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...

---

Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | female reporter | female journalist | newspaper | secret identity | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was not successful at the box office and made Jack L. Warner rethink putting Errol Flynn in non-adventure pictures. Flynn, worried about being typecast, lobbied Warner to do other films - screwball comedies in particular.

---

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.

---

Quotes

Robert Kensington 'Bob' Lansford: What are you crying for, darling?
Lorri Dillingwell: [crying] I'm not crying.
Robert Kensington 'Bob' Lansford: Aren't you happy?
Lorri Dillingwell: [sobbing desolately] Yes, I'm happy.
Robert Kensington 'Bob' Lansford: Wish you'd stop sniveling, then.

---

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.

---

Connections

Featured in Breakdowns of 1938 (1938)

---

Soundtracks

Frühlingslied (Spring Song) Op. 62, No. 6
(1842) (uncredited)
Music by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Hummed and danced by Olivia de Havilland

User Reviews

Despite all the star power and excellent director, the film just tries too hard and doesn't deliver

In this film, Errol Flynn plays a publicity man and ex-newspaper editor, Patric Knowles plays the owner of a newspaper, Rosalind Russell a star reporter and Olivia DeHavilland plays...well,...an idiot. While I could try to explain the plot as well as how all these characters come together in the film, I'd rather not--as the film is a super-frenetic mess. I am a huge fan of Errol Flynn as well as Olivia DeHavilland, so it came as quite a surprise that I enjoyed this film as little as I did. The biggest problem was that despite all the star power and the direction of the great Michael Curtiz, the overall effort is pretty awful and is only saved by a few moments here and there (provided mostly by Flynn and Walter Connelly). The stars and script try too hard--making the film very shrill and pushy. This is because the film is too high-paced and the script too busy--often resulting in all the main actors talking loudly over each other (not a fun experience at all). Now SOME films with these qualities work (such as MY GIRL Friday or BRINGING UP BABY), but this one does not because the script is poor plus Miss DeHavilland is cast in one of her worst roles ever. While Miss DeHavilland was wonderful in roles in such notable films as CAPTAIN BLOOD and GONE WITH THE WIND, here she plays against type. Instead of the usual sweet character, here she plays a ditsy dame and it just never works and seems, like the rest of the film, very forced. Katherine Hepburn could pull this off, DeHavilland could not.

The bottom line is that the stars of this film made much better films and you should see them instead. In particular, Flynn, Knowles and DeHavilland all appeared in one of the greatest films of the era, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. So it's obvious with better direction (sorry, Curtiz just doesn't have it here, though he was usually a wonderful director--particularly in romances and adventure films) and writing this SHOULD have been a lot better considering the money Warner Brothers spent to bring all these stars together.

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