Directed by:
David BurtonScreenplay:
Jo SwerlingCinematography:
Ted TetzlaffCast:
Carole Lombard, May Robson, Roger Pryor, Walter Connolly, Arthur Hohl, Raymond Walburn, James Burke, Henry Kolker, Dennis O'Keefe, May Foster, Ruth Clifford (more)Plots(1)
A charming comedy-drama that tugs at the heart in Runyonesque fashion--its not surprising that screenwriter Swerling was tapped, many years later, to adapt Runyons short stories for the Broadway smash "Guys and Dolls." Robson is a drunken vagrant who is hauled before night-court judge Connolly for wrecking a bar. Pryor is the son of an old swain of Robsons and he talks Connolly into dropping the drunk and disorderly charges and allowing Robson to go to an old ladies home. That same evening, Lombard, a Sally Rand-type of fan dancer, is arrested for a lewd and lascivious public performance. Mothers Day is coming up and Lombards press agent, Raymond Walburn, suggests that they can get lots of good press if Lombard will agree to adopt a mother. Lombard goes to the home and chooses Robson, who takes the new title to heart and encourages Lombard to quit fan dancing and strive for greater things, starting with serious lessons in acting, singing, and dancing. Robson also pushes Lombard and Pryor together and romance blooms. Pryor is a wealthy young man and we wonder if Lombard is after him for love or for money. Lombard now learns that Pryor will be cut off without a penny if he marries her so she tosses her serious career aside and returns to dancing with fans. Robson wants to see Pryor and her "daughter" marry, so she arranges to have Lombards show raided. Back in court, Robson and the judge conspire to bring the kids together and Lombard has to decide between a year in the slammer or marriage to Pryor. Can you guess which she chooses? Robson is a delight and Lombard gives early evidence of her expertise in light comedy. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Carole Lombard
USA
Best movies:
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Zelig (1983) - a.f.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
May Robson
Australia
Best movies:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Roger Pryor
USA
Best movies:
The Man They Could Not Hang (1939)
Walter Connolly
USA
Best movies:
The Good Earth (1937)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Libeled Lady (1936)
Arthur Hohl
USA
Best movies:
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
The Yearling (1946)
You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)
Raymond Walburn
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
State of the Union (1948)
James Burke
USA
Best movies:
It Happened One Night (1934)
The Power and the Glory (1933)
The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Henry Kolker
USA
Best movies:
The Power and the Glory (1933)
Holiday (1938)
Union Pacific (1939)
Dennis O'Keefe
USA
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Fury (1936)
May Foster
USA
Best movies:
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
The Docks of New York (1928)
The Whole Town's Talking (1935)
Ruth Clifford
USA
Best movies:
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
Don Brodie
USA
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
Little Big Man (1970)
Charles Sullivan
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Fury (1936)
Charles King
USA
Best movies:
Love Is News (1937)
The Phantom Creeps (1949) (TV movie) - a.f.
The Phantom Creeps (1939)
Louis Natheaux
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
Modern Times (1936)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Harry Tenbrook
Norway
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Gino Corrado
Italy
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
Sunrise (1927)
Fury (1936)
Harry C. Bradley
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Kit Guard
Denmark
Best movies:
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
Arthur Richard Haysel
USA
Best movies:
It Happened One Night (1934)
City Streets (1931)
Twentieth Century (1934)