Her Private Affair (1929)

This is one of the transitional films from silent to talkies, and shares the flaws of many early talkies... in that there is a little too much talking. The actors still performed in the way they were used to in silent movies (i.e. a little too energetically) yet scenes are static as they had to stay close to the microphone. The dialogue is also a bit stilted and frequently awkward. Still for all that it is an interesting film even if at times it is more like a stage play.

Ann Harding plays the wife of a respected judge (Harry Bannister) who is being blackmailed by a gigolo (Lawford Davidson) who seems to have made a career out of seducing rich women and sucking them dry of cash. She accidentally kills the blackmailer when he forces himself on her...

It really isn't very good, the gigolo and his crazy friend/butler are especially strange roles ansd the story is a bit cliched. However talkies had to start somewhere. The film still has value but mostly for historical reasons.