The Girl from Missouri (1934)

Chorus girl Eadie is determined to marry a millionaire without sacrificing her virtue.

Directors:

Jack Conway, Sam Wood (uncredited)

Writers:

Anita Loos (original screenplay), John Emerson (original screenplay)

Stars:

Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone, Lionel Barrymore

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean Harlow	...	Edith (Eadie) Chapman
Lionel Barrymore	...	Thomas Randall Paige
Franchot Tone	...	Thomas Randall Paige Jr.
Lewis Stone	...	Frank Cousins
Patsy Kelly	...	Kitty Lennihan
Alan Mowbray	...	Lord Douglas
Clara Blandick	...	Miss Newberry
Hale Hamilton	...	Charlie Turner
Henry Kolker	...	Sen. Titcombe
Nat Pendleton	...	Lifeguard
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lane Chandler	...	Cop Arresting Eadie (scenes deleted)
Jack Cheatham	...	Electrician (scenes deleted)
Russell Hopton	...	Bert (scenes deleted)

Storyline

With her pal Kitty, Eadie Chapman escapes from the sleazy roadhouse run by her mother and stepfather, only to become a showgirl. But her former milieu gave her a poor opinion of easy morals, and she plans to preserve her 'virtue' until marriage...preferably to a rich husband; while Kitty keeps falling for servants. Will playboy Tom Paige break down Eadie's resistance before his cynical father intervenes?

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | millionaire | chorus girl | blonde | father son relationship | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Born to Be Kissed

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$511,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min 70 min (re-release)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Wood shot additional scenes, uncredited.

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Goofs

When Eadie is looking over the house with T.R. and T.R. Jr., they enter a dark room with large windows. When T.R. goes to turn on the lights, the light coming in through the windows goes out a couple beats before the room lights come on.

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Quotes

Eadie Chapman: I'm gonna be somebody!
Kitty Lennihan: You bet you are! Why, you'll have your name in lights up on Broadway and...
Eadie Chapman: Oh, no, I won't. I don't kid myself. I know my singing and dancing won't get me anywhere. I'm gonna get married!
Kitty Lennihan: Married?
Eadie Chapman: Yes and I'm gonna marry somebody that is somebody.

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Connections

Featured in Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell (1993)

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Soundtracks

Everybody Loves a Sailor
(uncredited)
Written by Mitchell Parish, James Cavanaugh and Nat Simon

User Reviews

Good performances from all as Harlow seeks rich husband

"I know my singing and dancing won't get me anywhere," Jean Harlow tells friend Patsy Kelly. "I'm gonna get married." Harlow is The Girl from Missouri, and in the picture's opening moments she and Patsy flee their depressing small town gin joint surroundings and head to the City, where they take jobs as chorus girls and set about finding men. Harlow is determined to find a rich husband; Patsy is just as interested in meeting doormen and lifeguards.

Lionel Barrymore is excellent as T.R. Paige, a millionaire who has worked his way up from nothing himself and sees Harlow as a "platinum chiseler" after his son; Franchot Tone is also good as Tom Paige, the son of that wealth whose eager pursuit of Harlow inspires her distrust and his father's dismay. Will he propose to her? Will she accept him? Will Lionel accept her as a daughter-in-law? --All is complicated by Lionel's political ambitions and by a ring Harlow has fashioned from a pair of cufflinks.

Patsy Kelly plays it (mostly) straight as Harlow's friend and companion, and gives a solid performance. Lewis Stone has one poignant scene early on as a ruined businessman. The funniest scene belongs to Nat Pendleton as a beefy lifeguard who, when called, pops up from behind a boat on the sand….

Overall, though, it's Jean Harlow's show all the way—and she is charming, strong yet vulnerable, ultimately as tough and clever as Barrymore's political schemer and a match for Tone and his charming grin. No classic, but good fun.