Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Mae West | ... | Mavis Arden | |
Warren William | ... | Morgan | |
Randolph Scott | ... | Bud Norton | |
Alice Brady | ... | Mrs. Struthers | |
Elizabeth Patterson | ... | Aunt Kate Barnaby | |
Lyle Talbot | ... | Francis X. Harrigan | |
Isabel Jewell | ... | Gladys | |
Margaret Perry | ... | Joyce Struthers | |
Etienne Girardot | ... | Prof. Herbert Rigby | |
Maynard Holmes | ... | Clyde | |
John Indrisano | ... | Chauffeur | |
Alyce Ardell | ... | Jeanette (French maid) | |
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Nick Stewart | ... | Nicodemus (as Nicodemus Stewart) |
Charles Irwin | ... | Master of Ceremonies | |
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Walter Walker | ... | Andy Kelton |
Movie star Mavis Arden, as amorous in private as she is pure in public, gets involved with a politician despite her watchdog publicist Morgan. Planning to meet her beau again at the next stop on her personal appearance tour, Mavis is stranded at a remote rural boarding house, with a pretentious landlady, sensible old maid, rabid film fan waitress...and strapping young mechanic Bud Norton, whom to Mavis is just the plaything of an idle hour... Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
This movie was shown on Australian TV in the mid-'60s and never been seen here since. True, this is not an out-and-out romp like Mae's earlier films but it does have a more subtle comic line about a movie star in small-town America. The scene where Mae is lying down in the hay is surprisingly explicit: she reaches out her arms to Randolph Scott and says: "I love it." She was actually talking about the country life or something but in the context it was pretty strong stuff for 1935. I'm sure this is the movie where she is chauffeur-driven in a fantastic Rolls-Royce town car with "rattan"-work around the rear of the car, rather like Norma Desmond's in Sunset Boulevard. The car would be worth a fortune today. Also featured was the wonderful Elizabeth Patterson as the cynical granny of the house, a characterisation she made her own, and reprised it as late as 1957 in Pal Joey. It's a bit more subtle than Mae's earlier films but it has a certain maturity and a low-key humour as a gentle poke at country folks. The young Randolph Scott is quite a hunk in this too. I quite enjoyed it.