Hands Across the Table (1935)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Viña Delmar (story)
Norman Krasna (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 October 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

She gave the air to a millionaire . . . and her heart to a guy with a million-dollar personality ! It's gay , grand , glorious fun !

Plot:

A loafer and a manicurist, both planning to marry money, meet and form an uneasy alliance.

Plot Keywords:

Manicurist | Agreement | Apartment | Golddigger | Barber Shop

Cast

Carole Lombard	...	Regi Allen
Fred MacMurray	...	Theodore Drew III
Ralph Bellamy	...	Allen Macklyn
Astrid Allwyn	...	Vivian Snowden
Ruth Donnelly	...	Laura
Marie Prevost	...	Nona

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1464) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: On the DVD menu, the picture is of 'Carole Lombard' and Clark Gable from No Man of Her Own (1932), not Lombard and Fred MacMurray.

Quotes:

Ted Drew: [Bumps into Regi while playing hopscotch] I'm sorry. I didn't know the lights were against me.
Regi: It's alright.
[looks at him puzzled]
Ted Drew: Hopscotch.
Regi: Hopscotch?
Ted Drew: Mhmm. Indoor Hopscotch. Not up to field and turf hopscotch, but hopscotch never the less.
[hops more]
Ted Drew: Get the idea?
Regi: Yes, I get the idea.
Regi: Want to play?
[...]

Soundtrack:

The Morning After

Enjoyable minor film skillfully directed

Pleased this has been released on DVD as part of the poorly packaged but great value for money Carole Lombard The Glamour Collection. Mitchell Leisen was an extremely talented Hollywood director but as others have commented unfortunately not so many of his movies have made it on to commercially available DVDs (or even VHS).

Enjoyed it thoroughly. Leisen does a great job in keeping the movie moving right along. Seems to be very much of its time with the wealthy and ex wealthy being dominant in the story. The plot is unsurprising but you are drawn into the characters (except there is something oddly unappealing about Fred MacMurray's role). As per usual Carole has a crying scene.

Not sure if you could call it "screwball" as I can't remember it going zany like for instance Easy Living does. It fits in however with Leisen's often use of assertive go getting women (Lombard's character's name is Reggie) and less directional men as a statement on gender and getting away from stereotypes.

Unpretentious, a minor work, but good.