5th Ave. Girl (1939)

 

5th Ave. Girl - 1939

Coming up next is 1939's "5th Ave. Girl", the story of a working class girl that makes a big impact on an upper crust New York family.

The film's cast includes Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, Verree Teasdale, James Ellison, Tim Holt, Kathryn Adams, Franklin Pangborn, Ferike Boros, Louis Calhern, Theodore von Eltz, Jack Carson, Charles Lane, and Bess Flowers.

Millionaire Timothy Borden arrives home on his birthday and finds his house completely empty.  It seems his whole family has forgotten about his special day.

He takes a walk over to Central Park and visits the seal pond.  There he makes the acquaintance of a struggling out-of-work young woman named Mary Grey.  Noticing that she doesn't have much to eat, Timothy asks the young woman to help him celebrate his birthday by accompanying him to a nearby nightclub.  She agrees.

Timothy delights Mary by spending more money than she's ever seen.  "If you're fool enough to spend it, I'm smart enough to help you," she says happily.  They have an enjoyable time together.

Timothy's wife, Martha, also happens to be there.  However, she is in the company of someone who is not her husband.

Timothy acknowledges his wife with a smile as he sweeps Mary around the dance floor.  Martha can't quite believe it.

Timothy moves Mary into the mansion.  He keeps her on as his assistant, but he lets his family think that he and she are an item.

She has some run-ins with Timothy's children, particularly son Tim.  "I'm amazed to discover that horses have better breeding than the people who ride them," Mary tells a perplexed Tim after he insults her.

Mary and Timothy spend a lot of time together.  She even indulges his hobby for pigeons and helps him take care of his flock on the roof of the mansion.

Martha is concerned enough to call in a psychiatrist to analyze her husband.  Dr. Kessler arrives and spends some time with Timothy.

After his consultation, Dr. Kessler says that Timothy is behaving perfectly normally and that maybe it's Martha who needs to see someone professionally.

Martha and her children decide to close ranks around Mary and drive her somehow from the house and their father/husband's life.

First up is Tim.  He insults Mary every chance he can get.  But the more he spends time with her, the more he realizes that he likes her, and even loves her.

Katherine Borden uses her time with Mary to confide in her about her love for the family chauffeur, Michael.  Mary is able to give the young girl some advice.

And she causes a ruckus downstairs when she uses some unconventional methods to get Michael to notice Katherine.

Martha also makes the most of her time with Mary.  Mary helps the older woman see her husband in a new light and appreciate him more.

Martha decides to rekindle the romance between Timothy and herself.  She cooks him a meal for the first time in ages, and then takes a trip down memory lane by looking at an old photo album with him.  They are well on the road to recapturing the happiness that they once knew as a young married couple.

It seems that everybody gets a happy ending.  Michael and Katherine get married and receive her parent's blessing.  And Tim falls in love with Mary.

Cast rundown:

   Ginger Rogers............................................Mary Grey

   Walter Connolly..........................................Timothy Borden

   Verree Teasdale..........................................Martha Borden

   James Ellison.............................................Michael Fairnsbother

   Tim Holt.....................................................Tim Borden

   Kathryn Adams...........................................Katherine Borden

   Franklin Pangborn.......................................Higgins

   Ferike Boros...............................................Olga

   Louis Calhern.............................................Dr. Hugo Kessler

   Theodore von Eltz.......................................Terwilliger

   Jack Carson................................................Minnesota

   Charles Lane..............................................Union Representative

   Bess Flowers..............................................Woman With Mr. Pape

And that's it for 5th Ave. Girl.  After filming wrapped, Ginger Rogers went on vacation to Honolulu, Hawaii.  The film was shown to test audiences.  Originally, the film had an unhappy ending, which featured Ms. Rogers walking out of the house and down 5th Ave.  Due to the audience unhappiness, a happier ending was filmed when the actress returned from her vacation.

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Libeled Lady (1936)

 

Libeled Lady - 1936

Coming up next is 1936's "Libeled Lady", the story of a newspaper story gone horribly wrong and the efforts to make a libeled lady drop her suit against the periodical.

The film's cast includes Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Walter Connolly, Charley Grapewin, Cora Witherspoon, Hattie McDaniel, and George Chandler.

Newspaperman Warren Haggerty has been called into the office after a story printed in the paper has major repercussions.  Unfortunately for Warren, this takes place as he is preparing to leave for his wedding!

Warren tells his fiancée, Gladys (who has stormed into the newspaper office full of fury), that he has to take care of this first.  If he doesn't fix this, he'll be out of a job and they won't be able to get married at all.  Gladys is furious!

The story involves high society girl Connie Allenbury.  It was alleged that she broke up a marriage and stole a husband while at a party in London.  Naturally, the story is false, and she is now suing the newspaper for $5 million (Today that is roughly $100 million).  So, Warren gets the only man he knows who can get them out of the suit: Bill Chandler.

The scheme involves Bill marrying Gladys (which she very much objects to), sailing to London, and then sailing back to the USA with the Allenburys.  While on the way home, he plans to frame Connie Allenbury with the exact circumstances that were printed in the paper: husband stealer.

Naturally, the marriage officiant is surprised when Gladys reserves her best kiss for Warren instead of her new husband, Bill.  Bill explains that Warren is a very old friend of the family.

Of course, things have to look legitimate.  So, Warren has a telegram sent to Bill calling him to London right away.  This is all done in front of witnesses.  Gladys is quite the actress, portraying a wife whose husband is being taken from her on their wedding night.

So, Bill travels to London and then sails home to the USA with the Allenburys.  Connie seems to think he's got an angle and doesn't really want to give him the time of day.

Back at home, Bill incurs the wrath of Gladys, who thought she'd be headed to Reno for a divorce by now.  Bill explains that while he may have struck out on the boat, he's got another chance now.  Mr. Allenbury, a fishing enthusiast, has invited him for a weekend fishing trip.  On the boat, Bill learned all he could about the sport of fishing to fool Allenbury.

Connie remains skeptical.  "I know a first-class angler when I see one.  Yes, and a first-class man, too," says Mr. Allenbury.  Connie replies, "If he's first-class, I'll travel steerage."

The whole fishing scene is quite hilarious.  Bill reads from a "how to" book as he goes and ends up getting completely soaked.

It happens again when he hooks a big one.  Allenbury knows he's a good fisherman when he finds out that the fish Bill caught is a "walleye", which Allenbury had been trying to get for two years.

Bill and Connie spend a lot of time together and fall in love.  This makes Bill dig in his heels about the real reason he came up on the fishing trip.

Warren goes over to the Allenbury place to appeal to Connie to drop the suit.  He is surprised to see Bill there with no intention of holding up his end of the bargain.

Nobody seems to have a thought for poor Gladys, who is furious when she finds out that her husband is seeing Connie seriously.  She's fallen for him herself.

While Gladys is busy having a beauty treatment, Warren confronts her about the Bill/Connie romance.  She's ready for a showdown.

Connie asks Bill to marry her right away.  He doesn't hesitate.  The two are married that very night.

Gladys arrives and confronts them.  However, Bill has told Connie the whole story.  He also consulted the Hall of Records.  Gladys was previously married to a Mr. Joe Simpson, and then filed for a Mexican divorce.  Mexican divorces were declared illegal, so she is still married to Mr. Simpson.  Therefore, there marriage is null and void, leaving him free to be with Connie.

Gladys has the final word when she tells them all she knew her Mexican divorce from Joe Simpson was no good.  She went to Reno and got a second divorce.  She also tells Bill that he can look that up in the Reno Hall of Records.  It seems that Bill is a bigamist.

Eventually, Gladys realizes that she is in love with Warren and not Bill.  The situation is resolved to everybody's satisfaction.

Except for one thing: someone's got to explain the whole situation to Connie's father!

Cast rundown:

   Jean Harlow....................................Gladys Benton

   William Powell.................................Bill Chandler

   Myrna Loy.......................................Connie Allenbury

   Spencer Tracy..................................Warren Haggerty

   Walter Connolly................................J.B. Allenbury

   Charley Grapewin.............................Hollis Bane

   Cora Witherspoon.............................Mrs. Burns-Norvell

   Hattie McDaniel................................Maid

   George Chandler...............................Bellhop

And that's it for Libeled Lady.  Jean Harlow and William Powell were romantically involved at the time of production.  Harlow wanted to play Connie Allenbury so that she and Powell could end up together.  However, studio executives knew that that William Powell/Myrna Loy combo was such a hit that audiences wanted to see THEM end up together.  Harlow was already attached and could not back out.  However, she eventually said that she liked the film and found she was more suited to the role of Gladys.  Originally, Rosalind Russell was to play Connie Allenbury and Lionel Barrymore was to play J.B. Allenbury.

Jean Harlow died in June 1937, less than a year after this film was released.  At her interment in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, Harlow was buried wearing the gown she had worn in this film.

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