By 1934 Janet Gaynor's popularity at the box office was beginning to wane so Fox reasoned - why not team her with Charles Farrell again for "Change of Heart"? Once again she played the dewy eyed orphan, this time a college graduate who, along with her three friends, wants to take New York by storm. This time though she and Farrell, who was always a wishy washy actor I thought, were put distinctly in the shade by two peppy up and comers. James Dunn as Mac who longs to be a crooner and, giving the film what edge it has, Ginger Rogers as the selfish and stage struck Madge who has no feeling of camaraderie once they hit the big city. The part was originally to be played by Sally Eilers and she would have been terrific but she was pregnant so Ginger was a ring in. Eilers and Dunn had been called the finds of 1931 when they co-starred in "Bad Girl" and they also became a team so maybe "Change of Heart" was a ploy by Fox to showcase their two most romantic pairings - but it backfired!!
A nice romance about four college kids trying to make it in New York. Gaynor is Catherine or "Fiery" - oddly the soothing one whose calmness holds the quartet together. In true "soap opera" tradition she loves Chris (Farrell), a struggling lawyer, who doesn't know she's alive and only has eyes for Madge who can't decide between him or the flirty Mac who is carrying a torch for "Fiery" who etc....
On the day "Fiery" finds a job Madge announces she is moving uptown as she can't handle their "slum conditions" any longer plus the fact that the others are cramping her style. The villain is Jackson (Kenneth Thomson who was such a good "lounge lizard" to Anita Page in "The Broadway Melody") first tries to romance Catherine then, when she shows her lack of interest, whisks Madge away for a quickie wedding!! That leaves the stage clear for Gaynor and Farrell to try to weave the magic they once had but in 1934 the public weren't buying it. When Chris (who is the most shadowy figure in the whole film) falls ill only Catherine's nursing pulls him through and then he realises that he has loved her all along. The viewer then realises how boring the film has become since Madge and Mac have left the scene.... but then.... Madge returns, her marriage hasn't worked out and Chris is now Plan B!!!
Of course you know it's not going to happen and the film could have finished on a quite dramatic note although Chris is so lacking in backbone who knows?? Then Mac rocks up and Madge puts all her charms to work on him and he is soon putty in her hands at the film's "cop out" ending.
One of the highlights of the movie was seeing all the bit parts by actors of some note - James Gleason, who wrote the screenplay, as a hot dog vendor, Mischa Auer as a party guest, Nick Foran singing "So What" - maybe then Fox saw him as a specialty singer (he had had a spot in "Stand Up and Cheer") and Shirley Temple who had an almost extra role as a child on a plane. I know she was billed midway up the cast lists as "Shirley" but as "Shirley" she had just created a sensation in "Stand Up and Cheer" so she was probably Fox's box office bait to lure even more people into the cinema.
A nice romance about four college kids trying to make it in New York. Gaynor is Catherine or "Fiery" - oddly the soothing one whose calmness holds the quartet together. In true "soap opera" tradition she loves Chris (Farrell), a struggling lawyer, who doesn't know she's alive and only has eyes for Madge who can't decide between him or the flirty Mac who is carrying a torch for "Fiery" who etc....
On the day "Fiery" finds a job Madge announces she is moving uptown as she can't handle their "slum conditions" any longer plus the fact that the others are cramping her style. The villain is Jackson (Kenneth Thomson who was such a good "lounge lizard" to Anita Page in "The Broadway Melody") first tries to romance Catherine then, when she shows her lack of interest, whisks Madge away for a quickie wedding!! That leaves the stage clear for Gaynor and Farrell to try to weave the magic they once had but in 1934 the public weren't buying it. When Chris (who is the most shadowy figure in the whole film) falls ill only Catherine's nursing pulls him through and then he realises that he has loved her all along. The viewer then realises how boring the film has become since Madge and Mac have left the scene.... but then.... Madge returns, her marriage hasn't worked out and Chris is now Plan B!!!
Of course you know it's not going to happen and the film could have finished on a quite dramatic note although Chris is so lacking in backbone who knows?? Then Mac rocks up and Madge puts all her charms to work on him and he is soon putty in her hands at the film's "cop out" ending.
One of the highlights of the movie was seeing all the bit parts by actors of some note - James Gleason, who wrote the screenplay, as a hot dog vendor, Mischa Auer as a party guest, Nick Foran singing "So What" - maybe then Fox saw him as a specialty singer (he had had a spot in "Stand Up and Cheer") and Shirley Temple who had an almost extra role as a child on a plane. I know she was billed midway up the cast lists as "Shirley" but as "Shirley" she had just created a sensation in "Stand Up and Cheer" so she was probably Fox's box office bait to lure even more people into the cinema.