There Goes My Heart (1938)

A young heiress runs away from her overprotective grandfather. Penniless on the streets of New York, she manages to find employment, but a reporter knows her true identity.

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod

Writers:

Eddie Moran (screen play), Jack Jevne (screen play)

Stars:

Fredric March, Virginia Bruce, Patsy Kelly

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Fredric March	...	Bill Spencer
Virginia Bruce	...	Joan Butterfield
Patsy Kelly	...	Peggy O'Brien
Alan Mowbray	...	Pennypepper E. Pennypepper
Nancy Carroll	...	Dorothy Moore
Eugene Pallette	...	Mr. Stevens - Editor
Claude Gillingwater	...	Cyrus Butterfield
Arthur Lake	...	Flash Fisher
Etienne Girardot	...	Hinkley - Secretary
Robert Armstrong	...	Detective O'Brien
Irving Bacon	...	Mr. Dobbs
Irving Pichel	...	Mr. Gorman
Syd Saylor	...	Robinson (as Sid Saylor)
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Officer

Storyline

Seeing her chance, 25-year-old heiress (Virginia Bruce) flees from her over-protective grandfather with none of her fortune in her purse. On the streets of New York, she is befriended by a shop girl (Patsy Kelly) . The shop girl takes her in and gets her a job at the store which is part of a chain owned by the heiress. Unbeknownst to the newsworthy heiress, her true identity is known to a single reporter (March).

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Plot Keywords:

newspaper reporter | screwball comedy | male female relationship | sea captain | newspaper editor | 

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Taglines:

HE - loved her - yet had to expose her - SHE - loved him - but a million dollars stood between them - then - WHAM - And What Could a Poor Girl Do!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Bill Clark.

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Quotes

Bill' Spencer: I still can't understand how... a girl who's been used to so much can be satisfied with so little.
Joan Butterfield: Well, it was having so much that made me realize how little I really had. I'll never go back to having so little again as long as I live.
Bill' Spencer: And here I always thought I was a pretty smart fella. If I ever had anybody figured wrong, it was you.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are shown as if viewed through a ship's porthole.

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Soundtracks

A Life on the Ocean Wave
(1838) (uncredited)
Music by Henry Russell
Lyrics by Epes Sargent
Sung a cappella by Fredric March

User Reviews

A near miss

HEART is an attempt at a screwball comedy that fails for a couple of reasons: a plot that gets too entangled, to the point of incredulity, and a lead actress who may look a little like Carol Lombard, but clearly isn't. Virginia Bruce is the female in question as a runaway heiress who ends up working incognito in her grandfather's department store, clearly meant to resemble Macy's. The thin-faced Bruce is a bit too wistful for the role, unfortunately. The role really could have used Lombard -- or Thelma Todd or Irene Dunne or Katherine Hepburn or Claudette Colbert, or even one of the Bennett sisters. Frederic March is, as always, note-perfect as a cynical reporter on Bruce's trail who -- what else? -- ends up falling for her. There is a stunt-filled ice skating sequence that takes up a bit too much time, compounded by a very rushed ending that leaves major plot strings untied. The wonderful Eugene Palette is on hand as March's blustery editor, and wisecracking Patsy Kelly is in fine form as a downtrodden store clerk who takes Bruce in. This may be no BRINGING UP BABY or NOTHING SACRED or IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, but it is fun to watch March, Kelly and Palette in action. And it is also viewable in its historic context, surrounded as it was by several masterpieces of the genre.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

There Goes My Heart

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Roach Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1