Director: Erle C. Kenton
In the opening scene of Grand Exit, an arson investigator (Edmund Lowe) runs into a mysterious beauty (Anne Sothern) who seems to have a particular attraction to fires. When he continues to cross paths with her at several more crime scenes, he begins suspecting that she has something to do with the string of arsons. The picture is a forgettable programmer, only worth a look for fans of Sothern or for admiring a handful of nicely accomplished fire sequences. Lowe is an unconvincing ladies’ man, although he’s not without his charm–the most memorable line happens when he explains that a love affair is not unlike a fire, because only when it’s over can you begin to parse the reason for why it happened. It’s a nicely romantic thought in what is otherwise a fairly standard crime melodrama, complete with a nearly incomprehensible conclusion. Sothern looks great in an array of costumes, and the moody opening scene, which complicates the romantic “meet cute” element with the high stakes setting of a fire, is nicely staged.
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