Ever Since Eve (1937)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Gene Baker (story)
Earl Baldwin (writer)

Release Date:

15 July 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Marge is a capable secretary, but her bosses are more interested in her than her abilities. This causes her to be frequently unemployed...

Plot Keywords:

Secretary | Screwball | Deception | Employment Agency | San Francisco California

Cast

Marion Davies	...	Miss Marjorie 'Marge' Winton, aka Sadie Day
Frank McHugh	...	Mike 'Mabel DeCraven' McGillicuddy
Robert Montgomery	...	Freddy Matthews
Patsy Kelly	...	Sadie Day, aka Susie Wilson
Allen Jenkins	...	Jake Edgall
Louise Fazenda	...	Abigail Belldon, Freddy's Publisher
Barton MacLane	...	Al McCoy, Plumber
Marcia Ralston	...	Camille Lansing
Fredrick R. Clark	...	Alonzo, Freddy's Butler (as Frederic Clarke)
Arthur Hoyt	...	Mr. Cuddleton, the Hotel Manager
Mary Treen	...	Employment Clerk
Harry Hayden	...	Mr. Mason, Purity League President
Pierre Watkin	...	Mr. M.C. Barton
John T. Murray	...	Mr. Lowell
William B. Davidson	...	Mr. J.C. Henderson (as William Davidson)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #3209)

Company:

Cosmopolitan Productions

Trivia:

Marion Davies's last movie.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Shine on Harvest Moon

Marion Davies at forty in her last film role...

In this harmless bit of fluff, MARION DAVIES plays a secretary who is so pressured by men making passes at her that she decides to make herself into a frump in order to get a secretarial job that she can hold based on skill alone. Naturally, she falls in love with her boss (a youthful looking ROBERT MONTGOMERY), and the fun develops in seeing how the relationship between Davies and Montgomery will fare once she becomes his dowdy secretary.

Davies is just a little too mature for the role of a fledgling secretary more suitable for a much younger actress. But she's a good sport about donning a "homely" disguise in order to get the secretarial position with the firm interested only in hiring unattractive girls.

There's plenty of comedy relief although it's not all that funny. Warner filled the cast with contract players like FRANK McHUGH, PATSY KELLY and ALLEN JENKINS--but the picture's central plot depends on whether you enjoy the repartee between Montgomery and Davies once she turns up as his unlikely secretary.

Unfortunately, it soon becomes obvious that the screwball aspect (which had possibilities) is stifled by some absurd dialog and foolish situations that are not only incredible but unfunny as played by Davies especially. Montgomery has the more believable role as the playboy boss and does it with his customary professionalism in light comedy.

There's an antique flavor to the script when you hear Allen Jenkins come up with a line like, "Did you know gasoline has gone up to 3 cents a gallon?" Unfortunately, none of the comedy seems spontaneous enough or really works, so it's just as well that Miss Davies made a graceful exit from the screen around this time. Any more films like this and her career would have been over anyway.

Neither PATSY KELLY nor ALLEN JENKINS is doing anything more than wasting their time in this silly effort. Montgomery comes off best, but it's certainly not a shining hour for anyone.