Sunday Cinematheque at the Chazen: It’s a Universal Picture

Beautiful and benevolent, Ray (Dunne) falls in love with a wealthy married man (Boles) and agrees to be his “back street” mistress. Thrice has Universal adapted Fannie Hurst’s best-selling novel, but only the first lands with an elemental force, thanks to Stahl’s empathetic and unadorned style, Karl Freund’s masterful command of light and shadow, and Dunne, who plays life-altering yearning with formidable restraint. (ZZ)