There's Always a Woman (1938)

An investigator for the district attorney and his amateur-sleuth wife compete to solve a murder mystery.

Director:

Alexander Hall

Writers:

Gladys Lehman (screen play), Wilson Collison (story)

Stars:

Joan Blondell, Melvyn Douglas, Mary Astor

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joan Blondell	...	Sally Reardon
Melvyn Douglas	...	William 'Bill' Reardon
Mary Astor	...	Lola Fraser
Frances Drake	...	Anne Calhoun
Jerome Cowan	...	Nick Shane
Robert Paige	...	Jerry Marlowe
Thurston Hall	...	District Attorney
Pierre Watkin	...	Mr. Ketterling
Walter Kingsford	...	Grigson
Lester Matthews	...	Walter Fraser

Storyline

An investigator for the District Attorney's office quits to open his own detective agency. However, business is so bad that he finally decides to give it up and go back to his old job. As his wife is at his office closing up, a wealthy society matron walks in with a case: she wants to know if her husband is having an affair with his ex-girlfriend, who is now married. The wife accepts what looks to be an easy case, figuring than she can then persuade her husband to re-start the agency. However, when the client's husband is found murdered, she decides to investigate the murder herself. Her husband has also been assigned by the D.A. to investigate the murder, and he doesn't know that his wife is also on the case. Complications ensue.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | murder | district attorney | husband and wife sleuths | threat | 

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Taglines:

There's Never a Dull Moment!

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Genres:

Comedy | Mystery

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

The $3.50 filet mignon and the 75 cent strawberry parfait are worth $63.58 and $13.62 in 2019, respectively; Bill's $20 is worth $363. The $375 rent due is $6800.

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Goofs

Near the end, the dispatcher reads the wanted person alert for Mrs. Reardon. He states her complexion as blonde, which is a hair color, not a complexion.

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Quotes

Sally Reardon: [Having fallen back in her chair at the nightclub] Well, why don't ya pick me up, ya big lummox?
William 'Bill' Reardon: I picked you up once - now look at me.

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Connections

References Duck Soup (1933)

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Soundtracks

The Stars and Stripes Forever
(1896) (uncredited)
Written by John Philip Sousa
Played on a radio

User Reviews

Madcap detective

Party mystery, part screwball comedy There's Always A Woman features Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blondell as a man who opened a private detective agency and his ever helpful wife.

Douglas had worked for the DA's office as an investigator and felt he was in a career rut so he opened a private agency. As clients haven't been flocking to his office he's ready to go back to work for DA Thurston Hall, But Blondell says she wants to keep the agency open just in case.

No sooner does Douglas get his job back than in walks a client Mary Astor. She plunks down 3 century notes.which pays a lot of back rent and she wants Frances Drake who has been carrying on with husband Lester Matthews.

She does some surveillance in a madcap sort of way at a nightclub. The next day Matthews is shot to death and Robert Paige who had made some threats at him is arrested.

Douglas gets the investigation at the DA's office and Blondell keeps going on her investigation. She's from the Lucy Ricardo school of criminology and will have an awful lot of 'splaining' to do eventually.

Three years later Mary Astor and Jerome Cowan who plays a gambler in There's Always A Woman would be part of the immortal cast of The Maltese Falcon. And ironically in this film both would have the same function.

Columbia might have made more of these had its stars not been tied to other studios. But Blondell was with Warner Brothers and Douglas with MGM. The two had a good chemistry and Blondell is a hoot.

A good combination of genres is There's Always A Woman.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Min fru detektiven

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1