Barbara Stanwyck stars in a steely early role as young, single-minded Lily Powers, sexually exploited from a young age and determined both to turn the tables on men and use her feminine charms to create a better life for herself. Inspired by some words from Nietzsche, she hops a train to New York to embark on a career as a ruthless seductress. In the big city, she starts sleeping her way to the top of a bank run by a notorious playboy.
Pre-Code cinema was often a dangerous game of one-upmanship. Warner Bros took one look at MGM’s highly risqué Red-Headed Woman and decided to respond with this jaw-dropping sensation marketed with the tagline “She had it and made it pay”.