Design for Scandal (1941)

To save his job, newsman Jeff Sherman offers to help his boss get out of a swingeing alimony settlement. But his devious plan to compromise Cornelia Porter, the judge on the case, while she... See full summary »

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

Lionel Houser (story), Lionel Houser (screenplay)

Stars:

Rosalind Russell, Walter Pidgeon, Edward Arnold

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rosalind Russell	...	Judge Cornelia C. Porter
Walter Pidgeon	...	Jeff Sherman
Edward Arnold	...	Judson M. 'J.M.' / 'Judsy' Blair
Lee Bowman	...	Walter Caldwell
Jean Rogers	...	Dotty
Mary Beth Hughes	...	Adele Blair
Guy Kibbee	...	Judge Graham
Barbara Jo Allen	...	Jane aka Janie
Leon Belasco	...	Alexander Raoul - a sculptor
Bobby Larson	...	Freddie
Charles Coleman	...	Wilton
Thurston Hall	...	Northcott

Storyline

To save his job, newsman Jeff Sherman offers to help his boss get out of a swingeing alimony settlement. But his devious plan to compromise Cornelia Porter, the judge on the case, while she is on holiday at Cape Cod soon proves to be - well - too devious!

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Plot Keywords:

alimony | judge | divorce | scandal | newspaper | 

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Taglines:

EVERY WOMAN HAS HER WEAK MOMENT!---but it takes the right man to find it!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Her Honor

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

Barbara Jo Allen is listed as "Barbara Jo Allen (Vera Vague)" in the opening credits. Vera Vague was the character name of the woman she played on the Bob Hope radio program.

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Connections

Referenced in We Must Have Music (1942)

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Soundtracks

"Wonderful One"
Music by Paul Whiteman and Ferde Grofé Sr. (1923)
Adapted from a theme by Marshall Neilan
Lyrics by Dolly Morse (1923)
Played in a restaurant
Whistled by Walter Pidgeon
Played as background music often

User Reviews

A reporter sets a lady judge up for a fall

Walter Pidgeon is a reporter who agrees to do some dirty work for his boss in "Design for Scandal," also starring Rosalind Russell and Edward Arnold. After Arnold takes a beating in his divorce case, presided over by Russell, Pidgeon offers to help him out in return for getting his job back (when he thought he was going to die, he told off the boss - always a mistake). His assignment is to devise a scandal involving the judge so that his boss can have her removed from the bench. Pigeon follows the lady on her vacation and makes his play, enlisting the help of his girlfriend to build an alienation of affections case.

This is a very mild comedy, highly predictable, and this type of role wasn't Pidgeon's forte. He's quite handsome in the role, but the part called for someone like Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable - an attractive, fast-talking rogue. Russell, like Celeste Holm and sometimes Katharine Hepburn, played these strong career women since her beauty was not conventional. She's very good, but the theme is always the same, isn't it - a successful career is fine but you're deluding yourself. What you really want to do is take off those tailored suits and get a man - because being a smart and successful woman will never win you anything important. It all gets a little tired, but it does give me some insight into why my mother turned out the way she did.