My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

George B. Seitz

Writer:

Herman J. Mankiewicz (original story and screenplay)

Release Date:

17 September 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

When the owner of the New York Globe-Leader dies without making a will, the paper is inherited by his only living relative...

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Aunt | Nebraska | Editor | Maid

Cast

Edna May Oliver	...	Mrs. Lou Atherton
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Martha Aldrich
Walter Pidgeon	...	Kenneth 'Ken' Morley
Rita Johnson	...	Ellen Warfield
Janet Beecher	...	Mrs. Sinclair
Paul Harvey	...	Mr. Sinclair
Charles Waldron	...	Mr. Warfield, ex-governor
Walter Kingsford	...	Mr. Talbot
Roger Converse	...	Ted Martin
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Red Apple Inn attendant guarding room (as Guinn Williams)
Leonid Kinskey	...	Red Apple Inn waiter
Brent Sargent	...	Gregory Stone
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	'Doc' Howe
Robert Greig	...	Red Apple Inn majordomo

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #3621) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Actors in studio records/casting call lists who were not seen in the movie are (with their character names) E. Alyn Warren (Doctor), Selmer Jackson (Captain), Marie Blake (Telephone Operator), Edward LeSaint (American), William Bailey (Dupont), Paul Newlan (Husky Man) and Adia Kuznetzoff (Servant).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Night at the Movies (1937)

Weak material bolstered by bright cast...

The best thing about MY DEAR MISS ALDRICH is that it gives MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN a chance to prove that she was not only very pretty but a capable enough actress to ensure that in the future she would be rewarded with more leading lady roles worthy of her charming presence. Not so. MGM gave her this chance to shine briefly and then tossed her back into secondary parts in big films until she was cast as Jane in the hugely popular Tarzan series.

But the film itself appears to have been hastily put together on a modest budget with some good one-liners thrown to EDNA MAY OLIVER, who of course is a sheer delight as Miss Atherton, presumed at first to be the heiress who has inherited a big city newspaper. Of course the real owner is her niece, and when the real owner's identity becomes known to the hero, the story becomes a battle of the sexes with Maureen out to show him that his sexist attitude towards women needs some sort of reformation.

If the script and direction had been a little more sophisticated, this might have earned a better reputation as a screwball comedy in an era when the major studios were churning out things like FOUR'S A CROWD and LIBELED LADY. As it is, it's harmless fluff that gives the spectator a good look at Maureen O'Sullivan at her loveliest, billed over Walter Pigeon who takes full advantage of his role. They both play with assurance as romantic leads, but Pigeon's fans will be delighted to see that his flair for this kind of comedy even existed. He was cast in much more serious roles for the main part of his career.

Obviously produced as a programmer for the lower half of a double bill, this has its moments, thanks chiefly to Edna May Oliver's dominating way with stealing a scene. Her tart remarks are what helps make the film click at all.

Spelling note: I've tried to correct the spelling of Walter Pigeon's name, but it keeps on being switched back to Pigeon by the spell check apparently written into this review by either my computer or the IMDb site. There's a "d" before the "g", for anyone who's curious.