A big star in her day, Ruth Chatterton seems little remembered roughly a century later. Nonetheless, 1933’s Lilly Turner gave me a chance to take a look at her work.

Lilly Turner (Chatterton) deals with the repercussions of an abusive marriage to cheating and lying magician Rex Durkee (Gordon Westcott). Desperate for companionship, she connects with carnival barker Dave Dixon (Frank McHugh) but his alcoholism just creates more woe for her.

Matters worsen when strongman Fritz (Robert Barrat) becomes dangerously obsessed with Lilly. She needs to find a way to escape from her bad romantic choices.

Though my intro implies I never saw a Chatterton production until now, I actually viewed 1936’s Dodsworth back in spring 2020. Obviously Chatterton didn’t make a dent on my memory, though I did like the film.

Much of the reason I enjoyed Dodswoorth stemmed from its relatively straightforward take on relationships. Turner goes in the other direction, as it pursues a largely melodramatic tone.

Turner shows aspects of its era, mainly in the way it portrays a put-upon heroine who perseveres despite her hardships. That likely struck a chord with Depression audiences who needed to take inspiration from characters who weathered personal storms.

Lilly’s journey can come across as awfully over the top, though, mainly thanks to the parade of flawed men she encounters. Connecting them to seedy aspects of show business adds to the melodrama, as these settings amplify the intensity of Lilly’s predicaments.

The tale can seem silly but Chatterton helps sell it. She provides a sassy and cynical personality who manages to come across as steely even as she makes bad choices.

Indeed, I can see why audiences liked Chatterton. She displays good personality and bite, factors that allow us to care for her despite decisions that should make us roll our eyes at her.

At a mere 65 minutes, Turner doesn’t overstay its welcome. While not a classic, the movie becomes a breezy little Depression-era melodrama.

Lilly Turner appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This wound up as another fine Warner Archive presentation.

Overall sharpness satisfied. A little softness crept in at times, but the movie usually looked pretty accurate.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed appropriate and print flaws remained absent.

Blacks appeared dark and shadows appeared concise. The movie held up very well after 93 years.

Though not bad, I felt less happy with the movie’s decent but spotty DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack. Unsurprisingly, it failed to boast much range, so effects came across as thin, tinny, and a little rough upon louder elements.

Like many films of the early “talkie” era, Turner lacked much score. On those occasions, the music sounded on the shrill side.

Dialogue remained intelligible but the lines tended to appear rougher than I’d expect, even when I considered the movie’s era. Despite these issues, the audio seemed adequate for its extreme age.

Along with the movie’s trailer, we get two vintage shorts. The set includes Mushrooms (20:28) and Bosko’s Picture Show (7:04).

A live-action comedy, Mushrooms features Harry Gribbon as a man who suffers from illness when he eats the wrong fungi. That seems like a thin concept for a 20-minute reel and the long-forgotten Gribbon can’t sustain it.

WB’s answer to Mickey Mouse, Bosko remains known only to dedicated animation buffs – and for good reason, as the character never seemed anything more than limp. Picture Show parodies then-current cinema in a not particularly clever manner.

A melodrama that reflects its era, Lilly Turner can veer silly at times. Nonetheless, a good lead performance from Ruth Chatterton and a brisk pace help ensure the audience stays with it. The Blu-ray comes with very good picture, inconsistent audio and minor supplements. Expect a watchable tale of perseverance here.