This 26-year-old director seems like he could make good stuff, let's hope he continues to make films. (Also: where has Anny Ondra been all my life? )
Often ridiculing heroes and humanizing villains in single strokes – as in the cut from the satisfied police inspector ordering Tracy’s arrest to Tracy himself, seen in an identical posture and looking equally satisfied as he polishes off a free meal served by Alice. Such equations (and the film has many) suggest a moral framework similar to that in subsequent films by [Jean] Renoir, where everyone has his own reasons. Renoir is further evoked in the remarkable spatial continuity and depth maintained in the shop and connecting dining room, the frequent use of off-screen sound as counterpoint to image: Alice’s cries of distress in the studio heard over a shot of an oblivious policeman outside, previously glimpsed by her as an assurance of safety; Tracy’s leap through the dining room window audible before a pan makes it visible.
— Jonathan Rosenbaum (Monthly Film Bulletin)
Synopsis: London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend. Feeling herself ignored, Alice agrees to go out with an elegant and well-mannered artist who invites her to visit his fancy apartment.