If Kay Francis and William Powell were at all photogenic, it might be easy to revel in their longing gazes. Instead, their awkwardness emphasizes the formulaic nature of a meet cute like this. Granted, the film has a neat plot. Confined to a boat, Francis is fatally ill while Powell is enjoying a last hurrah before prison with neither knowing the other's circumstances.
Bizarrely, they are hardly the focus of the film. Despite a 67-minute runtime, much of the film is regularly sidetracked by Warren Hymer and Frank McHugh's zany subplots. Hymer has his own romance while McHugh is meant to be comic relief as a thief. To its credit, the bittersweet conclusion where they say their goodbyes is almost too good to be true.
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