know how to turn down their performances for the intimacy of the movie camera. Barbara Stanwyck, looking very fresh-faced, is very loud in her line readings. She knows how to show her emotions beautifully already, though.But producer Joe Schenck didn't spare any expense behind the camera, and it shows. Avant-garde cameraman Ray June handles the camera impeccably. While other directors were having their cameramen use cuts to change subjects, Fitzmaurice has June move the camera. Notice the long tracking shot at the bar in the opening sequence and the MOS shots used to fill out the sequence.The camera-work is not fluid. It is, frankly, fairly clunky, but it is light years ahead of anyone else in the business in 1929, except possibly Mamoulian's APPLAUSE.So while their are a lot of problems with this movie, the camera-work makes this one very superior for 1929 and Barbara Stanwyck makes it worth looking at.