The Feminine Touch (1941)

John Hathaway is a professor of psychology at Digby College. His students are bored as he is with the students. He leaves college to go to New York to have his manuscript on jealousy ... See full summary »

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

George Oppenheimer (screenplay), Edmund L. Hartmann (screenplay),

Stars:

Rosalind Russell, Don Ameche, Kay Francis

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rosalind Russell	...	Julie Hathaway
Don Ameche	...	Prof. John Hathaway
Kay Francis	...	Nellie Woods
Van Heflin	...	Elliott Morgan, Publisher
Donald Meek	...	Captain Makepeace Liveright
Gordon Jones	...	Rubber-Legs Ryan
Henry Daniell	...	Shelley Mason, Critic
Sidney Blackmer	...	Freddie Bond, Elliott's Lawyer
Grant Mitchell	...	Dean Hutchinson, Digby College
David Clyde	...	Brighton, Elliot's Butler
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Forrester Harvey	...	(scenes deleted)

Storyline

John Hathaway is a professor of psychology at Digby College. His students are bored as he is with the students. He leaves college to go to New York to have his manuscript on jealousy published. John and Julie go to Elliott Morgan Publishing to discuss his book. Being that it is highly technical and boring, Nellie wants to focus on the small part about couples that she thinks will sell. But it soon becomes apparent that everyone is more intrigued by Julie than the book. Elliott tries to make advances on Julie while Nellie is more interested in John than his book. Julie, however, is worried about John, while John, who wrote the book on jealousy, seems oblivious to it and thinks that he knows everything about jealousy.

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Plot Keywords:

jealousy | professor | publishing | fistfight | college life | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

All Woman

Filming Locations:

Lake Arrowhead, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Nellie Woods: [to Elliott] If you're lying, I'll kill you and go to the chair with a song on my lips.

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Soundtracks

"Academic Festival Overture in C, Op. 80"
(uncredited)
Written by Johannes Brahms
Variations played as part of the score when the college sign is shown

User Reviews

Roz and Kay Have the Feminine Touch

Don Ameche is a college professor of psychology who's told to help pass a flunking student, so he can play Saturday's game. This only adds to his frustration of bored, inattentive students, and he quits. He has written a book about jealousy, which a publishing company has shown interest in publishing it. He and wife Rosalind Russell go off to New York to meet the publisher. But, Roz is a human female wife, who wants her husband to act alive and jealous, and Don is too reasonable to be reduced to such feelings, which have no scientific basis for them. The publisher Van Heflin takes a liking to Roz, but his secretary Kay Francis has been pining for him all this time. Such is the zany premise in this feel-good comedy. As usual, Roz is at her best with quick lines and her short temper, demanding Don do something about Van. And, a misunderstanding on a bus gets Don in jail. Kay Francis is great, in this escape from her usual fare of melodramas in which she is suffering from shame and scandal and doing and dying for love of her man. Van Heflin is a hoot as a neurotic, who won't let Roz out of his sight and who only has one thing on his mind. The cast winds up on an island, where things get really hysterical. If you want to discover a new screwball comedy, after seeing all of Cary Grant's, then discover The Feminine Touch and see what trouble it gets you.