Public Wedding (1937) User Reviews

Offbeat casting for a conman

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 23 September 2016]

This B picture from Warner Brothers is primarily made to exhibit the talents of some players that the Brothers had high hopes for, Jane Wyman and William Hopper. Both made successes of themselves but not at Warner Brothers.

Public Wedding is the story of conman Berton Churchill in a role that normally would be reserved for Raymond Walburn as a man with an ever flowing spiel of con and Jane Wyman as his stepdaughter whom he has schooled in the arts. They've got a sideshow exhibit of a whale's mouth that's circling the drain financially. Churchill hits on an idea to hold a public wedding. The idea being who doesn't like to go to a wedding and enjoy the reception afterward. Wyman will be the bride and at the last minute they rope in struggling young artist William Hopper for the groom.

I'll say no more because it really gets hard to follow as Wyman and Churchill go through an amazing string of cons at which Hopper just looks bewildered by. Some of them are even designed to benefit him. Along the way Marie Wilson and her ingenuous manner get swept up in all this.

Wyman at this beginning of her career was getting roles at Warner Brothers that Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell were turning down. Like Olivia DeHavilland, Wyman kept trying to tell the Brothers she could do better. She didn't really until 1945 with strong leads in The Lost Weekend and The Yearling. But she moves that dialog along at a clip the other two would envy.

William Hopper as we know was the son of Hedda Hopper and that fact alone would have guaranteed employment. Eventually his success came on TV's Perry Mason as Paul Drake. Here he's just one of several young leading actors coming up, among others was Ronald Reagan.

Churchill is the real star here. Usually he's stuffy upper class gentleman, here he goes to town with this bit of offbeat casting. You will love his scenes with Marie Wilson.

Public Wedding, a little gold nugget among the B picture dross.

a B shortie that moves right along.

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 11 January 2017]

Very well dressed "carnies" are looking for a way to soup things up and make some money. Stars Jane Wyman, William Hopper (was on Perry Mason, and real life son of famous Hedda Hopper), Dick Purcell and Berton Churchill. A short-shortie from Warner Brothers. Wyman had been doing mostly uncredited roles up until about 1937... she DID win an Oscar for Johnny Belinda in 1948 ! The group comes up with a fake wedding, where they will charge the public money to attend the "fake wedding", in the mouth of a whale, of course. I won't spoil the surprise, but of course things don't go as planned. Everything moves right along, fast paced script. Lots of running around, the usual caper stuff. One interesting note... the judge says they defrauded the public out of $ 10, 000.. and they were charging 50 cents each.. .which would mean they had 20,000 people witness the wedding! that must have been one big tent. unless i missed something, which is entirely possible. Directed by Nick Grinde, who had started in the silent films. It's actually pretty good! Shown on Turner Classics here and there.

Complete hogwash, but what a delightfully clean pig.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 9 November 2019]

When absolute absurdity dominates a script, it's a cinch that the film is going to be a bust. But after an awkward start, this catches on in spite of how ridiculous the plot gets. It's a hysterically funny ensemble piece about a group of con-artists who put on a phony public wedding where the non-groom skips out on the non-bride and it goes on anyway with a new groom and a real minister.

As far from those sobbing heroines of the 1950's and the ruthless Angela Channing as she could be (even though Angela would be bemused by what goes on here), Jane Wyman is a fast talking shifter, trained by pop Berton Churchill in the art of the con, finding herself suddenly legally wed to artist William Hopper, and pretending to be his secretary as he paints the portrait of aging society matrons. One of them asks non-chalantly where she should put her clothes.

Then there's dizzy Marie Wilson ("My Friend Irma") who ends up being wed to the portly Churchill and Dick Purcell as the wisecracking associate. The law begins to close in on the "fellowship racket" as Wyman and Hopper begin to fall in love. There's plenty of more obstacles that step in their way, but the way this is done makes you root for Wyman and gang in spite of their amoral behavior. This is one of the screwiest screwball comedies ever, beyond reality of any serious plot, but oh what a fun ride it is.

What? And Get Bit?

[drednm · 5 February 2004]

Silly but fast-paced and enjoyable comedy built around the "public wedding" as a money-making scheme that goes awry. Jane Wyman and William Hopper star as the couple who get tricked into a real marriage when they think it's just a scam. Wyman is very good in her Warner Bros comedy roles. Solid support from Marie Wilson, Berton Churchill, and Dick Purcell. Churchill steals the film as Wyman's blow-hard crook father, but then he was always good. Watch Churchill in 1939's "Stagecoach" some time. He was ALWAYS good but is forgotten today. Best line said to Marie Wilson in the film: "Hey, why don't you cover your mouth when you yawn?" The response: "What? And Get Bit?"

Jane Wyman film

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 14 July 2022]

H. Theodore Lane runs a failing carnival sideshow. He has one day to pay or else the Sheriff is shutting them down. The group's only money-making idea is a public wedding in the mouth of a whale with the old man's daughter Florence 'Flip' Lane (Jane Wyman). It's supposed to be a fake wedding but...

I've never heard of a public wedding as a sideshow attraction. No matter. Jane Wyman has the charisma to pull this off. It's a basic rom-com but the guy isn't much. The couple needs more screen to build up some chemistry. There just isn't much although the premise do set a great conflicted romance.

A below average B movie starring Jane Wyman

[jacobs-greenwood · 3/10 · 6 December 2016]

Directed by Nick Grinde, this Houston Branch story was made into a below average B picture with Jane Wyman, William Hopper, Dick Purcell, Marie Wilson, Berton Churchill, Jimmie Fox, and Veda Ann Borg, among others.

Wyman plays the daughter-in-law of the serially married and divorced Churchill, the leader of a gang of con men (Purcell, James Robbins, and Raymond Hatton) that's frequently had to have been bailed out by her, even though she participates. Hopper plays a struggling artist sap that gets mixed up with said gang during the titled con. If you watch this "comedy", you'll wish you could get back the hour you invested in it.

Unable to make a dime selling tickets to see their taxidermy whale sideshow, 'Pop' Lane (Churchill) and his gang that includes his daughter-in-law 'Flip' (Wyman), barker Joe Taylor (Purcell), Nick (Robbins), and The Deacon (Hatton) decide to go have dinner. Outside the window, Flip greets sand artist Tony Burke (Hopper), flipping him a slug. After their meal, Pop tells his team that they're destitute, and that their whale will be repossessed the next day.

Flip mentions the artist's display, saying it looks like a public wedding, which gives her father-in-law the idea for their next scam, a sponsored one. Nick will be the groom, The Deacon will perform the service, and Flip will be the bride. After conning the restaurant owner, Gus Papadopoulos (Zeni Vatoria) out of $10 for promoting his establishment as the place for its reception, Pop can pay their tab to the waiter (Curtis Karpe).

The next day, the novelty of a public wedding in the mouth of a whale sells 50 cent tickets until the sideshow is "filled to the gills". Out front, Nick and The Deacon decide to split with the take leaving Flip, Pop, and Joe inside with a bridegroom. However, The Deacon did hire a real justice of the peace, Jeremiah Boggs (Fox), before splitting town. Naturally, Flip et al have no knowledge of Boggs's authenticity and Pop goes out and grabs struggling artist Tony to be the "fake" groom. The film's funniest scene is actually a song which is sung during the ceremony in which the piano player weaves the sponsors' information into his lyrics.

After the titled event, Flip and Tony are surprised to learn that they're really married! They flee the scene, followed by most of the attendees, who all run past Papadopoulos's restaurant leaving him with huge expenses. Tony helps Flip hide from the crowd in his "apartment", a room over some stables. He's willing to make the best of the situation and accept that they're married whereas she wants to have their marriage annulled as soon as possible. Pop and Joe, smarter than the rest of the crowd, finds the "couple" in their "love-nest".

The next morning, when Flip learns that Pop has hocked Tony's suit for breakfast food, she throws her father-in-law and Joe out. While she embarks on selling Tony's paintings to put money on the table, Pop and Joe happen upon a former acquaintance of Joe's - a blonde fan dancer named Tessie Schultz (Wilson). After rescuing Tess from a police raid, they dress her in Flip's wedding gown and figure out their next con. They convince Tess to pretend to jump from a building as a bride who'd been left at the altar, hoping to make money with the publicity of her story (?).

As luck would have it, Flip reads the headline about the bride, unaware that it was her father's scam, and decides to plant a story that Tony was the groom who jilted Tess. Under Flip's direction, who leases a fancy studio complete with an attractive receptionist (Borg), the scandal makes Tony the portrait artist of choice among society's wealthy women (?).

Pop and Joe learn who has "stolen" their opportunity to exploit Tess about the same time that Tony expresses his dissatisfaction - his artistic integrity has been compromised - with Flip. However, Flip has an idea to satisfy both parties: she'll pay off Pop and Joe and help Tony to establish a foundation to help other struggling artists. Pop and Joe have one last scam in them that almost puts them all in jail, but Flip saves the day while only Pop and Joe have to pay their comeuppance for their "deal" with Papadopoulos.

Paul Drake?

[joeamusil · 9/10 · 8 April 2019]

I saw this 1937 movie for the first time today. The movie had already started so I did not see the cast of players. As I watched the facial features and expressions of the young husband/artist ... those unique expressions seemed VERY familiar??! When I saw the cast ... my guess was correct ... William Hopper. But the white haired detective on Perry Mason had coal black hair in this movie ... and just as handsome as always.

reality star techniques in the 30s

[skiddoo · 26 October 2011]

Everything old is new again. How about a wedding that costs nothing because it, (very amusingly), advertises the businesses that provided the goods and services and has a paying audience? Or a painter who becomes popular with those with more money than brains because he has a reputation over a woman? Or good-looking con artists coming up with one scheme after another to make money from publicity while trying not to get arrested? It all sounds very familiar because it is entertaining and still works today to bring in the cash.

Hectic movie with many quips, turns of plot, and much running around. It's worth a look to see that the techniques used today were used in the 30s and were well-worn even back then. Visually it has interesting elements. On the whole, though, it's one of the lesser movies of the "attractive con artist" genre.