Ladies They Talk About

The 1933 film by Howard Bretherton and William Keighley is set in a women's prison. Nan Taylor is sent there for her part in a bank robbery; inside she makes a place for herself and quickly learns how the wing works. The film shows the prison not as a dark place but as a community with rules of its own: the women smoke, sing, tease each other and talk about their lives outside. An escape planned by her friends and her relationship with a preacher form its two lines. It belongs to the period before censorship rules were strictly enforced and that freedom is plain, with implications about relationships among the women and criticism of a religious figure both present. Barbara Stanwyck plays the part hard. It is short. Who it's for: viewers who like pre-code Hollywood and prison films. Who it's not for: anyone expecting a realistic account of prison; the film keeps its tone light.