Whipsaw (1935)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

James Edward Grant (story)
Howard Emmett Rogers (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 December 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Here She is at Last!...Laughing, Loving, Wise-Cracking Again as She Kisses a Stranger and Romps Away on the Merriest, Maddest Romantic Adventure You've Ever Seen!

Plot:

Vivian, Ed and Harry steal jewels in Paris. In New York government agent McBride accompanies Vivian riding across the country with the loot...

Plot Keywords:

Impersonation | St. Louis Missouri | New York City New York | Deception | Fugitive

Cast

Myrna Loy	...	Vivian Palmer
Spencer Tracy	...	Ross 'Mac' McBride aka Danny Ross Ackerman
Harvey Stephens	...	Ed Dexter
William Harrigan	...	'Doc' Evans
Clay Clement	...	Harry Ames
Robert Gleckler	...	Steve Arnold
Robert Warwick	...	Robert W. Wadsworth
Georges Renavent	...	Monetta (as George Renevent)
Paul Stanton	...	Justice Department Chief Hughes
Wade Boteler	...	Detective Humphries
Don Rowan	...	Curley, a Henchman
John Qualen	...	Will Dabson
Irene Franklin	...	Madame Marie - Beautician
Lillian Leighton	...	Aunt Jane
J. Anthony Hughes	...	Justice Department Agent Bailey

Also Known As:

Unexpected Bride (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #1805)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

MGM executive E.J. Mannix chastised cinematographer James Wong Howe for filming Myrna Loy with mussy hair when she awakens at John Qualen's house, since MGM spent millions glamorizing their star. The scene is in the Turner library print.

Quotes:

Ross 'Mac' McBride aka Danny Ross Ackerman: Will you quit worrying about those guys? You'd think you were traveling with a cripple or an interior decorator!

Can a stalwart FBI agent and a sophisticated jewel thief find happiness?

Whipsaw is the picture that answers that burning question in the title.

This was Spencer Tracy's second film under his new MGM contract when he switched studios from Fox in 1935. With few exceptions Tracy starred in routine action films while at Fox and working in Whipsaw must have made Spence feel he was still at Fox. Other than the fact Louis B. Mayer instead of Darryl Zanuck was signing his paycheck, he wouldn't have known the difference from the quality of material he was being asked to do.

Myrna Loy however had already found her screen persona in The Thin Man a year earlier at MGM. So why she was asked to do Whipsaw is beyond me.

Basically the plot is Myrna is the confederate of jewel thief Harvey Stephens who's just made a big score. Stephens has a problem though, he's got to watch out for the law and for another gang who wanted in on the robbery.

The FBI has decided that the best way to Stephens is through Myrna and they've sent ace G-Man Spencer Tracy to work undercover and gain her confidence. Of course Spence gains more than her confidence.

So how will it work out for our intrepid duo? See the film if you are big fan of both of the stars, but only if that. Myrna and Spence both did much better work.

But big things were breaking for Tracy soon. He got cast as Father Timothy Mullin in San Francisco, got the first of his Oscar nominations, changed his screen image, and the rest as he later said in one of his better films is cherce.

As for Loy, I'm sure she was grateful to get back to working with William Powell in another Thin Man film. In fact she got to work with Powell and Tracy in Libelled Lady one of the best screen comedies from MGM ever. See that film by all means.