Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Sin Takes a Holiday

Play trailer Poster for Sin Takes a Holiday Released Nov 10, 1930 1h 21m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 54% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Gaylord, womanizing divorce attorney, pays secretary Sylvia to marry him -- in name only -- so he can avoid wedding one of his girlfriends. When Sylvia returns from Paris and wants a divorce, Gaylord realizes he is in love with her.

Critics Reviews

View All (2) Critics Reviews
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: B- Feb 26, 2013 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A sophisticated set in Manhattan romcom for its time is now, of course, dated. Rated: C+ Jun 15, 2012 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (12) audience reviews
Audience Member Enjoyed this immensely. Constance Bennett is my new favorite actress. Basil Rathbone has such stature. The camera loves his light. Bennett is so well spoken and moves with such strength. The plot matters little when the actors deliver their lines with rapid exchanges that reflect intelligence. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member This bit of fluff has such a silly premise. A man (Kenneth MacKenna) marries his secretary (Constance Bennett) in order to make himself unavailable to a woman he's been seeing (Rita La Roy), who is getting a divorce and has her eyes on getting him down the aisle. The marriage is a sham, he'll pay her for $5000 for a single year, and allow her to travel and live wherever she'd like, because he has no real interest in her. Delicately, they make it clear there will be no physical relations. She's saddened by the whole thing, but she has no other offers and so reluctantly agrees. She then sets off for Europe. Naturally, many of the men over there (including one played by Basil Rathbone) find her more than a 'plain Jane' and pursue her. Jealousy in two love triangles ensues when she returns to New York to talk to her 'husband', with both La Roy and Rathbone's characters present. Constance Bennett is reasonably good in the leading role. Her attitude is almost too morose at the outset, but she stands up for herself to all of the other characters. One theme seems to be that attraction increases the more unattainable someone is, which is an interesting premise. However, the film feels amateurish in its direction and in its script. It's uninteresting and flat for too many stretches despite is brief 81 minute run time. The ending is also horribly predictable, and worse, unlike other romantic comedies where we know what's coming but are all rooting for it, here we really don't want it to end this way. Lastly, the title 'Sin Takes a Holiday' is a ridiculously sensationalistic attempt to sell tickets, and while the film is pre-Code, it's quite tame. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member another love triangle pic Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member I really enjoyed it! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Sin Takes a Holiday is a very surprising pre-code. I was kind of caught off guard by how good it was. Constance Bennett plays a long suffering assistant, basically ignored by her boss, until he needs her to enter into a marriage of convenience with him to get his girlfriend off his back. Bennett is wonderful as a woman who finally gets to enjoy the finer things in life (including the attentions of Basil Rathbone), but who can't really, truly enjoy them, because she's in love with her husband, who still doesn't seem to notice she exists. This does have something of an original storyline, and unfolds in an entertaining and satisfying way. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member the ending was stupid, but Constance Bennett was amazing though Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Sin Takes a Holiday

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Gaylord, womanizing divorce attorney, pays secretary Sylvia to marry him -- in name only -- so he can avoid wedding one of his girlfriends. When Sylvia returns from Paris and wants a divorce, Gaylord realizes he is in love with her.
Director
Paul Stein
Production Co
Pathé Exchange Inc.
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 10, 1930, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 21, 2018
Runtime
1h 21m