Four's a Crowd (1938)

Robert will do anything to get the big account that has eluded him. His public relations business makes public angels of rich scoundrels. Jean needs someone to save the paper and she wants ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Casey Robinson (screenplay), Sig Herzig (screenplay)

Stars:

Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Errol Flynn	...	Bob Lansford
Olivia de Havilland	...	Lorri Dillingwell
Rosalind Russell	...	Jean Christy
Patric Knowles	...	Patterson Buckley
Walter Connolly	...	John P. Dillingwell
Hugh Herbert	...	Jenkins
Melville Cooper	...	Bingham
Franklin Pangborn	...	Preston
Herman Bing	...	Barber
Margaret Hamilton	...	Amy
Joseph Crehan	...	Butler Pierce
Joe Cunningham	...	Young
Dennie Moore	...	Buckley's Secretary (scenes deleted)
Gloria Blondell	...	Lansford's 1st Secretary
Carole Landis	...	Lansford's 2nd Secretary

Storyline

Robert will do anything to get the big account that has eluded him. His public relations business makes public angels of rich scoundrels. Jean needs someone to save the paper and she wants Robert. When he finds out that Pat is dating Lorri, John Dillingwell's granddaughter, he gets involved. Robert begins to make John the most hated man and Lorri blames Pat, the publisher. He then goes to John for a job to erase all the bad publicity that he has gotten from the paper. This works until Pat tells John that Robert was behind the smear campaign. But John decides that he does need some good publicity and hires Robert to provide it...

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | newspaper | secret identity | public relations | dog | 

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Taglines:

Two's company, three's a triangle but "Four's a Crowd!"

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

All Rights Reserved

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Warner Bros. borrowed Rosalind Russell from MGM for this picture.

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Goofs

During the opening credits, the four main actors walk past the entrance to the Hotel Parker twice, with an odd dissolve cut behind the main title card.

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Quotes

Silas Jenkins, Justice of the Peace: Sarah? Sarah?
Mrs. Sarah Jenkins: What?
Silas Jenkins, Justice of the Peace: Couple'a chumps on the way, wanna get hitched.
Mrs. Sarah Jenkins: At this hour?
Silas Jenkins, Justice of the Peace: Why not? you caught me at half-past two in the morning in a weak moment.

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Alternate Versions

This is the only one of the Eroll Flynn-Olivia de Havilland that was never released to the home entertainment market in the USA. It was released in Argentina using a well preserved 16mm print with the original English credits and audio track and Spanish language subtitles.

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Connections

Referenced in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

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Soundtracks

Bridal Chorus
(1850) (uncredited)
From "Lohengrin"
Music by Richard Wagner
Played on an organ by Renie Riano at the wedding

User Reviews

Enjoyable comedy with too much plot but interesting cast

Rosalind Russell, ace reporter, is peeved that her newspaper is being shut down by cub publisher Patric Knowles, inexperienced son of the original publisher. Knowles has recently fired crack editor Errol Flynn, who has in turn set himself up as a publicity agent for rich curmudgeons who need good press. Olivia de Havilland, lovely and playful granddaughter of one such grumpy millionaire, is romantically attached to the handsome Knowles—at least for the moment.

The plot of this rapid fire comedy follows our four stars round and round: Russell wants Knowles to save the paper, wants Flynn back on the job. Flynn and Knowles have an old rivalry and delight in scoring off of each other. De Havilland seems happy letting everybody love her for her grandfather's eight million dollars. How will it all shake out?

Walter Connolly pretty much steals the show as the grandfather, a wealthy eccentric whose great passion is the model railroad that dominates his back yard. Melville Cooper is also excellent as Connolly's butler and stationmaster; the two of them in their engineer caps, running the train controls from their crow's nest, are just hilarious.

Out of a great cast, Russell and Connolly are most familiar in this kind of a screwball comedy and probably come across best. Flynn and de Havilland, though, are fun to watch, too—Flynn shows a flair for comic antics like stealing sticks of butter from a dark kitchen, and Olivia looks like she's having a ball as her fun-loving character laughs and whoops it up in a way that the Maid Marian (or Melanie Wilkes!) never would have dreamed of.

Overall, the movie is never dull but never quite takes off—is it the complicated plot that prevents this picture from really hitting full speed? In any case, it's certainly entertaining, thanks to the great cast and solid Warner Bros. production.