As others have said, this is pretty cinematic for its early-talkie moment, though you might wish it left the main set (a tropical-island saloon) more often. And yes, it is pretty raunchy even by pre-Code standards--even if the main business onscreen seems to be more doping and ripping off johns than actual prostitution, there is no doubt that the women here are practicing the "oldest profession," and that Ricardo Cortez is the classic sleazy pimp. I'm not sure I'd seen Helen Twelvetrees before, though I'd certainly heard her name, and while her acting is OK in the context of the era, you can see why her career didn't last. (Her main two expressions are "snooty" and "noble," both requiring nose to be lifted skyward--mannerisms that would rapidly look dated.) Philips Holmes isn't terribly convincing as a roughneck sailor, but he's got a pleasant, humorous, relaxed personality. We also get to hear him sing a couple times, and that is a real pleasure, in a style that is unusual for this time. (He's not at all a crooner in the Rudy Vallee etc. Mode, or an operatic type, but rather has a delivery that would have worked just fine in musical comedy forty or fifty years later.)
There's maybe more comedy relief among subsidiary characters (all saloon patrons) here than necessary, but it could be worse. The main drawback to "Her Man" is that as vividly sleazy as its atmosphere is (many of the characters are falling-down-drunk practically all the time), the story is a little too simple, and doesn't advance much. We spend nearly 90 minutes just waiting for somebody to off the evil pimp so Love can Triumph. The leads don't have the kind of chemistry that, say, Joel McCrea and Constance Bennett had in "Bed of Roses" (a slightly more disguised "sailor meets prostitute" tale), largely because Twelvetrees is so artificial. (She's entertaining, but she's one of those actors who seems to be very much acting solely to the camera, as opposed to acting WITH her fellow performers.) Plus, there's not much snappy patter here--the script definitely could have used more hardboiled wit. So, an interesting find, in a "They let this screen in 1930?!?" way (and apparently it WAS considered pretty envelope-pushing then). But still more an enjoyable curio than a good movie you'd want to see more than once.
There's maybe more comedy relief among subsidiary characters (all saloon patrons) here than necessary, but it could be worse. The main drawback to "Her Man" is that as vividly sleazy as its atmosphere is (many of the characters are falling-down-drunk practically all the time), the story is a little too simple, and doesn't advance much. We spend nearly 90 minutes just waiting for somebody to off the evil pimp so Love can Triumph. The leads don't have the kind of chemistry that, say, Joel McCrea and Constance Bennett had in "Bed of Roses" (a slightly more disguised "sailor meets prostitute" tale), largely because Twelvetrees is so artificial. (She's entertaining, but she's one of those actors who seems to be very much acting solely to the camera, as opposed to acting WITH her fellow performers.) Plus, there's not much snappy patter here--the script definitely could have used more hardboiled wit. So, an interesting find, in a "They let this screen in 1930?!?" way (and apparently it WAS considered pretty envelope-pushing then). But still more an enjoyable curio than a good movie you'd want to see more than once.