The Girl Downstairs (1938)

A wealthy playboy surreptitiously romances a scullery maid to gain access to her mistress with whom he is in love, but doesn't count on the maid falling in love with him.

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

Harold Goldman, Sándor Hunyady (story),

Stars:

Franciska Gaal, Franchot Tone, Walter Connolly

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Franciska Gaal	...	Katerina Linz
Franchot Tone	...	Paul Wagner
Walter Connolly	...	Mr. Brown
Reginald Gardiner	...	Willie
Rita Johnson	...	Rosalind Brown
Reginald Owen	...	Charlie Grump
Franklin Pangborn	...	Adolf Pumpfel
Robert Coote	...	Karl, Paul's Butler
Barnett Parker	...	Hugo, the Butler
James B. Carson	...	Rudolph
Billy Gilbert	...	Garage Proprietor

Storyline

Paul Wagner and Rosalind Brown are in love, but her father doesn't feel Paul's lifestyle will make him a suitable husband for his daughter. When Mr. Brown instructs all the servants in his extensive household, except the missing Katerina Linz, not to let Paul in his house again, Paul dons his chauffeur's clothing and takes Katerina to a local fair where they both have a good time. Paul learns she is a farm girl working temporarily as a scullery maid to earn money to replace a cow that died. He takes her home and sees Rosalind while Katarina fixes something for them to eat. The next day, Rosalind asks Katerina to deliver a letter to Paul because all the other servants are busy. At Paul's apartment, he continues the ruse saying the master is out, but his womanizing friend Charlie arrives and is taken by Katerina to be the Paul Wagner for whom the note is intended. Katerina slaps Charlie when he steals a kiss, and when Paul laughs he is "fired" by Charlie, who was playing along with the ...

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Plot Keywords:

maid | servant | playboy | opera | berne switzerland | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 December 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Az utolsó Katalin

Company Credits

Production Co:

Loew's, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Katerina Linz: What happens when it wants to pass another car?
Garage Proprietor: Nobody's ever found out.

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Soundtracks

"The Marriage of Figaro"
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Overture played at the opera house

User Reviews

A watchable, but unbelievable romantic comedy with some cute twists.

This film plays almost like a fairy tale with illiterate scullery maid Franciska Gaal, in her third and last starring role, getting involved with playboy Franchot Tone, who pretends to be a chauffeur just to get into her house and woo her boss' daughter, Rita Johnson. I enjoyed some of the comedy, with the best sequence being the taxicab Gaal buys Tone thinking he lost his job. Billy Gilbert sells her a dilapidated car that looked like it came out of a Laurel and Hardy Film - it falls apart as they drive! And it's so slow a kid on a bike grabs hold of it, not to have it pull him along, but to help pull it along. A very funny sequence. The pacing of the film is just right, but many of the comics in the supporting cast (Reginald Gardiner, Franklin Pangborn and Robert Coote) were wasted. However, Walter Connolly does his exasperated father routine perfectly. Gaal has a down-to-earth naive quality which endeared her to me, so I enjoyed the film. I wondered why she just quit making films altogether after this film.