Other Men's Women is a 1931 film directed by William A. Wellman.
It's a story about railroad workers. Bill is a railroad engineer, and a hard-drinking, hard-partying type with a girl in every port (or train station). His best friend Jack, also an engineer, is a far more serious fellow, a hard worker who hopes one day to rise up into a management position at the railroad. While Bill is The Casanova, Jack is happily married to lovely Lily (Mary Astor).
Bill's lifestyle as The Alcoholic leads to him being evicted from a boarding house. Jack takes Bill home with him, and puts him up in the spare room. Bill winds up spending a lot of time with Lily, and they fall in love. Tragedy ensues.
Two actors who would soon become huge stars with Warner Brothers have small parts. James Cagney, in only his third movie, plays Ed, another of Bill's friends. Joan Blondell plays Marie, a waitress at a train station diner who is in love with Bill.
Tropes:
- Alcohol Hic: A very drunk Bill hiccups more than once as Jack takes him to Jack's home to meet Lily.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Lily doesn't want to admit it, but pressure from Bill after their first kiss leads her to finally admit that, yes, "I love you."
- Answer Cut: A railroad guy asks Jack if Bill has managed to stay sober. Jack says that so far as he knows, Bill hasn't had a drink in a long while. Cut to Bill, so drunk that he can barely stand, getting thrown out of a boarding house.
- Book Ends: The first scene has Bill leaping off a train, while it is still running, to grab a quick bite at a train station diner and flirt with the waitress. The last scene has him doing the same, only to run into Lily, who has come back home.
- Curse Cut Short: Marie meets Bill and reminds him that they are supposed to get married that very day. Bill, who forgot, probably because he was drunk at the time, said "Well I'm a son of a—gun."
- Distant Finale: Ten months pass between Jack's death in the bridge collapse and Bill's meeting with Lily at the end.
- Driven to Suicide: Flooding has left a railroad bridge on the verge of collapse. Jack, who is now blind after the accident with Bill, hijacks a train and drives it over the bridge in the hope that the weight of the train will anchor the bridge more firmly in place—but really, he's looking to kill himself. He gets his wish when the bridge collapses.
- Establishing Character Moment: Bill jumps off a moving train, wolfs down some food while flirting shamelessly with the waitress at the station, before jumping back onto the train just as it's clearing the station. He then exchanges some banter with Jack, a far more serious sort who hopes to one day be a senior executive with the railroad. The characters of Bill the fun-loving hedonist and Jack his hard-working buddy are firmly established.
- Exploding Calendar: Pages ripped from a calendar, and lying on a table, show that ten months have gone by 1929-1930, before the Distant Finale.
- Leg Focus: Marie, trying to attract Bill back to her again, says that "I've been dancing my head off these days." As she does so she lifts her skirt to show the lovely legs that she's been dancing on.
- Love Triangle: Jack, Jack's wife Lily, and Bill who falls in love with Lily.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: The Book Ends ending has Lily meeting Bill at the train station diner. She tells him that she's coming back to the home she shared with Jack, to live, and suggests that he come to visit. Bill then jumps back onto the train as its leaving, just like he did in the opening scene, but the way he skips down the cars as the train steams away suggests that he will take Lily up on her offer.
- Zip Me Up: A rare male example. Lily sees that Bill is missing a button on his shirt. Bill says that it's not important, but Lily insists on sewing a button onto Bill's shirt, while he is still wearing it. This quickly leads to their first kiss.
