''Friends and Lovers'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

released by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

, directed by

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include '' Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930), ''Something to Sing About'' (1937) with James C ...

, and starring

Adolphe Menjou Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley K ...

Lili Damita Lili Damita (born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré; 10 July 1904 – 21 March 1994) was a French-American actress and singer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937. Early life and education Lili Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Car ...

, Laurence Olivier, Erich von Stroheim, and

Hugh Herbert Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952) was an American motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches. Career Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert attended Cornell Univers ...

.BFI , Film & TV Database , FRIENDS AND LOVERS (1931)
/ref> The film recorded a loss of $260,000.Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story.'' New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p41

Plot

British Army captain Geoff Roberts (

) carries on an affair with Alva (

), the wife of the cruel Victor Sangrito ( Erich von Stroheim). Sangrito, however, is well aware of the affair, as he uses his beautiful wife to lure men into romance with her, then blackmailing them to save their careers. When Roberts falls into Sangrito's trap, he pays the blackmail and leaves for India, hoping to forget Alva, whom he loved but now believes betrayed him. After some time in India, he is joined by his young friend and bosom companion Lt. Ned Nichols ( Laurence Olivier). Nichols, too, is in love with a woman back in England—the same woman. Although the two friends nearly come to blows over Alva, they eventually realize that she has been false to them both and that their friendship far outweighs their feelings for a mendacious woman. However, when the two are invalided home, they encounter Alva again, and learn that she may not have betrayed them after all.

Cast

as Captain Geoffrey Roberts *

as Alva Sangrito * Laurence Olivier as Lieutenant Ned Nichols * Erich von Stroheim as Colonel Victor Sangrito *

as McNellis *

Frederick Kerr Frederick Kerr (born Frederick Grinham Keen, 11 October 1858 – 3 May 1933) was an English actor who appeared on stage in both London and New York and in British and American films; he also worked as a major theatrical manager in London. Early ...

as General Thomas Armstrong *

Blanche Friderici Blanche L. Friderici (January 21, 1878 – December 23, 1933) was an American film and stage actress, sometimes credited as Blanche Frederici. Early years Friderici was a native of Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were William E. Friderici ...

as Lady Alice *

Jean Del Val Jean Del Val (born Jean Jacques Gauthier; 17 November 1891 – 13 March 1975) was a French-born actor, also credited as Jean Gauthier and Jean Gautier. Career He played roles during the Hollywood silent era, beginning with ''The Fortunes of Fif ...

as Marquis Henri De Pezanne *

Vadim Uraneff Vadim Uraneff (6 February 1895 – 5 April 1952) was a Russian actor and librettist who helped John Barrymore and Katharine Hepburn when it was hoped they would appear in '' The Song of Solomon''. He was also a mime who played Lucianus in ''Haml ...

as Ivanoff

References

External links

* * * * 1931 films RKO Pictures films 1931 romantic drama films American romantic drama films Films directed by Victor Schertzinger American black-and-white films Films with screenplays by Jane Murfin Films based on French novels Films set in London 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-romantic-drama-film-stub